Chemicals Act, 2008

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 13/2008
• Year: 2008

• Full Act
• Act by Section
• Act As Enacted
• Amendments
• PDF annotated
• PDF unannotated

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Number 13 of 2008

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CHEMICALS ACT 2008

REVISED

Updated to 10 May 2019

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This Revised Act is an administrative consolidation of the Chemicals Act 2008. It is prepared by the Law Reform Commission in accordance with its function under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 (3/1975) to keep the law under review and to undertake revision and consolidation of statute law.

All Acts up to and including Companies (Amendment) Act 2019 (10/2019), enacted 11 April 2019, and all statutory instruments up to and including Chemicals Act 2008 (Rotterdam Regulation) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 213 of 2019), made 10 May 2019, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

Disclaimer: While every care has been taken in the preparation of this Revised Act, the Law Reform Commission can assume no responsibility for and give no guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up to date nature of the information provided and does not accept any liability whatsoever arising from any errors or omissions. Please notify any errors, omissions and comments by email to

revisedacts@lawreform.ie.

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Number 13 of 2008

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CHEMICALS ACT 2008

REVISED

Updated to 10 May 2019

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Introduction

This Revised Act presents the text of the Act as it has been amended since enactment, and preserves the format in which it was first passed.

Related legislation

Chemicals Acts 2008 and 2010: this Act is one of a group of Acts included in this collective citation, to be cited together as one (Chemicals (Amendment) Act 2010 (32/2010), s. 13(2)). The Acts in the group are:

• Chemicals Act 2008 (13/2008)

• Chemicals (Amendment) Act 2010 (32/2010), other than s. 12

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Acts 2005 to 2014: this Act, s. 37 is one of a group of Acts included in this collective citation, to be cited together as one (Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014 (13/2014), s. 1(3)). The Acts in the group are:

• Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (10/2005)

• Chemicals Act 2008 (13/2008), s. 37

• Chemicals (Amendment) Act 2010 (32/2010), s. 12

• Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act 2014 (13/2014), Part 7

Annotations

This Revised Act is annotated and includes textual and non-textual amendments, statutory instruments made pursuant to the Act and previous affecting provisions. A version without annotations, showing only textual amendments, is also available.

An explanation of how to read annotations is available at

www.lawreform.ie/annotations

Material not updated in this revision

Where other legislation is amended by this Act, those amendments may have been superseded by other amendments in other legislation, or the amended legislation may have been repealed or revoked. This information is not represented in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the amended legislation if one is available.

Where legislation or a fragment of legislation is referred to in annotations, changes to this legislation or fragment may not be reflected in this revision but will be reflected in a revision of the legislation referred to if one is available.

A list of legislative changes to any Act, and to statutory instruments from 1972, may be found linked from the page of the Act or statutory instrument at

www.irishstatutebook.ie.

Acts which affect or previously affected this revision

• Data Protection Act 2018 (7/2018)

• Workplace Relations Act 2015 (16/2015)

• Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (14/2014)

• Chemicals (Amendment) Act 2010 (32/2010)

All Acts up to and including Companies (Amendment) Act 2019 (10/2019), enacted 11 April 2019, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

Statutory instruments which affect or previously affected this revision

• Chemicals Act 2008 (Rotterdam Regulation) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 213 of 2019)

• Climate Action and Environment (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2016 (S.I. No. 393 of 2016)

• Chemicals Act (Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 209 of 2015)

• Protected Disclosures Act 2014 (Commencement) Order 2014 (S.I. No. 327 of 2014)

• Finance (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 418 of 2011)

• Chemicals (Asbestos Articles) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 248 of 2011)

• Chemicals Act (CLP Regulation) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 102 of 2011)

• Chemicals Act 2008 (Commencement) Order 2008 (S.I. No. 273 of 2008)

All statutory instruments up to and including Chemicals Act 2008 (Rotterdam Regulation) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 213 of 2019), made 10 May 2019, were considered in the preparation of this revision.

