Which rules apply to major-hazard chemical sites in Egypt?

Egypt has no separate major-accident law comparable to the EU Seveso III Directive that we could verify. Instead, Ministerial Decree No. 211 of 2003 defines a "major-hazard installation" by threshold quantities listed in its Annex 1 (taken from the EU Seveso I list), and the Labour Law issued by Law No. 14 of 2025 requires every establishment to keep hazardous stocks within threshold quantities, analyse risks and possible disasters, and prepare, test and notify emergency plans. Industrial licensing, environmental and civil protection rules apply alongside.

Short answer

• Definition: a major-hazard installation is one that, permanently or temporarily, produces, processes, handles, uses, stores or disposes of one or more hazardous substances in quantities above the threshold quantity (Decree 211 of 2003, Art. 1).
• Threshold list: Annex 1 of Decree 211 lists named substances with threshold quantities, taken from the EU list of Directive 82/501/EEC (Seveso I); for example chlorine 25 t, hydrogen sulfide 50 t, hydrogen cyanide 20 t and phosgene 750 kg.
• Labour Law 2025 duties: keep stocks of hazardous chemicals within threshold quantities and keep a register (Art. 249); analyse risks and industrial and natural disasters, prepare, test and notify emergency plans, and notify storage or use of hazardous substances (Art. 253).
• Inspection: inspectors may review emergency plans, risk analyses, reports on major accidents and hazardous stocks, and order closure in imminent danger (Art. 257).
• Penalties: fines of EGP 5,000 to 100,000, doubled for a repeat (Art. 296).

The threshold-quantity system of Decree 211

Decree 211 defines a "threshold quantity" as the quantity of a hazardous substance, fixed by national rules for given conditions, above which an establishment counts as a major-hazard installation. These definitions are close to those of the ILO Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174); we could not confirm whether Egypt has ratified it.

Annex 1 is headed "European table" with the reference printed as "82/50/EEC", meaning the EU Seveso I Directive 82/501/EEC, and lists hazardous substances with their threshold quantities. A footnote says the threshold quantities were set on the basis of a maximum point of effect 500 m from the hazard source. Examples from the list:

The annex continues on the next gazette page with further substances, among them bromine, ammonia, acetylene, hydrogen and ethylene oxide; read their threshold quantities from the gazette scan itself.

Article 249 of the 2025 law says stocks of hazardous chemicals must not exceed the threshold quantity for each substance. The text does not say how a site that must hold more is authorised, so confirm with the labour directorate and the licensing authority how the rule applies to your site.

Risk analysis, emergency plans and reporting

Article 253 and the emergency-plan chapter of Decree 211 require:

1. risk and disaster analysis to national and international standards, starting at design and commissioning and based on maximum capacity, reviewed periodically;
2. analysis of possible releases of toxic, flammable and explosive substances, their effects beyond the site boundary, failures of relief valves, controls and utilities, maintenance quality and human error;
3. a written emergency plan with named leaders and teams, equipment, maps of emergency resources and coordination with public services and neighbouring establishments;
4. practical drills and training;
5. submission of the plan to the competent bodies, and notification when the establishment's situation, production quantity or hazardous stock changes;
6. information for responders on hazardous chemicals, waste and radioactive materials and their locations;
7. after a disaster or major accident, a detailed report to the competent bodies on causes, losses, health and environmental effects and recommendations.

The OSH committee (50 or more workers) follows the risk analysis, emergency planning and hazardous materials management (Decree 134 of 2003). Hazardous waste records follow the Waste Management Law No. 202 of 2020 (Art. 249), fire precautions follow the Ministry of the Interior (Art. 251), and industrial licensing follows Law No. 15 of 2017.

Related on excodex

• Occupational safety and health in Egypt: law, authorities and employer duties
• Is a written risk assessment mandatory in Egypt?
• How are explosive atmospheres and Ex equipment regulated in Egypt?
• Seveso III: major-accident prevention, tiers and duties

Standards and further reading

• Ministerial Decree No. 211 of 2003, Art. 1 (definitions), chapter on emergency plans and Annex 1 (hazardous substances and threshold quantities), Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriya No. 227 (supplement b), 5 October 2003: https://manshurat.org/node/12155
• Law No. 14 of 2025 issuing the Labour Law, Articles 249, 251, 253, 257 and 296: https://manshurat.org/content/qnwn-lml-ljdyd-rqm-14-lsn-2025
• Ministerial Decree No. 134 of 2003: https://manshurat.org/node/12136
• Law No. 15 of 2017 on facilitating the licensing of industrial establishments: https://manshurat.org/node/15046
• ILO Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174).

This article is general occupational safety and health information prepared by the excodex editorial team. It does not replace the applicable legislation, standards, manufacturers' instructions or the assessment of a competent OSH professional or occupational physician.