When Was a Chemical Incident Prevention and Response Plan Required?

Archive — earlier Vietnamese chemical safety requirements. The requirements were associated with Circular 20/2013/TT-BCT, effective from 15 October 2013. It is a historical explanation, not the current legal test for a facility.

Scope under the 2013 framework

A prevention and response plan was required when the maximum inventory of specified hazardous chemicals reached the relevant regulatory thresholds. The assessment considered the greatest quantity present at a particular time, rather than only annual consumption.

• New projects: prepare the required plan before operation.
• Existing facilities: assess chemical types and maximum quantities against the applicable thresholds.
• Expansion or modification: reassess the obligation when production capacity, storage capacity or chemical types changed and reached a threshold.
• Mixed chemical inventories: where both plan-level and measures-level chemicals were present, the procedure required incorporating the relevant prevention and response arrangements into the plan.

Appraisal and approval

The appraisal council included representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, provincial authorities and relevant fire, environmental or industrial-zone bodies, together with specialists. The procedure provided for a 30-day ministerial review and approval period.

When prevention and response measures were used

Facilities below the applicable plan thresholds, and relevant cases involving chemicals without specified thresholds, were addressed through chemical incident prevention and response measures under the earlier framework.

Information needed for an assessment today

Prepare an up-to-date inventory with chemical names, hazard classifications, safety data sheets, maximum quantities, storage arrangements and process descriptions. ITVC can review the project scope and identify which current requirements and competent authorities need to be consulted. Historical thresholds, forms and approval periods should not be reused without checking their validity.