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Number 13 of 2008

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CHEMICALS ACT 2008

REVISED

Updated to 10 May 2019

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Acts Referred to

Companies Acts
Coroners Acts 1962 and 2005
Courts of Justice Act 1924	1924, No. 10
Customs Act 1956	1956, No. 7
Customs and Excise (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1988	1988, No. 10
Customs Consolidation Act 1876	39 & 40 Vict., c. 36
Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003
Electronic Commerce Act 2000	2000, No. 27
Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992	1992, No. 7
European Communities Act 1972	1972, No. 27
European Communities Act 2007	2007, No. 18
Industrial Development Act 1993	1993, No. 19
Industrial Development (Enterprise Ireland) Act 1998	1998, No. 34
Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851	14 & 15 Vict., c.93
Protection of the Environment Act 2003	2003, No. 27
Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005	2005, No. 10
Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994	1994, No. 5
Unfair Dismissals Act 1977	1977, No. 10
Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007
Waste Management Acts 1996 to 2003

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Number 13 of 2008

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CHEMICALS ACT 2008

REVISED

Updated to 10 May 2019

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AN ACT TO REGULATE AND CONTROL THE MANUFACTURE, USE, PLACING ON THE MARKET, EXPORT, IMPORT, TRANSPORT, TESTING, STORAGE, CLASSIFICATION, LABELLING AND PACKAGING OF CHEMICALS; TO MAKE PROVISION IN RELATION TO MAJOR ACCIDENT HAZARDS, AND THE PREVENTION OF ACCIDENTS, INVOLVING CHEMICALS; FOR THOSE PURPOSES TO GIVE FURTHER EFFECT TO REGULATION (EC) NO. 304/2003 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 28 JANUARY 2003 CONCERNING THE EXPORT AND IMPORT OF DANGEROUS CHEMICALS ¹, REGULATION (EC) NO. 648/2004 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 31 MARCH 2004 ON DETERGENTS ² AND REGULATION (EC) NO. 1907/2006 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 18 DECEMBER 2006 CONCERNING THE REGISTRATION, EVALUATION, AUTHORISATION AND RESTRICTION OF CHEMICALS (REACH) AND ESTABLISHING A EUROPEAN CHEMICALS AGENCY ³; TO CONFER POWER ON THE MINISTER FOR ENTERPRISE, TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT TO MAKE REGULATIONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF GIVING EFFECT TO CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THE TREATIES GOVERNING THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND CERTAIN ACTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF THOSE COMMUNITIES; AND TO PROVIDE FOR MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH.

[9th July, 2008]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Annotations

Modifications (not altering text):

C1

Terms "the Rotterdam Regulation," "the Detergents Regulation," "the REACH Regulation" and "the CLP Regulation" construed (10.12.2010) by Chemicals (Amendment) Act 2010 (32/2010), s. 11, S.I. No. 591 of 2010.

Construction of references in Principal Act.

11.—(1) A reference in the Principal Act to—

(a) the Rotterdam Regulation,

(b) the Detergents Regulation,

(c) the REACH Regulation, or

(d) the CLP Regulation,

shall be construed as a reference to that Regulation as amended by a European act (other than a directive adopted by an institution of the European Union), whether the amendment is made before, on or after the passing of this Act.

(2) In this section—

“Act of 1972” means the European Communities Act 1972;

“European act” means—

(a) a provision of the treaties governing the European Union, or

(b) an act adopted by an institution of the European Union, an institution of the European Communities or any other body competent under those treaties;

“European Communities” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1972;

“European Union” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1972;

“treaties governing the European Union” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1972.

PART 1

Preliminary and General

1.

Short title and commencement.

1.— (1) This Act may be cited as the Chemicals Act 2008.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

Annotations

Editorial Notes:

E1

Power pursuant to section exercised (15.07.2008) by Chemicals Act 2008 (Commencement) Order 2008 (S.I. No. 273 of 2008).

2. The 15 day of July 2008 is appointed as the day on which the Chemicals Act 2008 (No. 13 of 2008) comes into operation.

2.

Interpretation.

2.— (1) In this Act—

“Act of 1972” means the European Communities Act 1972;

“Authority” means the Health and Safety Authority;

F1[ “chemical” includes—

F2[(a) a chemical, substance, mixture or article within the meaning of the Rotterdam Regulation,]

(b) a detergent within the meaning of the Detergents Regulation,

(c) a substance, preparation or article within the meaning of the REACH Regulation,

(d) a substance, mixture or article within the meaning of the CLP Regulation, and

(e) a dangerous...