Consumer Products | Monthly bulletin | August 2022

Eurofins newsflash Consumer Products

Chemical | Cosmetics & Personal Care | Softlines & Leather | Toys, Childcare & Hardlines

Chemical

Europe

Recent European Council decisions

The following table lists some of recent European Council decisions:

Summary of the Most Recent publications
Date	Code	Title
27/06/2022	ST/7009/2022/INIT	Council Decision (EU) 2022/997 of 7 April 2022 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants as regards the proposal for amendment of Annex A to that Convention.

Open letter of support for the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability

In June of 2022, eight EU Members States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Spain and Sweden) wrote an open letter to pledge strong support for the European Chemicals Strategy for sustainability to the European Commission.

The Ministers of Environment highlighted the following points:

The Chemicals Strategy’s is a reality.
Ensuring that consumer products are free from the most harmful substances, should be a top priority. A target year should be included in the regulation.
Derogations from the generic approach should only be allowed if their use is deemed ‘essential’. They caution against any combination of essential use and state it must be underpinned by clear criteria.
The introduction of one or several mixture assessment factors in risk assessment will be a cornerstone to ensure the protection of citizens and future generations.
Member States can take initiatives for new measures and to share the work with the European Commission and the European Chemicals Agency.
The Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability is a stepping-stone for establishing and maintaining non-toxic material cycles.

The essential aim is to achieve a clean circular economy for future generations.

Recent updates regarding REACH Regulation

The below table provides a summary of some recent updates (non-exhaustive) regarding REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006:

Summary of the Most Recent Updates
Date	Subject	Link
17/06/2022	The annual report on Faster action on groups of harmful chemicals (Integrated Regulatory Strategy) was published.	For more information, consult the ECHA’s website here.
29/06/2022	New intention has been received for melamine (EC 203-615-4, CAS 108-78-1) to identify a substance of very high concern.	For more information, consult the ECHA’s website here.

Other interesting links about REACH from the ECHA’s website

Other interesting links about CLP from the ECHA’s website

Technical publications

The following table lists recent publications related to chemicals:

Date

Country

Authority

Comments

11/07/2022

Germany

BfR ( German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment)

Plastic particles enter the environment from weathering and decaying polymer materials. Microplastics are considered to pose a comparatively low risk to human health. It is between one micrometre (millionth of a metre, unit µm) and five millimetres (thousandth of a metre, unit mm) in size and thus too "bulky" to be absorbed by human cells to any significant extent and distributed in the body. It is indigestible and is largely excreted again. But how do cells react to micro- and nanoplastics?

BfR has pubished an article on this matter. See publication here.

24/06/2022

Europe

AISE

(International Association for Soaps,

Detergents and Maintenance Products)

Economic analysis of the impacts to the detergents, maintenance and cleaning products industry of the chemicals strategy for sustainability.

For more information, consult the AISE website here.

Notifications to The World Trade Organization

The following table lists recent published notifications related to chemicals:

Date	Code	country/ Region	Title
08/06/2022	G/TBT/N/EU/897	Europe	Draft Commission Regulation amending Annex XVII to Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards lead and its compounds in PVC
28/06/2022	G/TBT/N/CHE/272	Switzerland	Draft amendment of the Annexes 2, 3, 4 and 7 of the Ordinance on Protection against Dangerous Substances and Preparations (Chemicals Ordinance)

Hawaii Passes New PFAS Law

Hawaii has recently approved HB 1644 to prohibit the manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of the following products containing PFAS chemicals:

Food Packaging:
- Wraps and liners
- Plates
- Food boats
- Pizza boxes
Class B firefighting foams

The manufacture, sale, distribution or use of the specified food packaging products containing intentionally added PFAS will be prohibited from December 31^st, 2024.

The manufacture, sale, or distribution for training or testing purposes of class B firefighting foam products containing intentionally added PFAS will be prohibited from July 1^st, 2024. Manufacturers of class B firefighting foam containing intentionally added PFAS will be required to notify any retailers of their products by January 1^st, 2023 and recall the product and reimburse the retailer or any other purchaser for the product.

Rhode Island Passes New PFAS Law

Rhode Island has recently signed 2022 H 7438 A to prohibit the sale and distribution of food packaging that contains intentionally added PFAS substances, effective January 1^st, 2024.

