Toys & Hardlines regulatory updates October 2022
European forced labour products ban proposal
On 19 September 2022, the European Commission opened a public consultation related to the draft European regulation on prohibiting products made through forced labour (COM(2022)453 final) until 30 November 2022.
European Standards related to GPSD in development
On 27 September 2022, the CEN and CENELEC Consumer Safety Network (CSN) meeting was held. CSN is an Expert group composed of member states’ representatives that assists the European Commission in the implementation of Directive 2001/95/EC on General Product Safety (GPSD).
The following table summarises the most recent standard updates and upcoming dates of withdrawal (non-exhaustive).
Tethered caps for beverage containers
In May 2019, the European Commission published the Directive (EU) 2019/904 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment. It states, in article 6, that beverage containers, caps and lids made from plastic may be placed on the market only if the caps and lids remain attached to the containers throughout the products’ intended use. The Commission requested that the European standardisation organization (CEN) develops harmonised standards relating to this requirement.
Miscellaneous technical publications relating to food contact materials
The latest publications in relation to food contact materials are summarised in the following table.
Miscellaneous technical publications relating to consumer products
The latest publications in relation to consumer products are summarised in the following table.
Recent publications by ANSES (French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) related to consumer products include.
CPSC approves new mandatory standard for clothing storage units
On 19 October 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved a new federal mandatory safety standard for clothing storage units (CSUs) that will significantly change the testing and labelling requirements for CSUs. The new standard will address the risk of injury or death of young children from tip over incidents with CSUs, which includes products such as chests, bureaus, dressers, armoires, wardrobes, chests of drawers, drawer chests, chifforobes and door chests.
US EPA proposes to update voluntary consensus standards for composite wood products
On 29 March 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to update several voluntary consensus standards in the EPA’s formaldehyde standards for composite wood products regulations under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Connecticut passes new lighter regulation
The State of Connecticut has recently approved SB 185 to prohibit the offering of or selling counterfeit, novelty, or unsafe lighters.
See a table summarising some recent ASTM standards updates.
India amends food contact materials regulation
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has recently issued the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Second Amendment Regulations, 2022 to add 2 new chemicals to its requirement list for specific migration limits in plastic food contact materials. With the addition of antimony and DEHP, the number of substances with migration limits will be expanded to 9 chemicals. Please see Table 1 below to see the full list of specific migration limits of substances from plastic food contact materials.
Taiwan prohibits asbestos-containing products
The Environmental Protection Agency of Taiwan has recently issued Circular No. 1111111106 to prohibit the import of products containing asbestos, effective 1 May 2023. The prohibition will not apply to the following products.
Hong Kong to increase cost of plastic bags
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region recently issued a Press Release to announce that three pieces of subsidiary legislation for enhancing the Plastic Bag (PSB) Charging Scheme were passed by the Legislative Council. The three subsidiary legislations amend the Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance (Cap. 603) and the Product Eco-responsibility (Plastic Shopping Bags) Regulation (Cap. 603A) with the following changes:
The New Zealand government is banning certain hard-to-recycle plastics and will phase out six single-use items over the next four years. This marks the beginning of New Zealand’s move towards a low waste and circular economy. See the following summary table outlining the three main tranches of the country’s fight against plastics.
New requirements for ornaments and accessories
On 23 September 2022, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia published the Technical regulation for ornaments and accessories.
New version of international safety of toys standard
In September 2022, the International Organization for Standardization published the Safety of toys — Part 1: Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties. It cancels and replaces ISO 8124-1:2018, ISO 8124-1:2018/Amd.1:2020 and ISO 8124-1:2018/Amd.2:2020.
Safety Gate RAPEX (European Commission Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products – Alerts reported by EU national authorities).
OPSS issues Product Safety Alerts on the UK market. The following alerts regarding toys and childcare products were reported between week 38 and week 41 of 2022.
From 29 September 2022 to 20 October 2022, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published the following recalls.
