24 May 2022, ECHA has consulted on listing 5 substances as POPs. These substances are expected to be or have already been proposed for listing as POPs under the Stockholm Convention. Deadline for the public consultation is 19 Jul. 2022. Detailed information of the 5 substances: Substance Name CAS Number Possible Applications 2-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4,6-ditertpentylphenol 25973-55-1 Commonly used as UV absorbers in surface coatings, plastic and ink additives, and personal ca...

May 2022, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (known as the RoHS-Directive), which recommended to add Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBP-A) and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (MCCPs) into the List of RoHS Restricted Substances. If this draft is approved, the number of the RoHS Restricted Substances will be increased from 10 to 12. The European Commission is planned to adopt the it in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the restriction measures of these two substances shall be subject to the final decision of the Commission....

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is receiving comments on draft standard “ready mixed paint, air drying, red oxide-zinc chrome painting-specification” until 11 May 2022. This Draft has extended the limit of lead restriction in household coatings to industrial applications. To prevent lead exposure of children and adults and consequent adverse impact on human health and safety and because of further scope for children’s exposure to the dried paint surfaces, the lead res...

A great many products exported to the U.S. are required to process FDA certification and EPA certification before entering the U.S. market. Then what do you know about FDA certification and EPA certification? As a leading product safety and regulatory consulting firm, CIRS Group is now able to provide the U.S. FDA certification and EPA certification services to help clients remove the technical barriers to trade and successfully enter the US market. What is US FDA Certificat...

On April 6 2022, ECHA and the Member States have assessed a group of 148 bisphenols and recommended that more than 30 bisphenols need to be restricted due to their potential hormonal or reprotoxic effects. Many bisphenols are known endocrine disrupters both for human health and the environment and may lead to exposures to both professionals and consumers. Bisphenols are mostly used as intermediates in the manufacture of polymers or polymer resins, such as polycarbonate plast...

On 11 Apr. 2022, the European Commission has added 5 substances into the Authorised List by adopting the Commission Regulation COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2022/586 of 8 April 2022 regarding amending Annex XIV to REACH Regulation. This amendments will take effect from 1 May 2022. So far, a total of 59 substances are subject to authorization. The newly added entries are as follows: Entry Nr Substance Intrinsic property(ies) referred to in Article 57 Transitional arrangements Ex...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a second round of test orders under section 4 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to obtain additional data on eight of the next 20 chemicals undergoing risk evaluation. After reviewing reasonably available data on these chemicals, EPA has determined additional data are needed and is using its TSCA test order authority to require companies to develop and submit information on avian and aquatic environmental haz...

In 2021, through on-site inspection and laboratory testing, Shanghai Customs had effectively implemented the quality and safety inspection and supervision of imported consumer goods at Shanghai ports, and effectively guaranteed the safety and health of consumers. The relevant unqualified cases found by Shanghai Customs in the quality and safety inspection of imported and exported commodities are hereby released. Case 1: Continuous detection of unqualified adult clothing of B...

China has proposed to update the GB/T 26572-2011 Requirements of Concentration Limits for Certain Restricted Substances in Electrical and Electronic Products by adding the requirements on the concentration limits of 4 more harmful substances, including DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP. The revision is expected to be completed at the end of September 2022. As the most common plasticizer, phthalate acid esters are widely used in the manufacturing of electrical and electronic products....

What is CCC? Since its introduction in December 2001, China Compulsory Certification (CCC) is a compulsory scheme based on National Chinese Standards (GB-Standards) for products listed in the Catalogue of Products subject to Compulsory Certification (“Catalogue”). CCC is similar to other certifications for product quality standardisation–such as the European CE system–but there are important differences. It has been implemented on 1 May 2002 and became fully effectiv...

Brief Introduction The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is an Indian national standards and certification authority established under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 (The BIS Act, 2016). Its main tasks are to formulate and implement national standards, implement conformity assessment systems, and manage BIS certification. Product certification in India basically implements the principle of voluntary certification, but considering factors such as public health and sa...

In 2012, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) of India and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) launched the Compulsory Registration Scheme (CRS), which requires manufacturers of electronic and IT products to submit registration application to BIS before placing their products on the Indian market. After obtaining registration approval, BIS allows manufacturers to declare that their products comply with Indian standards. CRS registration does not re...

The full name of Indian ISI certification is Indian Standards Institution, which is the most stringent type of BIS certification, including factory audits and product testing. ISI certification has a mandatory product catalogue covering building materials, chemicals, household appliances, medical equipment, vehicle parts, food, etc. Products listed in the ISI mandatory catalogue must obtain a license granted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) before they can be placed o...

On November 26, 2021, the Germany’s Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture adopted the 21st Amendments, updating the "Consumer Products Regulations" again. This update is mainly to increase the relevant provisions of printing or varnishes for food contact materials and products in the "Consumer Products Regulations". The amendments were published in the Federal Law Gazette on December 7, 2021, and came into force on December 8, 2021, with a transition period of four to f...

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (hereinafter referred to as BfR) is an agency directly under the federal government, which is mainly responsible for identifying and assessing safety risks in food, chemicals, and consumer products (including food contact materials, cosmetics, toys, textiles, and tobacco, etc.). And provide risk management decision-makers with scientific advice on avoiding and reducing risks (including formulating risk limit recommendations)....

On August 11, 2020, France published Order of August 5, 2020 to regulate food contact rubber materials and articles, as well as pacifiers for young children (‘new Order’). the main contents are as follows. Effective date This regulation takes effect on July 1, 2021, replacing and repealing the Order of November 9, 1994 relating to rubber materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs, food products and drinks. Transition period Before the new regulations come into for...

On 23 December 2021, the European Union has released the COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2021/2045 to amend the Entry 4-7 (DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP) to REACH Annex XIV. The amendments are as follows: Entry Nr Substance Intrinsic property(ies) referred to in Article 57 Transitional arrangements Exempted (categories of) uses Review periods Latest application date Sunset date 4 Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) EC No: 204-211-0 CAS No: 117-81-7 Toxic for reproduction (category 1B) E...

On 16 November 2021, the European Commission published the Implementing Decision EU 2021/1992 with toy standards EN 71-2, EN 71-3, EN 71-4 and EN 71-13 updated to the latest versions. The current versions will be superseded from 15 May 2022. Details are as follows: Standard Name Latest Standard Existing Standard Date of Withdrawal Safety of toys – Part 2: Flammability EN 71-2:2020 EN 71-2:2011+A1:2014 15 May 2022 Safety of toys – Part 3: Migration of certain elements EN...

July – September 2021, the European Commission validated 1176 RASFF notifications , including 1033 notifications on food, accounting for 87.84%; 67 notifications on feed, accounting for 5.70%; 76 notifications on food contact materials (FCMs), accounting for 6.46%. 44 of the FCM products are from China, accounting for 57.89%. There are more details on FCM notifications as below: Date Reference Notified by Product Subject Action Taken Notification Basis Risk Decision 28 SEP...

ECHA has published the SCIP Database. It is EU’s first public database of substances of very high concern in products. It aims to allow consumers to make more informed purchasing choices and help waste operators to further develop the re-use of articles and the recycling of materials. Around 6 000 companies across the European Union have successfully complied with their new duty to notify ECHA about products containing substances of very high concern, SVHCs. The SCIP datab...