Under the rule, the following terms are defined as:

“Food packaging” is defined as any package or packaging component that is applied to or in direct contact with any food or beverage.

“Package” is defined as a container providing a means of marketing, protecting or handling a product and shall include a unit package, an intermediate package and a shipping container as defined in ASTM D996, which includes unsealed receptacles as carrying cases, crates, cups, pails, rigid foil and other trays, wrappers and wrapping films, bags and tubs.

California Signs Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act

On June 30^th, 2022, the State of California signed into law SB 54 to establish the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. The new Act will require that certain single-use packaging and single-use plastic food service ware (“covered material”) offered for sale, distributed, or imported into California is recyclable in the state or eligible for being labeled “compostable” by January 1^st, 2032. The covered material must also meet specified recycling rates by specific time periods:

At least 30% recycled by January 1^st, 2028;
At least 40% recycled by January 1^st, 2030; and
At least 65% recycled by January 1^st, 2032.

Additionally, the new Act will also prohibit a producer from selling, offering for sale, importing, or distributing covered materials in the state unless the producer complies with the Act individually or is approved to participate in the product responsibility plan of a product responsibility organization (PRO) for source reduction, collection, processing, and recycling of a covered material. Various requirements will be imposed on PROs and producers, including registration, reporting, recordkeeping, and auditing requirements, and preparing a budget and annual report. PROs will be required to establish a charge for its participant producers sufficient to ensure the requirements of the Act are met by the PRO, and would therefore impose a tax.

Canada

Canada Amends 5 Regulations Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA)

Canada has recently issued SOR/2022-122 ‘Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (Surface Coating Materials)’. Under SOR/2022-122, the following regulations made under the CCPSA that set requirements for applied coating materials are amended:

Surface Coating Materials Regulations
Toy Regulations
Cribs, Cradles and Bassinets Regulations
Expansion Gates and Expandable Enclosures Regulations
Playpens Regulations

The amendment includes the following revisions:

Expands the meaning of a surface coating material to include surface coating materials that do not “dry” on application, such as powder coatings that are applied electrostatically;
Expands the application for other decorative coating materials that may be applied to products during manufacture to include materials such as stickers or films;
Expands the 90 mg/kg total lead limit for applied coating materials to all furniture, not only furniture that are considered children’s products;
Limits the restrictions on lead, mercury and certain other harmful elements in coating materials applied to parts of products that are accessible;
Removes an outdated test method for certain harmful elements in applied coating materials;
Requires testing in accordance with a method that conforms to good laboratory practices; and
Ensures consistency across CCPSA regulations.

SOR/2022-122 will become effective on December 19^th, 2022.

Canada Prohibits Certain Single-Use Plastics

Canada has recently issued SOR/2022-138 ‘Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations’ to prohibit the following products with different enforcement dates:

Single-use plastic ring carriers
Single-use plastic straws
- Exemptions:
  - Selling single-use flexible straws in non-commercial, non-industrial and non-institutional settings
  - Business selling a package of 20 or more single-use flexible straws to another business
  - Retailer selling a package of 20 or more single-use flexible straws to a customer if the customer requests and the package is not displayed in a manner that permits the customer to view the package without the help of a store employee
  - Retailer selling single-use flexible straws to a customer if the straw is packaged together with a beverage container and the packaging was done at a location other than the retail store
  - Hospitals, medical facilities, long-term care facilities or other care institutions selling single-use plastic flexible straws to patients or residents
- Single-use plastic checkout bags
- Single-use plastic cutlery
- Single-use plastic foodservice ware
- Single-use plastic stir sticks

A summary of the timelines for the enforcement dates for the different single-use plastic products and activities is shown below in Table 1:

Table 1:

	Manufacture and Import	Sale	Export
Check-out bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, stir sticks, straws	December 20^th, 2022	December 20^th, 2023	December 20^th, 2025
Ring carriers	June 20^th, 2023	June 20^th, 2024
Flexible straws packed with beverage container	-	June 20^th, 2024

Singapore

Singapore Regulates 5 New Chemicals Under the Environmental Protection and Management Act

Singapore has recently published N. S 435 ‘Environmental Protection and Management (Hazardous Substances) (Amendment) Regulations 2022’ and N. S 436 ‘Environmental Protection and Management Act 1999 (Amendment of Second Schedule) Order 2022’ to regulate 5 new chemicals as hazardous substances with no specific exemptions on uses. Manufacturers, importers, and sellers of the 5 new hazardous substances will be required to obtain a license after March 1^st, 2023. The 5 new hazardous substances are:

