EU RoHS revision proposal delayed
According to the report released by Chemical Watch on July 13, 2022, the EU has delayed the publication of its proposal revision of the EU's Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). The proposal was originally planned for publication by the end of the year, but the process of reviewing the Directive has required more time than initially foreseen. The European Council and Parliament may negotiate the proposal in the remainder of 2023 into 2024, and RoHS 3 will be agreed by the end of 2024 and "probably coming into force about 2027".
Canada Revises Several Regulations on Surface Coating Materials under the CCPSA
On June 22, 2022, Canada issued Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (Surface Coating Materials) (SOR/2022-122, the Regulation) to amend the requirements for surface coating materials across five regulations under the CCPSA for consistency. These five regulations are: Cribs, Cradles and Bassinets Regulations (SOR/2016-152), Expansion Gates and Expandable Enclosures Regulations (SOR/2016-179), Playpens Regulations (SOR/2018-186), Surface Coating Materials Regulations (SOR/2016-193), and Toys Regulations (SOR/2011-17). The Regulation contains, inter alia, several important provisions. It broadens the definition of a surface coating material; expands the application for other decorative coating materials that may be applied to products during manufacture; widens the scope of no more than 90 mg/kg total lead for applied coating materials from furniture for children to all furniture; restricts lead, mercury and certain harmful elements in coating materials applied to accessible parts of products.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published its work programme of UK REACH for 2022-2023
On Jun, 2022, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published its work programme of UK REACH for 2022-2023. HSE has set the following targets during Y2022-2023 to complete, such as complete technical assessments to support the addition of up to 5 substances to the UK REACH SVHC list, and publish restriction dossiers on lead in ammunition and substances in tattoo inks and permanent make-up, and begin public consultations. HSE will perform regulatory management option analysis (RMOA) for up to 4 items such as PFAS, bisphenol A and formaldehyde, and evaluate LCCPs and 2,2'-Diallyl-4,4'-sulfonyldiphenol in Rolling Action Plan (RAP). HSE will also complete the processing of received applications.
AskREACH finds many consumer products still contain harmful chemicals
On Jun 30, 2022, a comprehensive test on swimming, gardening and DIY products all across Europe released by the 'LIFE AskREACH' project showed about 1/3 of 106 articles from 13 EU countries contain at least 1 SVHC and 10 articles contained SVHCs above the threshold of 0.1% by weight., someeven in very high concentrations. In the scope of the product tests, 25 articles that have already been entered in the AskREACH database have also been analyzed the accuracy of the data provided to consumers. Only one of these articles contained SVHCs above 0.1% by weight. The respective company has already been asked to provide the correct information.
Thailand Issues New Legislation for Food Contact Plastics
On June 17, 2022, Thailand issued a new set of new rules for food contact plastics which repealed Notification of the Ministry of Public Health (No. 295) B.E. 2548 (2005) and entered into force on June 18, 2022. It contains several important points, such as: set out the general safety requirements; provides a new definition for containers made of plastic and containers made from recycled plastics, the latter product category has specified rules for recycling processes to manufacture food contact recycled plastics; requires plastic containers for milk and dairy products to be made from polyethylene (PE), ethylene 1-alkene copolymerized resin, polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) or polyethylene terephthalate (PETP) ; prohibits plastic containers as food contact plastic articles if these have been used to package fertilizers or other hazardous substances and so on.