Restart of TTIP negotiations  ข่าวโดย..Su March 1, 2016, Author: Greta Stieger - In an article published on February 22, 2016 by the non-profit organization CHEM Trust, Ninja Reineke informs that the twelfth negotiation round on the Transatlantic Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the U.S. and the EU has started in Brussels, Belgium. This round will focus on regulatory cooperation within TTIP, Reineke writes.....

http://www.foodpackagingforum.org/news/restart-of-ttip-negotiations

EFSA: Update on HDPE recycling for FCMs  ข่าวโดย..Su March 2, 2016, Author: Greta Stieger - On March 1, 2016 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a scientific opinion identifying substances from the Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) “for which the most severe exposure threshold value (i.e. 0.15 µg/person/day) is applicable.” The European Commission (EC) instructed EFSA’s Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) to do so in order to provide supplementary information on its 2015 opinion on two post-consumer high-density polyethylene (HDPE) recycling processes to be used for food contact materials (FCMs). In February 2015, the CEF Panel had concluded that additional data is required to finalize its safety assessment of HDPE recycling processes ‘Biffa Polymers’ and ‘CLRrHDPE’ “for the manufacture of recycled bottles for milks and fruit juices and trays for animal products” (FPF reported)....

http://www.foodpackagingforum.org/news/efsa-update-on-hdpe-recycling-for-fcms

New tools available to estimate environmental emissions of biocides  ข่าวโดย..Su ECHA/NI/16/10 ; Easy-to-use calculation sheets are available for 10 biocidal product-types to help estimate the release of substances from the products to the environment. Sheets for other product-types will follow in the course of 2016.
Helsinki, 4 March 2016 – The tools should be used in combination with the emission scenario documents for biocides. The calculation sheets are currently available for the following product-types (pt): Disinfectants.....

http://echa.europa.eu/view-article/-/journal_content/title/new-tools-available-to-estimate-environmental-emissions-of-biocides

Evaluation report 2015: checking for key data gaps on substances of potential concern  ข่าวโดย..Su ECHA/PR/16/02 ; In 2015, ECHA focused its dossier evaluation activities on substances that matter the most for human health and the environment. In the majority of the cases, data on one or more key endpoints was missing to conclude whether the substance is of concern or not. ECHA encourages registrants to read and follow the recommendations of its report to improve their dossiers.
Helsinki, 25 February 2016 - In 2015, ECHA followed its new compliance check strategy to prioritise and select substances that raise potential concern. The focus was on checking high-tonnage registration dossiers with human health and environmental data gaps and with a high potential for worker, consumer or environmental exposure. Dossiers of 107 such substances were assessed, covering 853 (eco)toxicology endpoints. In 88 cases, relevant data was missing mostly due to poorly justified waiving of standard tests. For these, ECHA issued draft decisions requesting the registrants to provide the standard information or an adaptation complying with the requirements. Most of the requests were related to pre-natal developmental toxicity and mutagenicity endpoints.....

http://echa.europa.eu/view-article/-/journal_content/title/evaluation-report-2015-checking-for-key-data-gaps-on-substances-of-potential-concern

REACH 2018: Work together to share data and its costs  ข่าวโดย..Su ECHA/PR/16/03 ; The requirement to share data between companies registering the same substance is one of the fundamental aspects of the REACH Regulation. By doing this, registrants can reduce the costs and avoid unnecessary testing, especially on vertebrate animals.
Helsinki, 1 March 2016 – An important step towards successful REACH registration is getting organised with your co-registrants. How this is done depends on whether the substance is already registered or not. Setting up the cooperation is the third phase of the REACH Roadmap for 2018.....

http://echa.europa.eu/view-article/-/journal_content/title/reach-2018-work-together-to-share-data-and-its-costs

ECHA stabilises guidance two years ahead of the 2018 REACH deadline  ข่าวโดย..Su ECHA/NA/16/08 ; ECHA will refrain from further updates to REACH guidance documents that impact registration from 31 May 2016 onwards.
Helsinki, 2 March 2016 – The Agency will apply a two year ‘moratorium' on updates to the majority of its guidance on REACH before the 31 May 2018 deadline. It concerns any guidance that explains the registration requirements. The moratorium is set to begin on 31 May 2016. The purpose of this stand-still period is to provide a sufficiently long period of stability for future registrants to undertake their preparations and negotiations in the substance information exchange forums (SIEFs) undisturbed. Guidance documents will only be updated during the moratorium in rare cases, e.g. when REACH legislation has been modified or IT tools updated. However, the Agency recognises that some aspects of guidance directly related to registration (such as the Guidance on Registration itself and the Guidance on data sharing) will still be under consultation after 31 May 2016. Further updates on which documents will be subject to change during the moratorium will be given by ECHA before 31 May 2016.....

