Hardlines

With the Christmas period now over, manufacturers and retailers of toys are being advised to look at how they can improve their supply chains to ensure products match consumer expectations to avoid their return. The toy industry has seen some contraction – globally it is reported to be down 3% but in certain territories, such […]

Brazil has established a positive list of additives for food contact plastics and polymeric coatings. Published on December 4, 2019 by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, ANVISA), Resolution of the Collegiate Board of Directors No. 326 of December 3, 2019 (Resolução de Diretoria Colegiada No. 326, de 3 de

After water, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. It is estimated 281 billion liters were consumed in 2019 and this is a trend that is destined to continue to rise. Around the world, teabags are becoming a staple in many markets. For example, in the UK 96% of tea is purchased

In December 2019, Turkey published two notifications that more closely align its regulations for food contact plastics with those of the European Union’s Regulation (EU) 10/2011. The two notifications are: Notification No. 2019/43 under Number 30989 (Repeat) of December 25, 2019 ‘Turkish Food Codex Communication on Food Simulants used in Migration Tests for Plastic Materials

In July 2019, Colombia published an Emergency Technical Regulation covering the migration of specific heavy metals from food contact glass, ceramics and similar products. Published by the Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social) as Resolution 1893 of July 16, 2019 (Resolución Número 1893 de 2019 (16 JUL 2019)),

Turkey has updated its Toy Safety Regulation (Oyuncak Güvenliği Yönetmeliği (OGY)) to strengthen various chemical provisions and further its alignment with Directive 2009/48/EC, the so-called European Toy Safety Directive (TSD). Regulation Number 30988 was published on December 24, 2019. It contains several important changes to the OGY, including: – Strengthening the migration limits for: Chromium

India has revised its import policy for toys, effective December 2, 2019. The new policy, published as Notification No. 33/2015-2020, amends the previous set of requirements published in Notification No. 26/2015-2020 in September 2017. The set of requirements published in 2017 contained, inter alia, two important provisions: 1) Requiring certification that confirms toys conform to

The Ministry of Science and Technology of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has announced the introduction of new technical regulation on toy safety. The new regulation, QCVN 3:2019/BKHCN, and published under Circular Number 09/2019/TT-BKHCN of September 30, 2019, will update QCVN 3:2009/BKHC. The new regulation, as with the old, applies to toys for children under

In November two reports into food contact materials and articles (FCMs) were published in Europe that may ultimately impact the manufacturers of such products containing bamboo and melamine-formaldehyde resin: On November 25, 2019, the German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment (BfR) issued a risk assessment study on the use of FCM made from melamine-formaldehyde resin