On August 17, 2023, EU Regulation 2023/1542 (EU Battery Regulation) went into effect. With a few exceptions, it will apply as of February 18, 2024. With the new regulation for batteries and waste batteries, the EU is creating a harmonized legal framework for the EU internal market that regulates all…
The South Korean Ministry of the Environment (Press release in Korean only) is now revising the K-REACH, the Korean Chemicals Act. Two changes are important for companies operating in South Korea. First, future registrations will be mandatory only for new substances manufactured or imported in quantities of one ton or…
As of August 24, 2023, all manufacturers, importers, formulators, or downstream users of diisocyanates are required to have their employees trained if they handle substances or mixtures containing diisocyanates in a concentration of 0.1% or more by weight. Regulation 2020/1449 prescribes this training. The EU is also planning new occupational…
The European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) has criticized the slow pace of substance registration under Turkey REACH (KKDIK) and called for the KKDIK registration deadlines to be postponed by at least two years. The Association stated that so far, only 1,400 substances have been registered, with about 7,000 still pending….
As part of its revision of REACH, the EU now wants to subject fewer substances to an accelerated restriction procedure than it originally planned. The procedure is to apply to substances in articles that have a high potential of exposure to consumers and professionals. According to the current version of…
The EU’s plan to restrict the use of five bisphenols (bisphenol A [BPA], bisphenol [BPB], bisphenol S [BPS], bisphenol F [BPF] and bisphenol AF [BPAF]) will drive up the price of recycling plastics. That’s the prediction of Plastics Recyclers Europe, an industry association. Their reasoning? The recycling industry would have…
The EU Commission plans to limit perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), its salts, and its precursor compounds for use in: Textiles, leather, furs, hides, and outdoor clothing Related accessories like handbags and footwear Paper and cardboard that come into direct contact with food (food contact materials: FCMs) Mixtures meant for the general…
As part of the new EU implementation project, REACH-EN-FORCE 13 (REF-13), beginning in 2025, EU inspectors will check to see if products sold online meet legal requirements. The inspectors will focus on compliance with REACH restrictions for products such as toys, household goods, and chemicals and whether mixtures are classified,…
Companies that trade with Great Britain still do not know the scope of the substance data they will be required to provide in the future or the costs they will incur. The Environmental Ministry estimates costs for industry of about £2 billion (around 2.34 billion euros) for the current registration…
At the beginning of July, the EU added 24 substances to the REACH Restriction List (in Appendices 2 and 6 of Annex XVII) and announced the change by publishing Regulation 2023/1132 to modify Annex XVII of REACH. All the CMR substances are classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction as…
