Japan wants to improve work safety when dealing with chemicals and is considering modifications of its Health and Safety Law. The measures being planned are based on a report, How to Manage Chemicals in the Workplace (in Japanese only), published by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW)…
Since the start of the year, Regulation (EU) 2020/878 has been in effect, which modifies Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH). Annex II defines the requirements for the creation of an SDS. The changes affect the content and format of an SDS. The new Regulation has two principal...
At the beginning of May, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) published the final version of its regulation on handling with new chemicals. The new MEE Order 12 (Chinese only) replaces MEP Order 7 and takes effect on January 1, 2021. The previous Order remains in force until then. The new...
By the middle of the year, the EU Commission wants to update Annex II of REACH (Guide to the Compilation of Safety Data Sheets, SDSs), aligning the requirements for SDSs with the sixth and seventh revised editions of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS). The European Parliament and Council of Ministers are currently examining the draft...
The Gulf countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates seek to develop common regulations based on the fifth edition of the GHS. The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) Standardization Organization (GSO), a standardization organization of the member states and Yemen, has published a draft regulation that the member states can react to until...
As of this September, Assembly Bill No. 647 applies in California. The law requires manufacturers and importers of cosmetics to publish online the safety data sheets (SDSs) on hazardous chemicals and/or chemical mixtures in cosmetics along with chemicals used as disinfectants. The information must appear in Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese. We...
The European Commission has scheduled a feedback period from September 12 to October 10 on its proposed changes to Annex II of REACH. The changes relate to the requirements for safety data sheets (SDS) and are to apply as of January 1, 2020. What are the specific changes? First, the contents of the Annex...
The EU Commission has reacted to calls from industry associations (see: Poison Centers: ECHA Opens Submission Portal for Hazardous Mixtures), and prepared a new draft regulation. According to the draft, the reporting period for mixtures used by consumers is being moved from January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021. Furthermore, the draft indicates that…
The New Zealand (Ministry for the Environment (MfE) is seeking to improve its Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO) and has already published some suggestions. From August 19 to September 30, stakeholders can make their positions known as part of a public consultation. The goal of the initiative is to replace hazardous chemicals with harmless alternatives more quickly. Although...
