Consumer Products

SGS, the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company, is informing stakeholders that the US state of New York has expanded regulatory measures covering flame retardants in consumer products. The State Governor signed S4630B (companion A5418B) – ‘Family and Fire Fighter Protection Act’ – into law on December 31, 2021. It adds a new Title […]

SGS, the world’s leading testing, inspection and certification company, is reminding stakeholders that the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has added perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and its salts to the Proposition 65 (Prop 65) list of restricted chemicals. The announcement was made on December 29, 2021, with PFNA and its salts being listed

The Canadian province of Quebec has repealed its act requiring upholstered and stuffed articles to have a permit and label. The National Assembly of Quebec passed Bill 103 on December 9, 2021, bring the province into line with Ontario and Manitoba, who repealed their regulations in 2019 and 2020 (respectively). Effective immediately, the act reduces

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) releases report showing the majority of the 5,730 products bought online and inspected as part of the REACH-EN-FORCE-8 project (REF-8 project) failed to conform to European Union (EU) chemical regulations. The report was published on December 8, 2021. It details an EU-wide enforcement project conducted in 2020 to measure compliance with

SGS informs manufacturers and suppliers of consumer products to US markets of Senate Bill S.3278 – ‘Reese’s law’ – which, if signed into law, aims to protect children and other consumers from the hazards posed by accidental ingestion of button cells or coin batteries. Introduced on November 30, 2021, and named after Reese Hamsmith, an

The European Union (EU) has expanded its list of carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMR) category 1B substances in Annex XVII of REACH. Published on December 14, 2021, Regulation (EU) 2021/2204 expands the list of CMR category 1B substances in each of the three CMR categories falling under entries 28 to 30 of Annex XVII. The

Switzerland announces further legislative alignment with European Union (EU) Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 ‘Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals’ (REACH). In October 2021, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) announced its intentions to add 26 substances listed under REACH as carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic (CMR) category 1A or 1B to Annex 1.10 of

Switzerland announces its intention to expand its Candidate List of substances of very high concern (SVHC) under Annex 3 to the Ordinance on Protection against Dangerous Substances and Preparations (Chemicals Ordinance). The announcement was made by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) in October 2021. The proposed expansion is an alignment with recent changes

Switzerland has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its proposal to align its Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance (ORRChem) with recently adopted European Union (EU) restrictions on dangerous substances, preparations and articles. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) circulated the notification in November 2021. The proposal will align ORRChem with recently adopted provisions in

The European Commission (EC) has published a draft regulation to set a limit value for hexachlorobenzene (HCB). The proposal has been issued under Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (POP Recast Regulation). The EC website states that the draft regulation has a limit of no more than 10 mg/kg for HCB. The EC will