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Product Stewardship

Regulatory Compliance and Providing the Safety Use Information

Under the international chemical substances management framework (SAICM^*1/GFC^*2), which aims to minimize the impact of chemical substances on people's health and the environment, countries around the world are enacting new laws and amending laws. Compliance with these laws is the foundation of sustainable business, and Mitsui Chemicals carries out chemical substances management in accordance with laws and regulations to ensure our legal compliance.

Also, providing information throughout the supply chain is indispensable for product stewardship. We are making extra efforts to provide information about the safe handling of our products—even beyond providing legally-specified Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) and displaying labels.

^*1 SAICM:
Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management

A strategic approach for international chemical substances management adopted at the 2006 International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM) and endorsed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

^*2 GFC:
Global Framework on Chemicals – For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste

A new chemical substances management framework adopted in 2023 as the successor to SAICM. The framework covers the entire life cycle of chemical substances, and aims to promote voluntary chemical substances management by multiple stakeholders.

Compliance with New or Revised Regulations Related to Chemical Substances

Under the international framework for chemical substances management, many countries are also strengthening their local regulations, including the EU REACH regulations^*. A number of revisions to laws and regulations will also take place. We have formed a cross-organizational team, in which all business and corporate divisions participate, to formulate response measures for newly enforced or revised laws and regulations in each country. Working together with raw materials manufacturers, our internal supply chain, and suppliers, we remain fully compliant with laws and implement risk management measures systematically.

Ensuring compliance in a scheduled manner is needed for the Act on Registration and Evaluation of Chemical Substances in Korea, Kimyasalların Kaydı, Değerlendirilmesi, İzni ve Kısıtlanması (KKDIK) in Turkey, and UK REACH in the U.K., which are similar to the REACH regulations in Europe. We will register properly before the deadline.

^*EU REACH regulations:

Regulations on registration, evaluation, authorization, and restriction of chemical substances in the EU

Global Network for Legal Compliance

We need the latest information from each country to maintain our compliance with local laws and regulations. We appoint Regulatory Experts in our affiliates in the US, Germany, China, Taiwan, and Thailand to gather information on local legislation and the policies of chemical industry organizations. The Regulatory Experts in different countries and Mitsui Chemicals also exchanged the latest information and issues in the Regulatory Experts Meetings (once a year).

AI Solutions for Chemical Compliance Surveys

The Mitsui Chemicals Group utilizes an AI solution to support surveys on information related to chemical compliance. By teaching AI (IBM Watson) to parse various countries’ legal documents relating to regulatory compliance—as well as information on synonymous chemical substance names, high-level concepts, technical terms and more—this solution makes it possible to simply input a question, get that question translated into various languages, and then quickly find the necessary information. The system has been in operation since 2020 and has been deployed to group companies since 2023. We intend to further expand the scope of utilization of this system by concentrating the Group's knowledge of legal compliance judgments on this system for learning.

Centralized Chemicals Information and Providing the Safety Information

Thorough data management is important for chemicals management. Mitsui Chemicals manages chemical substance information for all products, raw materials, etc., handled centrally through the Mitsui Chemicals Safety Information System (MiCSIS). This system quickly and reliably confirms compliance with domestic and overseas laws and regulations, manages manufacturing and import quantities, creates SDSs and product labels in compliance with Japanese, European, American, East Asian, and Thai laws and standards, and complies with chemSHERPA*. We then work to inform our customers about our legal compliance and the hazards and safe handling of our products. We are also rolling out MiCSIS to affiliates.

In addition, we endeavor to obtain information on chemical substances contained in raw materials by requesting raw-material suppliers to submit SDSs, chemSHERPA, and the Regulatory Survey Report.

The legally-demanded registration of chemical substances and chemical products in each country is only a beginning. Chemicals management does not end even after the products are introduced to the market. The Mitsui Chemicals Group continues its efforts to shift its operation towards information dissemination to ensure that it can respond to various post-launch changes and provide customers with the latest information promptly and proactively.

*chemSHERPA:
Chemical information Sharing and Exchange under Reporting Partnership in supply chain
A scheme for conveying information about chemical substances contained in products. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is developing and promoting this scheme in aims of having the scheme utilized globally.

Contribution to the Industry

Mitsui Chemicals contributes to product stewardship in the chemical industry.
We are striving to resolve issues surrounding chemicals with other chemical corporations through the activities of the Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA) and the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA).

International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) and Chemical Industry Associations in Each Country