Amitrole
Dechlorane plus
Iprodione
Nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates
UV-328

International

Notifications to The World Trade Organization

The following table lists recent published notifications related to chemicals:

Date

Code

country/ Region

Title

27/06/2022

G/TBT/N/COL/259

Colombia

Resolution No.634 of 17 June 2022 "prohibiting, in accordance with the Montreal Protocol, the

manufacture and importation of equipment and products that contain the controlled substances listed in Annexes A, B, C, E and F of the Montreal Protocol and/or that require those substances in order to be operational or to function, and adopting other provisions.

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Cosmetics & Personal Care

Support your multi-sourcing process

The cosmetic industry is being confronted with an increasing demand for raw materials, following a period of slower activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These materials are difficult to obtain, not only due to global crises such as COVID-19 and political conflict, but also various warehouse fires in Europe, all of which have impacted the transport and distribution chain.

Sourcing and securing raw materials is therefore a major challenge for all manufacturers in the cosmetic sector. To prevent the economic consequences of these disruptions, many are looking to establish sources elsewhere and switch supply chains locally.

However, the addition of new supply sources complicates the development process of a cosmetic product.

The Regulatory Affairs Officer and Toxicologist Teams at Eurofins C&PC Regulatory & Toxicology can provide you with personalised support during your multi-sourcing process, including:

Validation of the material according to your blacklist and the reference material
Approval/evaluation of the new source
Updating regulatory documents, such as the Product information File, Material certificates, etc.
Possible revision of the product safety assessment.

Learn more

Further expanding our clinical study capabilities in Guangzhou, China

The Eurofins Cosmetics & Personal Care network has completed a new extension of its Guangzhou clinical laboratory to further support its growth in China. In line with the companies’ strategy, China remains a key growth market for innovative and strong regulated products.

The new extension is fitted out with fully optimised equipment, controlled areas, archive rooms, and more, allowing for high accuracy and efficiency. The expanded facility is designed to be agile in response to the rapid increase of business in the clinical testing sphere, to best serve all local, regional and global customers.

ISO 9001 and CMA (China Metrology Accreditation) certified, with a NMPA (National Medical Products Administration) testing system (NMPA code 20210293), the laboratory offers clinical safety and efficacy tests for cosmetics in compliance with the Chinese regulation, “Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics”.

Our strong and comprehensive capabilities in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Dongguan enable us to support the fast-growing demand and ever-changing Chinese beauty industry.

Learn more

Eurofins C&PC Awarded Silver and Gold medals in EcoVadis Corporate Social Responsibility assessment

Several of the laboratories in the Eurofins Cosmetics & Personal Care network have been awarded silver and gold medals to signify their EcoVadis Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The EcoVadis assessment evaluates how well a company has integrated the principles of CSR into its business and management systems. It examines categories including environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement, and assesses the performance of companies across multiple sectors.

Our teams continue to work incredibly hard to achieve our ambitious sustainability goals and we are extremely proud that our commitments to the this and the environment, ethics and equality are recognised.

Learn more

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Softlines & Leather

Europe

Textile Digital Product Passport for 2024

The European Commission are working to have a Digital Product Passport for textiles in 2024.

It is one of several measures that the European strategy for sustainable and circular economy want to implement with the aim of ensuring consumers are informed on the environmental impacts of their purchases and that products are more durable, reliable, reusable, upgradable, reparable, energy and resource efficient, and easier to maintain, refurbish and recycle.

In the case of textiles, the Digital Product Passport could cover aspects such as:

Working conditions under which products are manufactured, reused or recycled
Environmental footprint of the product
Bill of materials (BOM)
Presence of hazardous chemicals including substances of concern used in production
Use of recycled content
Durability/expected lifetime
Microplastics release

In 2022, the European Commission has proposed the co-creation of transition pathways. The process of co-creation with stakeholders was kicked-off in the second quarter of 2022, and by the end of 2022, this process should result in an agreed vision for the ecosystem and specific pledges.

For more information, Consult the European Commission’s website here.

Standards updates

The below table summarises the most recent standard updates and upcoming dates of withdrawal (non-exhaustive):

(*) Date of withdrawal: latest date by which national standards conflicting with an EN (and HD for CENELEC) have to be withdrawn.

