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News Alerts
Our compliance team track regulatory changes around the world to keep our clients up to date on exactly what they need to know. Here are some samples from the last few months.
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 Chemicals, Substances and Materials
12 new substances were recently added to the REACH Authorisation List (Annex XIV), bringing the total to 43. The EU also enacted the long-awaited Conflict Minerals Regulation establishing a supply chain due diligence system in order to prevent trade in tin, tantalum and tungsten (3Ts), their ores, and gold from armed groups and security forces in conflict affected or high-risk regions. In addition, the EU Commission enacted Decision (EU) 2017/1210 which identifies four phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, and DIBP) as Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs) due to their endocrine disrupting properties.
South Korea published an announcement proposing to amend the Enforcement Decree of Registration and Assessment of Chemical Substances, which would place restrictions on the use of SVHCs and improve the chemical substances registration process.
Taiwan published a Notice Requiring Additional Handling Information for Certain Priority Management Chemicals.
In Turkey, the long-awaited Regulation on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (KKDIK) was enacted which is modeled on the EU REACH Regulation in both form and content.
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 Climate Change
The big news on the climate change front this quarter was the announcement by US President Donald Trump that his Government was withdrawing from the UN Paris Climate Change Agreement. Formal notification was deposited with the UN on 4 August.
On a more positive note, Sweden enacted its Climate Policy Framework Act which legally binds them to reach net-zero emissions by 2045.
Croatia announced the launch of a public debate on the draft Strategy for Low-Carbon
Development for the period up to 2030.
In South America, Chile published its National Action Plan on Climate Change 2017-2022.
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 Consumer Protection
Singapore launched a public consultation on draft amendments to the Consumer Protection
Regulations. The proposed changes aim to remove obsolete products and introduce product
risk levels to the existing measures.
The Philippines issued a draft amendment to the Consumer Protection Act which will strengthen
consumer rights, and require foreign product labels to carry English or Filipino translations.
The UK issued a study on the consequences for consumer protection in the wake of Brexit. It
examines the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc on consumer protection under the
possible outcomes of European Economic Area (EEA) membership, a relationship governed by
WTO rules, or a relationship based on a tailor-made agreement, and concluded that EEA
membership is the most favourable scenario.
Jordan’s new consumer protection law came into effect in June containing provisions on the
rights of the consumer, product safety requirements, distance selling, advertising and the
establishment of the National Consumer Protection Council.
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 Energy Efficiency / Ecodesign / Ecolabeling
The new EU Energy Efficiency Labelling Regulation for Energy Related Products (Regulation
(EC) No 2017/1369) entered into force on 1 August 2017, providing a new refreshed labelling
model by returning to the A to G scale and removing the confusing A+, A++ and A+++
categories. Another major update is that suppliers must register their energy labelling
information in a new product database.
The EU ecodesign preparatory study for low pressure and oil free compressors (LOT 31) was
finalized in June, and will be used by the EU Commission to establish whether ecodesign
implementing measures are required for these products.
In June 2017, both Turkey and Montenegro published ecodesign regulations based on EU
legislation. Montenegro published 3 ecodesign regulations, two for lighting products and the
third on electric motors, whereas Turkey published a draft regulation aiming to further align
Turkish legislation with the EU Ecodesign Directive in a bid to strengthen its accession
application to the EU.
New energy efficiency regulations for electrical or hydrocarbon-fuelled appliances in Quebec,
Canada, entered into force in August 2017, approving requirements for numerous products,
including water heaters, air conditioners, boilers and heat pumps.
EPEAT which is a leading ecolabel for IT products, now offers ecolabeling for mobile phones.
US ENERGY STAR has proposed a revised testing procedure for imaging equipment, a revised
program and testing criteria for automatic commercial ice-makers, and updated program
requirements for set-top boxes.
The Vietnamese green label has proposed criteria for photocopiers and LED lamps, while the German Blue Angel environmental label has issued revised criteria for photocopiers.
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 E-Waste / WEEE
Ukraine proposed a draft law on the management of WEEE which is modeled on the EU WEEE Directive.
Brazil proposed Bill PL 7789/2017, establishing a national policy for the disposal and
reconditioning of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), in particular computer equipment.
An amendment to the National Omnibus Waste Law 2010 was also proposed requiring
manufacturers, merchants and suppliers to establish a system of discounts for customers who
take-back their used products when buying new products.
Chile approved a resolution requiring producers of EEE as well as other priority products
(batteries, packaging etc.) to report on quantities placed on the market and waste management
activities by using the Registry of Emissions and Transfer of Pollutants.
