Pakistan’s draft five-year chemicals management policy nears finish line

Pakistan is close to finalising a national policy framework designed to strengthen chemicals governance and improve the safe handling of hazardous substances.

Drafted in 2025, the National Integrated Chemical Management and Safety Framework (2026-2031) is now "in the pipeline for approval" at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC), Bushra Afzal, who developed the framework as a government consultant, told Chemical Watch News & Insight.

The remaining steps include a final round of stakeholder consultations, followed by ministerial approval, although a completion timeline has yet to be confirmed.

Aligned with the objectives of the Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC), the draft framework identifies six priority areas for action:

• regulatory reforms – integrating chemicals management across all sectors of the economy, spanning industry, agriculture, transport, health, research institutions and the food sector, with a focus on lifecycle management of chemicals; 
• data collection and management – Pakistan currently has no national chemicals inventory, so the framework prioritises developing a database of active chemicals in the country through cooperation among stakeholders;
• information-sharing and accessibility – proposes the development of a national-level data-sharing system where relevant information can be accessed easily;
• hazard and risk evaluation and management – addressing chemical risk assessment in the context of Pakistan, where this is a "very expensive matter"; 
• emergency preparedness and response planning – strengthening planning at the organisational level to ensure rapid responses to chemical incidents, with a key role of local disaster management authorities; and
• integration into development planning – incorporating chemicals management priorities into the country's five-year development plans issued by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives.

Policy framework without legal force

However, Afzal stressed that the framework will not have the force of law once approved. While it sits under the broader Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA) 1997 as a parent document, it will not be legally binding.

Unlike a law, rules and regulations, a policy or a framework is how the government "gives general direction on what we have to do in the coming years on a particular subject", she said, adding that it could nevertheless serve as the basis for future dedicated chemicals management legislation.

Any such legislation would face constitutional complexities, Afzal noted. Under the 18th Amendment, which devolves powers to the provinces, environmental matters – including chemical control – fall within provincial jurisdiction.

As a result, any chemical rules or regulations adopted at the federal level would apply only to the Islamabad Capital Territory, and not to the rest of Pakistan. Each province would need to develop and adopt its own measures independently.

This federal-provincial divide was also highlighted by Mr Syed Debaaj Hasan Abidi, who led a Global Environment Facility (GEF)‑funded project to reduce the use and release of chemicals of concern, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs), in Pakistan’s textile sector from August 2023 to December 2025.

"You need to refer to the federal legislation as a reference point only, because that does not hold any status when you go to the province – every province has its own set of legislation," said Abidi, who worked with the International Labour Organization (ILO)'s country office in Pakistan on the project.

Under the proposed framework, the federal government would nevertheless provide a uniform, general direction to the provinces on how to manage chemicals in the coming years, according to Afzal. 

GHS plan

Pakistan has had a Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) adoption plan in place since 2023, but it remains in MoCC’s approval pipeline and is currently on hold due to funding constraints, Afzal said.

Implementing GHS at the national level requires significant financial resources, and progress to date has been limited, she added. Afzal was also involved in developing the adoption plan.

However, Abidi indicated that the GHS Adoption and Implementation Roadmap led by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) could be finalised by June this year. Full national adoption of GHS is more likely to take place around 2030, although authorities might aim for 2028, he said.