CEN
Reference	Title	*Date of withdrawal ()**	Supersedes
EN 17651:2022	Leather - Description, labelling and marking of leather goods	2023-01-31
EN 16223-1:2022	Leather - Requirements for the designation and description of leather in upholstery and automotive interior applications - Part 1: Upholstery applications	2023-01-31	EN 16223:2012
EN 16223-2:2022	Leather - Requirements for the designation and description of leather in upholstery and automotive interior applications - Part 2: Automotive interior applications	2023-01-31	EN 16223:2012
EN 16779-2:2022	Textile child care articles - Safety requirements and test methods for children's cot duvets - Part 2: Duvet covers (excluding duvet)	2023-01-31
EN ISO 24584:2022	Textiles - Smart textiles - Test method for sheet resistance of conductive textiles using non-contact type (ISO 24584:2022)	2023-01-31

Plastic Packaging Tax

On the 1^st of April 2022, the plastic packaging tax came into force in the UK. This new tax applies to plastic packaging components designed to contain, protect, handle, present and /or deliver goods.

This tax does not apply to plastic packaging composed of at least 30% or more recycled plastic.

The responsible person/entity for the packaging must register for Plastic Packaging Tax if they:

Expect to import into the UK or manufacture in the UK 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging components in the next 30 days.
Have imported into the UK or manufactured in the UK 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging components since 1 April 2022.

The 10 tonnes of plastic packaging components can be a combination of manufactured and imported packaging. The responsible person/entity must register within 30 days of reaching the 10 tonnes threshold; otherwise, a financial penalty may be issued.

The UK authorities have published guidance ,with examples, on packaging that does and doesn’t fall into the scope of this tax and other points as how to work out the percentage of recycled plastic.

For more information, consult the GOV.UK’s website here.

Vietnam

Vietnam Enforces New Product Labeling Rules

Vietnam’s new product labeling rule, Decree No. 111/2021/ND-CP, went into effect on February 15^th, 2022, replacing Decree No. 43/2017/ND-CP. Under the new rule, consumer goods must contain the following mandatory labeling information:

Product name
Name and address of responsible entity
Country of origin
Other mandatory information of specific product category as prescribed in Appendix I

Under entry 25 of Appendix I, the following additional information is required on labels of garments and footwear made of textile or leather:

Material composition
Technical features
Warnings
Care instructions
Year of production

The new rule also specifies that all labeling information must be in the Vietnamese language.

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Toys, Childcare & Hardlines

Europe

New ‘Blue Guide’ 2022

On the 29^th of June 2022, the new version of “Blue Guide” was published, a “Guide to the application of the directives drawn up on the basis of the provisions of the new approach and the global approach”.

The first version of the guide was published in 2000 and has since become one of the main explanatory reference documents for the implementation of New Approach legislation, now covered by the New Legislative Framework (NCL).

This guide has been designed to contribute to a better understanding of EU product regulations and to a more uniform and coherent application of these regulations in the different sectors and across the single market.

It is aimed at Member States and other interested parties who need to be informed about the provisions aimed at guaranteeing the free movement of products and a high level of protection throughout the Union (trade associations, consumer associations, standards bodies, manufacturers, importers, distributors, conformity assessment bodies and trade unions, for example).

This guide is a guidance document. It applies to EU member states and countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), as well as Switzerland and Turkey, in certain cases.

Standards updates

The below table summarises the most recent standard updates and upcoming dates of withdrawal (non-exhaustive):

(*) Date of withdrawal: latest date by which national standards conflicting with an EN (and HD for CENELEC) have to be withdrawn.

(**) Date of announcement: latest date by which the existence of an EN (and HD for CENELEC), a TS or a CWA has to be announced at national level.