Portugal proposed an enormous draft decree-law in order to aggregate its existing laws on the
handling of waste from packaging, batteries, EEE and end-of-life vehicles into one unified text.
In Italy, Ministerial Decree No. 68/2017 entered into force on 11 June 2017 which sets out the
procedures for the provision of annual financial guarantees by producers of EEE.
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 Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
In June, China finally published its first draft RoHS 2 catalogue, introducing new products on a
phased basis, including refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines, water heaters,
photocopiers, printers, fax machines, monitors, personal computers, cell phones, telephones
and televisions. A draft RoHS Exemption Catalogue has also been released, providing 39
exemptions.
Taiwan RoHS reached a milestone in July, when marking of the presence of restricted
substances in certain products on the product itself, the packaging, a label or instruction booklet became mandatory. In addition to the safety and EMC mandatory conformity assessments,
automatic data processing machines, printers, photocopying machines, televisions, monitors
and monitors used in automatic data processing must indicate the presence of lead, cadmium,
mercury, hexavalent chromium, PBB and PBDE and must follow the new inspection
requirements.
Taiwan also published a draft amendment to the mandatory commodity inspection rules set out in Announcement 10530006420, with regard to 24 types of audio and visual equipment. The draft would postpone the RoHS compliance date for speakers, amplifiers, CD players, AV receivers, radio broadcast receivers and other audio and visual equipment to 1 July 2018.
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Product Safety
The EU Commission has reassured worried manufacturers that goods lawfully placed on the
single market before the UK’s withdrawal can continue to be made available on the UK market
and on the single market thereafter, under conditions set out in the relevant Union law on
product rules applicable on the withdrawal date. Directive (EU) 2017/898 was also published on
the safety of toys, decreasing the allowed migration limit for bisphenol A in toys from 0.1 to 0.04
mg/l.
Sweden published regulations to streamline and clarify rules on the use and control of pressure
equipment covering equipment such as boilers for power or heat, pressure vessels, storage
tanks for gas, and more.
In the Philippines, a draft Administrative Order sets out new rules on product certification under
their product safety technical regulations. It covers both manufactured and imported products
subject to mandatory certification (including EEE products, lamps and wiring devices) or
mandatory labeling.
Qatar also regulated on the issuance of conformity certificates for both imported and locally-
produced products satisfying standard specifications, outlining procedures to secure a
conformity certificate, along with information on the validity of certificates and inspections.
Mexico is revising its mandatory safety and testing requirements for control gear used in
artificial light sources for general lighting purposes.
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 Textiles
The US issued a draft amendment to the Textile Products Identification Labeling Rules to
remove provisions that require marketers to attach a label to textile products.
MERCOSUR released a draft Resolution on labeling requirements for textile products. It will
not affect products destined for export outside of Member States, and will repeal Resolution
GMC/RES No. 33/07 upon entry into force. It covers the labeling of yarns, trimmings and fabrics destined for trade, products intended for the processing industry, and information to be
submitted by producers for commercialization approval.
Saudi Arabia issued a draft Technical Regulation on Textile Products stipulating substance
restrictions, supplier obligations, labeling and conformity assessment procedures, among other
matters.
The EU’s amending Decision on the Ecological Criteria for the Award of the Ecolabel for Textile
Products came into effect in June, reworking the wording in section 1 to clarify exceptions
applicable when recycled fibres or organic cotton fibres are used, and in calculating the
percentage cotton required.
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 Wireless
The EU issued a guidance document for compliance with the new Radio Equipment Directive
(RED), whilst Bahrain issued a decision on the certification of short range radio equipment.
Pakistan issued a decision exempting certain wireless devices from requiring type approval/noc
from PTA and which may be directly imported as per customs procedure. These devices include
networking equipment, tablet PC with wifi only functionality (non-SIM based devices),
laptop/desktop/personal computers, GPS only devices, smart watches with bluetooth / wi-fi
functionality only (without SIM or tracking features), RFID/Bluetooth/NFC devices, Wi-Fi Access
Points operating in ISM Band (2.4-2.5 GHz, 5.725-5.875 GHz) and conforming to PTA ISM
Band Regulation SRO 287(I)/2016.
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Joe Skulski CEO
Presenter: Joanne O’Donnell, Global Regulatory Compliance Specialist, Compliance & Risks
Presenter: Robert Riley, MA Law, has twenty-five years’ experience of managing EH&S in both developed and developing markets across multiple industry sectors.
