5 February 2019, the Official Journal of European Union released the directive (EU) 2019/169 ~ (EU) 2019/178 to amend the exemption for lead content in the Annex III of EU RoHS Regulation. This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. ...

16 January 2019, ECHA added 6 new substances to the Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHCs). The authorization now contains 197 substances. The new substances to the Candidate List possess the carcinogenic, toxic to reproduction, persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) properties. Following are the substances included in the Candidate List for authorization on 15 January 2019 and their SVHC properties. ...

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recalls 19 batches of products in December 2018. There are 11 batches of Chinese products, accounting for 57.89%. Accompanying remedies (refund, replacement and repair) are taken for such notifications.As notified on the CPSC website, some customers have already got injured due to the potential hazards.So it is important to track the recalls of products to ensure consumers' legitimate interests and rights. C&K Testing hereby reminds related enterprises to enhance the product quality by learning more about the potential hazards of their product categories. ...

General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) validated notifications on 9 batches of imported industrial goods, which were found non-compliant during inspection and quarantine process at the entry ports of China. They have not been offered for sale on the China market yet and are re-dispatched or destroyed instead according to laws. ...

The European Commission validated 282 RASFF notifications this month, including 249 notifications on food, accounting for 88.3%; 20 notifications on feed, accounting for 7.09%; 13 notifications on food contact materials (FCMs), accounting for 4.61%. 7 of the products are from China, accounting for 53.85%. The prime hazards for FCMs are migration of elements. ...

28 December, 2018, the Massachusetts legislature passed the bill H 5024 to ban 11 flame retardants, effective from 1 January, 2019. The sale or manufacture of bedding, carpeting, children's products, residential upholstered furniture and window treatments containing more than 1,000 ppm of the following substances in any component part of the product to be banned.Bans on flame retardants similar to those in Massachusetts have taken effect in other states. ...

18 December 2018, the Official Journal of European released the directive (EU) 2018/2013, identified 1,7,7-trimethyl-3-(phenylmethylene) bicycle [2.2.1] heptan-2-one (3-benzylidene camphor) as a substance of very high concern according to Article 57(f) of REACH Regulation. 3-benzylidene camphor has endocrine interference properties and may cause serious impact on the environment. It will be added to the candidate list of SVHC later. ...

On 2 January 2019, the OEKO-TEX® Association has, as usual, updated the applicable test criteria and limit values for product certification in accordance with the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®. The following new regulations will come into force on 01 April 2019 for all certifications, following a three-month transition period. In 2019, OEKO-TEX® already complies with the new "REACH Annex XVII CMR Legislation". The substance benzene and four amine salts have been included in the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® and LEATHER STANDARD by OEKO-TEX® and limit values have been defined. ...

12 December 2018, ECHA issued a notice to conduct public consultation on the amendment of annex XIV of REACH Regulation to the list of four phthalates authorized for their endocrine disrupting properties. The deadline for comments is 12 March 2019. These four phthalates have previously been identified as substances of very high concern (SVHCs) due to their reprotoxic and endocrine disrupting properties. ...

17 December 2018, the Official Journal of European issue the directive (EU) 2018/2005, amended the annex XVII of RAECH regulation. This Directive shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, and will enter into force on 7 January 2019. Entry 51 of Annex XVII to REACH Regulation is replaced by the following: ...