CEN
Reference	Title	*Date of withdrawal ()**	Supersedes
EN ISO 19403-1:2022	Paints and varnishes - Wettability - Part 1: Vocabulary and general principles (ISO 19403-1:2022)	2022-12-31	EN ISO 19403-1:2020
Reference	Title	Date of Announcement ()**	Supersedes
CEN ISO/TS 19392-1:2022	Paints and varnishes - Coating systems for wind-turbine rotor blades - Part 1: Minimum requirements and weathering (ISO/TS 19392-1:2018)	2022-09-30
CEN ISO/TS 19392-2:2022	Paints and varnishes - Coating systems for wind-turbine rotor blades - Part 2: Determination and evaluation of resistance to rain erosion using rotating arm (ISO/TS 19392-2:2018)	2022-09-30
CEN ISO/TS 19392-3:2022	Paints and varnishes - Coating systems for wind-turbine rotor blades - Part 3: Determination and evaluation of resistance to rain erosion using water jet (ISO/TS 19392-3:2018)	2022-09-30

Technical publications regarding Toys

The latest publications by several entities related to consumer products and circular economy include:

Date	Country/ Region	Entity	Publication
16/06/2022	Germany	BfR (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment)	Opinion No 013/2022 Boron in Viscous Masses Such As Toy Slime and Bouncing Putty - Health Impairments for Children Are Not Considered Likely
05/07/2022	France	DGCCRF (Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes)	Investigative report 2020: Toy safety under surveillance. The DGCCRF do controls of the toy sector every year. In July, the 2020 report was published with the results of this investigation.
07/07/2022	France	ANSES (Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail)	Improvements in the regulation of hazardous substances in school supplies ANSES highlights the need to review the regulations and step up the monitoring of products due to the presence of several classes of hazardous chemicals in supplies used in schools, homes, and offices. For more information, consult the ANSES’s website here.

Updated standards list for toys

On the 3^rd of August 2022 The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy issued a notice of proposal to publish no. 0063/22 providing new designated standards in support of the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/1881).

The list of published standards in Annex I are proposed to be amended as follows:

EN 71-2:2020 - Flammability
EN 71-3:2019+A1:2021 - Migration of certain elements
EN 71-4:2020 - Experimental sets for chemistry and related activities
EN 71-7:2014+A3:2020 - Requirements and test method
EN 71-12:2016 - N-Nitrosamines and N-nitrosatable substances
EN 71-13:2021 - Olfactory board games, cosmetic kits and gustative games

The references to standards are proposed to be published and accordingly designated at 00.01 on the 29^th day beginning with the date of this notice unless this notice is withdrawn or amended before that date. Subject to this, the implementation date will be the 1^stof September 2022.

Any objection to the proposed publication for this purpose may be made to designatedstandards@beis.gov.uk using the objection form.

This update will align the UK requirements with the current list of harmonised standards in support of the European Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC, in terms of standards that give presumption of conformity. However, EN 62115 (Electric toys - safety) will still be misaligned.

Plastic Packaging Tax

This tax does not apply to plastic packaging composed of at least 30% or more recycled plastic.

The responsible person/entity for the packaging must register for Plastic Packaging Tax if they:

Expect to import into the UK or manufacture in the UK 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging components in the next 30 days.
Have imported into the UK or manufactured in the UK 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging components since 1 April 2022.

The UK authorities have published guidance, with examples, on packaging that does and doesn’t fall into the scope of this tax and other points as how to work out the percentage of recycled plastic.

For more information, consult the GOV.UK’s website here.

CPSC Updates Safety Standard for Infant Bathtubs

On June 24^th, 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a direct final rule (16 CFR 1234) to update the mandatory Safety Standard for Infant Bath Tubs. The final rule incorporates the latest version of ASTM F2670-22, Standard Consumer Safety Specifications for Infant Bath Tubs, with no modifications.

ASTM F2670-22 includes new requirements for latching and locking mechanisms as well as marking and labeling requirements for battery-powered infant bath tubs.

The direct final rule will become effective on September 24^th, 2022.

CPSC Updates Safety Standard for High Chairs

On July 18^th, 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a final rule (16 CFR 1231) to update the mandatory Safety Standard for High Chairs. The final rule incorporates the latest version of ASTM F404-21, Standard Consumer Safety Specifications for High Chairs, with no modifications.

ASTM F404-21 includes revisions and clarifications for stability testing.

The direct final rule became effective on July 23^rd, 2022.

Hawaii Passes New PFAS Law

Hawaii has recently approved HB 1644 to prohibit the manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of the following products containing PFAS chemicals:

Food Packaging:
- Wraps and liners
- Plates
- Food boats
- Pizza boxes
Class B firefighting foams

The manufacture, sale, distribution or use of the specified food packaging products containing intentionally added PFAS will be prohibited from December 31^st, 2024.

