The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of the Philippines has released draft Guidelines for Exemption of Impurities, Chemical By-Products, Non-Isolated Intermediates, Alloys, and Statutory Mixtures. The exemptions will be granted under DENR Administrative Order 1992-29, commonly known as RA 6969. In addition the DENR also released draft Guidelines for Confidential Business Information (CBI) Requests. 

Guidelines for exemptions 

The guidelines will provide guidance on how to obtain exemptions for chemicals that are considered as impurities, chemical by-products, non-isolated intermediates, alloys, and statutory mixtures. Definitions of the different classes of substances can be found here. 

In order to apply for an exemption, businesses would need to provide the following documentation: 

• A signed letter of request  

• 100% composition of the mixture; 

• Safety data sheet;  

• Manufacturing process flow;  

• All supporting documentation justifying the exemption, together with a signed letter of justification. 

Applications must be submitted through the DENR’s Online Permitting and Monitoring System (OPMS) for review and evaluation along with a fee of 1,500 Philippine pesos (approximately US$ 27). The application will be reviewed and evaluated within 15 days of receipt. 

 Except for substances specified in the Chemical Control Orders, once approved, the chemicals would no longer require a permit and would be exempted from Title II of RA 6969. 

Additionally, compounds on the Priority Chemical List (PCL) that are not included by the draft order may apply for an exemption under Section 7.2 of the EMB M.C. 2014-003 guidelines. However, in order to do so, their concentration in mixtures must be less than or equal to 1%. For the responsible disposal of by-products classified as hazardous waste, the draft emphasizes compliance with DENR Administrative Order (DAO) 2013-22.  

Guidelines for Confidential Business Information Requests  

The DENR also issued a draft administrative order to clarify the procedure for obtaining Confidential Business Information (CBI) on chemical assessments mandated by RA 6969.  

The following permit applications and CBI requirements on confidential chemical compositions are covered in the draft: 

• Priority Chemical List (PCL) Compliance Certification or exemption 

• Premanufacture Preimportation Notification (PMPIN) and its exemptions 

• Chemical Control Orders (CCOs) 

All the details on CBI requests can be found in the guidelines here. 

Both draft guidelines would come into force fifteen days after their national publication in a newspaper of general circulation and upon acknowledgment of receipt of a copy hereof by the Office of the National Administrative Register (ONAR), UP Law Center. 

In November 2023, the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-EMB) released the 2022 and 2023 lists of chemicals and chemical substances to be included in the Philippine Inventory of Chemicals and Chemical Substances (PICCS).

All compounds that are currently used, imported, distributed, processed, manufactured, stored, exported, treated, or transported in the Philippines are included in the Philippine Inventory of Chemicals and Chemical Substances (PICCS). The first PICCS was published by the DENR-EMB in 1995 and has been regularly updated since then.

Companies that import and manufacture chemicals that are listed in the PICCS are not required to notify and secure  clearance from the DENR-EMB before manufacturing or importing these chemicals.  

Current update of the PICCS

The list for 2022 contains 96 compounds and 2023 list contains 66. With the addition of these 162 compounds, there are a total of 22,439 compounds in the PICCS.