16 November 2017, The REACH-En-Force-4 (Ref-4) project, coordinated by the ECHA Enforcement Forum, looked at 14 restriction entries in REACH Annex XVII across 29 countries. The report revealed that almost a fifth of toys were non-compliant with EU restriction on phthalates. The final public report will include other 8 entries and it is expected by the end of this year....

23 October 2017, Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a circular No. 21/2017/TT-BCT to set a new standard on contents of formaldehyde and aromatic amines in textiles and at the same time abolished the circular No. 23/2016/TT-BCT. According to the new regulation of No. 21/2017/TT-BCT: Category of textile Limit of formaldehyde content（mg/kg） 1 Textiles for children under 3 years old 30 2 Textiles in direct contact with the skin 75 3 Textiles not in direct contact...

EU restricts 22 azodyes in leather and textiles under the EU REACH Annex XVII entry 43 and four testing methods are designated....

The random inspection by Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemi) on jewllery showed that dangerous levels of lead and cadmium present in nearly one third of jewllery. In Kemi’s analysis, the hazards concerned the following: l Dangerous levels of lead and cadmium (most common problem) l The presence of mercury l Detected levels of banned azodyes The majority of the non-compliant products were imported from Asia through the internet at low prices. Several days ago, C&K Testing r...

Taiwan has formulated “Inspection Rules on Suitcases” covering wheeled or trolley suitcases with frames or in fixed shapes on 31 October 2016. The standard takes into force immediately. It specifies that the inspection of suitcases shall be subject to CNS 15331 Evaluation criteria for bags, cases and trunks, including performance tests and test for material quality. Performance tests: drop test, load test, function test for expendable handles and travelling test. The che...

On 1 November 2016, the first Chinese standard GB/T32610-2016 Standard on protective masks for daily use has come into force, specifying that the masks are compliant only when they can help reduce the concentration of PM 2.5 inhaled to 75μg/m3 so that to enhance air quality to a good or better level by filtering. The standard only appliers for protective masks used in daily life to protect us from particulars from air pollution. But respiratory protective articles for speci...

On 12 October 2016, the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade issued circular no.23/2016/TT-BCT to abolish circular no.37/2015/TT-BCT regulating content limits and inspection of formaldehyde and aromatic amines derived from azo dye in textile product. It takes into force on 26 November 2016. Starting from this date, textile products shall not be subjected to the inspection of content of formaldehyde and aromatic amines derived from azo dye. The Vietnam Textile and Apparel A...

On 30 April 2016, Turkey Ministry of Economy had issued Communiqué No. 29699 to announce the list of products to be randomly checked through GTIB-IRIS (risk based import control) system during custom process. The Communiqué takes in to for...

On 15 June 2016, Office of Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection has published H. B.K.J. [2016] No. 1102 to seek opinions as regards Technical Requirement for Environmental Labelling Products– Plastic Packaging Products. The consult...

The Korea Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) has recently established a general safety standard for all products designed for children. Infant and children textile products and leather products are regulated by Special Act for Childr...

ECHA publishes list of substances of the REACH-EN-FORCE-4 (REF -4) project. The list includes 14 substances under REACH Annex XVII....