Rhode Island Passes New PFAS Law

Rhode Island has recently signed 2022 H 7438 A to prohibit the sale and distribution of food packaging that contains intentionally added PFAS substances, effective January 1^st, 2024.

Under the rule, the following terms are defined as:

“Food packaging” is defined as any package or packaging component that is applied to or in direct contact with any food or beverage.

California Signs Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act

At least 30% recycled by January 1^st, 2028;
At least 40% recycled by January 1^st, 2030; and
At least 65% recycled by January 1^st, 2032.

Canada

Canada Amends 5 Regulations Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA)

Surface Coating Materials Regulations
Toy Regulations
Cribs, Cradles and Bassinets Regulations
Expansion Gates and Expandable Enclosures Regulations
Playpens Regulations

The amendment includes the following revisions:

Expands the meaning of a surface coating material to include surface coating materials that do not “dry” on application, such as powder coatings that are applied electrostatically;
Expands the application for other decorative coating materials that may be applied to products during manufacture to include materials such as stickers or films;
Expands the 90 mg/kg total lead limit for applied coating materials to all furniture, not only furniture that are considered children’s products;
Limits the restrictions on lead, mercury and certain other harmful elements in coating materials applied to parts of products that are accessible;
Removes an outdated test method for certain harmful elements in applied coating materials;
Requires testing in accordance with a method that conforms to good laboratory practices; and
Ensures consistency across CCPSA regulations.

SOR/2022-122 will become effective on December 19^th, 2022.

Canada Prohibits Certain Single-Use Plastics

Canada has recently issued SOR/2022-138 ‘Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations’ to prohibit the the following products with different enforcement dates:

Single-use plastic ring carriers
Single-use plastic straws
- Exemptions:
  - Selling single-use flexible straws in non-commercial, non-industrial and non-institutional settings
  - Business selling a package of 20 or more single-use flexible straws to another business
  - Retailer selling a package of 20 or more single-use flexible straws to a customer if the customer requests and the package is not displayed in a manner that permits the customer to view the package without the help of a store employee
  - Retailer selling single-use flexible straws to a customer if the straw is packaged together with a beverage container and the packaging was done at a location other than the retail store
  - Hospitals, medical facilities, long-term care facilities or other care institutions selling single-use plastic flexible straws to patients or residents
- Single-use plastic checkout bags
- Single-use plastic cutlery
- Single-use plastic foodservice ware
- Single-use plastic stir sticks

A summary of the timelines for the enforcement dates for the different single-use plastic products and activities is shown below in Table 1:

Table 1:

	Manufacture and Import	Sale	Export
Check-out bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, stir sticks, straws	December 20^th, 2022	December 20^th, 2023	December 20^th, 2025
Ring carriers	June 20^th, 2023	June 20^th, 2024
Flexible straws packed with beverage container	-	June 20^th, 2024

China

China approves 3 Amendments to Mandatory National Toy Standards

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued Announcement No. 9 of 2022 on July 13^th, 2022, approving 3 amendments to mandatory national standards for toys.

National Standard Number	Standard Title	Implementation Date
GB 6675.2-2014	Safety of toys – Part 2. Mechanical and physical properties. Amendment 1	2022-07-13
GB 6675.11-2014	Safety of toys – Part 11: Swings, slides and similar activity toys for indoor and outdoor family domestic use. Amendment 1	2023-02-01
GB 19865-2005	Safety of electric toys. Amendment 1	2022-07-13

Vietnam

Vietnam Enforces New Product Labeling Rules

Product name
Name and address of responsible entity
Country of origin
Other mandatory information of specific product category as prescribed in Appendix I

Under entry 25 of Appendix I, the following additional information is required on labels of garments and footwear made of textile or leather:

Material composition
Technical features
Warnings
Care instructions
Year of production

The new rule also specifies that all labeling information must be in the Vietnamese language.

International

Regulatory proposals notified to WTO

The table below summarises the most recent notifications made to the World Trade Organization (WTO) (non-exhaustive):

Notification number	Countries	Title
G/TBT/N/PRY/134	Paraguay (Mercosur)	Draft Common Market Group (GMC) Resolution -Amendment to GMC Resolution No. 46/06 "MERCOSUR Technical Regulation on metallic packaging, linings, utensils, lids and equipment in contact with foodstuffs (Amendment to GMC Resolutions Nos. 27/93, 48/93 and 30/99)")

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