http://echa.europa.eu/view-article/-/journal_content/title/echa-stabilises-guidance-two-years-ahead-of-the-2018-reach-deadline

Recommendations for BPA risk management  ข่าวโดย..Su March 4, 2016, Author: Ksenia Groh - On March 3, 2016 The Dutch National Institute for Public health and the Environment (RIVM) released the second part of its report on bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7). This document issues recommendations for risk management of BPA as human health and environmental hazard. The first part of RIVM’s report on BPA, providing an overview of human and environmental issues associated with this compound, was released in 2014 .....

http://www.foodpackagingforum.org/news/recommendations-for-bpa-risk-management

Revised Korea REACH - The Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals  ข่าวโดย..Su 24 February 2016 original article from CIRS, Updated in June 2013, The Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (known as Korea REACH) passed the plenary session of the National Assembly in Korea on April 30, 2013 and has come into force on Jan 1, 2015. The purpose of this Act is to protect public health and the environment through these provisions: Registration of chemical Substances; Screening of hazardous chemical substances; Hazard and risk assessment of products containing chemical substances and hazardous substances; Sharing information of chemical substance...

http://www.cirs-reach.com/news-and-articles/revised-korea-reach---the-act-on-the-registration-and-evaluation-of-chemicals.html

Boost for non-animal toxicology testing  ข่าวโดย..Su 3 February 2016, Simon Hadlington - US researchers have taken a step forward in a large-scale collaborative effort to develop ways of assessing compounds’ toxicity without relying on laborious, expensive and ethically contentious animal experiments. New results from the Tox21 initiative, a multi-centre project in the US, suggest that it should be possible to predict the toxicity of a compound by measuring how it interferes with a range of different processes in cultured cells. Potentially toxic molecules identified by such tests could then be singled out for more detailed investigation.

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2016/02/non-animal-toxicology-testing-tox21

Revised Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (TCSCA) in Taiwan  ข่าวโดย..Su 18 February 2016 original article from CIRS, The revised Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (TCSCA) in Taiwan was officially promulgated by President Ma Ying-jeou on 11 December 2013. The English version of the full text of the revised TCSCA (Non-official translation) can be downloaded here free for charge...

http://www.cirs-reach.com/news-and-articles/revised-toxic-chemical-substances-control-act-tcsca-in-taiwan.html

REACH-EN-FORCE 3----Highest OR Non-Compliance Rate  ข่าวโดย..Su 5 January 2016 original article from CIRS, The final report of the 3rd enforcement project: “Inspection and enforcement of compliance with registration obligations by manufacturers, importers and only representatives in close cooperation with customs.” (REACH-EN-FORCE 3) has been officially published on 10 December 2015. There are 2 phases in the 3rd project, there are in total 1169 companies and 5746 substances involved. The Phase I inspection was initiated in 2013 in the 28 member states, the report was published in June 2014. The Phase II inspection was initiated during Feb 2014 to Nov 2014 in 24 countries involving 641 companies and 2681 substances. The inspection targets include EU manufacturers, importers and Only Representative (OR). The emphasis in this project of inspection was to check if companies comply with registration obligation in the article 5 and 6. There were about 13% of the inspected companies did not fulfill their registration obligations, which includes 2% companies did not register anything under the regulation. SME occupies about 70% of the inspected companies...

http://www.cirs-reach.com/news-and-articles/reach-en-force-3-highest-or-non-compliance-rate.html

EU FCM policy briefing  ข่าวโดย..Su Non-profit organization HEAL publishes policy briefing on regulation of FCMs in the EU; prioritizes regulation of paper and board, varnishes and coatings, and printing inks; calls for ban of SVHCs and EDCs in food contact materials...

http://www.foodpackagingforum.org/news/eu-fcm-policy-briefing

Testing physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials  ข่าวโดย..Su New OECD evaluation of testing methods for physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials available. In an article published on February 19, 2016 the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA) informs that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released a new document evaluating endpoints and methods for testing physico-chemical properties of nanomaterials...

http://www.foodpackagingforum.org/news/testing-physico-chemical-properties-of-nanomaterials

Substitution means innovation  ข่าวโดย..Su New report by non-profit organization ChemSec shows that regulating and substituting hazardous chemicals promotes innovation, safer and better products, and overall economic benefits. ...

http://www.foodpackagingforum.org/news/substitution-means-innovation

Oligomers from plastic FCMs reviewed  ข่าวโดย..Su The diversity of oligomeric migrants increases with new (co)monomer varieties used in plastic production; quantitative analysis and toxicological evaluation are challenging...
In a scientific review paper published online on January 28, 2016 in the peer-reviewed journal Trends in Food Science & Technology, Hoppe and colleagues from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Germany provide a comprehensive overview of oligomers potentially migrating from polymeric food contact materials (FCMs), covering their formation pathways, analytical methods and migration data. Oligomers consist of 2 to 40 monomeric units and can be linear, branched or cyclic. They are formed as a result of either incomplete polymerization or subsequent degradation (thermal or hydrolytic) of polymeric material. The variety of possible oligomers constantly increases with the introduction of novel monomers and monomer combinations on the FCM market. Such a diversity, accompanied by the dearth of appropriate analytical standards, makes both qualitative and quantitative characterization of oligomeric migrants, as well as evaluation of their toxicity, a challenging task....

http://www.foodpackagingforum.org/news/oligomers-from-plastic-fcms-reviewed

US Osha consults on weight of evidence guidance  ข่าวโดย..Su 18 February 2016 / The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) has released for consultation draft guidance on how to apply a weight of evidence approach when classifying substances under the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). In 2012, Osha updated the HCS to bring it line with the UN's Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of chemicals classification and labelling. Included in the GHS's set of criteria for evaluating the health hazards of a substance is the “weight of evidence” (WoE) approach....

https://chemicalwatch.com/45234/us-osha-consults-on-weight-of-evidence-guidance

US committee considers chemicals for EPA low-dose review  ข่าวโดย..Su 18 February 2016 / An independent committee of experts in the US has considered using phthalates, the dioxin TCDD and bisphenol A as case studies in a systematic review process for assessing low-dose effects associated with endocrine disrupting chemicals. The National Research Council’s Low Dose Committee was established following a request from the EPA for guidance on how to assess low-dose toxicity for chemicals affecting the oestrogen, androgen or thyroid pathways. It will select two or more case studies to illustrate a “systematic” review that integrates data from epidemiological as well as toxicological studies.

https://chemicalwatch.com/45195/us-committee-considers-chemicals-for-epa-low-dose-review

China approves final standard on GHS codes and hazard statements  ข่าวโดย..นภดล 17 February 2016 / China’s Standards Administration (SAC) has approved a recommended national standard that describes the phrases and hazard codes that labels must carry. It comes into effect on 1 January 2017. The standard is called GB/T 32374-2015: Phrase and Codification of Chemical Hazard Statements. It has been developed by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) and is based on the fourth revised edition of the UN Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of chemicals classification and labelling.

https://chemicalwatch.com/45202/china-approves-final-standard-on-ghs-codes-and-hazard-statements

Improving how substances are evaluated  ข่าวโดย..Su An external report suggests that further improvements can be made to substance evaluation under REACH. While significant advances have been made, the report recommends changes to improve workability and efficient use of resources for registrants and authorities.
Helsinki, 18 February 2016 - A report commissioned by ECHA to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, transparency and workability of substance evaluation under REACH, found the information on ECHA's website to be fairly comprehensive and fit for purpose. The report mentions several positive aspects, particularly noting the valuable contribution that the integrated screening for candidate substances has had on selecting substances for the Community rolling action plan (CoRAP)...

http://echa.europa.eu/view-article/-/journal_content/title/improving-how-substances-are-evaluated

ECHA gives out registration data to support development of non-test methods  ข่าวโดย..Su Helsinki, 11 February 2016 – The new software, called AMBIT, for cheminformatic data management is developed under an industry-led project. It consists of a database of more than 450 000 chemical structures and functional modules allowing the data to be searched and mined. The aim of the tool is to avoid unnecessary testing on animals when filling information gaps on chemicals...

http://echa.europa.eu/view-article/-/journal_content/title/echa-gives-out-registration-data-to-support-development-of-non-test-methods