From the NHPD Monthly Communiqué:

The Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD) would like to inform all applicants that in accordance with Section 93(1) (Next link will open in a new window) Section 93 (1)(b)(v) of the Natural Health Product Regulations, it is necessary to fully disclose on the label all information on the composition of blends used in the manufacture of natural health products. This includes the disclosure of both the medicinal ingredient (MI) and the quantity of each MI in the finished product.

The NHPD recognizes that this has been an issue for industry stakeholders, particularly when the company considers that disclosure of information may harm their competitive advantage, or when medicinal ingredients contained in “proprietary blends” are not disclosed to the applicant by the manufacturer of the blend. That being said, Section 93 (1) (b) (v) of the Natural Health Products Regulations (NHPR) explicitly requires that the quantity of all medicinal ingredients be listed on the label.

The full details can be found by clicking on the above link.

From ChinaDaily:

The European Union (EU)’s new chemical regulation will severely impact the Chinese chemical industry, suggested Yan Bangsong, deputy chairman of China Chamber of Commerce of Metals Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters (CCCMC), according to the Shanghai Securities News.

The new regulations, known as REACH, or Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, were passed by the European Parliament and the Council of EU on December 18, 2006.

Officials said REACH’s aim is to “ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment,” and “enhance competitiveness and innovation”.

REACH entered into force on June 1 this year, and will be formally implemented on June 1 of 2008, said Zhou Chun, director of CCCMC’s petrochemical department….

The overall estimated expense for a single kind of product during the licensing procedures accounts to between two and three million yuan (US$266,372 to 399,558) under REACH. Just the basic examination fees will total roughly one million yuan.

Click on the link above for the full story.

A very short entry on how REACH and GHS are impacting one company:

Two new chemical regulations, REACH and GHS, will enter into force in 2008, to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the harmful effects of chemicals.

REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and restriction of Chemicals) applies to manufacturers and importers of substances placed on the European market above 1 ton per year.

The GHS (Globally Harmonized System of Classification, Labelling and designing of Safety Data Sheets of Chemicals) will apply worldwide. The GHS is included into REACH. Under these regulations the burden of the “no risk” proof is now for the producers and importers of chemicals.

The challenges for ArcelorMittal are to ensure the relevancy and consistency of the toxicological and ecotoxicological data provided to the European Chemicals Agency as well as to comply with the huge compulsory registration process, which will induce high registration fees and testing costs. Since June an Implementation Platform and the ArcelorMittal REACH & GHS Implementation Task Force have been set up.

Nexreg has more information on GHS at the following links:

• GHS Strategic Planning (English)
• 全球统一制度战略规划 (Chinese – Simplified)
• Planification stratégique SGH (French)
• 化学品の分類と調和に関する世界調和システム (GHS) 戦略的計画 (Japanese)
• GHS 전략 기획 (Korean)
• Planificación Estratégica de GHS (Spanish)

To speak to a Nexreg representative about how GHS or REACH will impact your company, please call or e-mail Nexreg at:

Nexreg Toll Free: 1-866-361-3032
Nexreg Canada: (519)488-5126 (London, ON)
Nexreg UK: +44 020 7993 5893 (London, UK)
Nexreg USA: (206)418-6663 (Seattle, WA)
E-mail:info@nexreg.com

From Semiconductor International:

The European Union’s Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) program, signed into law June 1, 2007, has cost implications that could make manufacturing in Europe overly expensive, said Dawn Speranza, an Intel Corp. environmental, health and safety (ESH) engineer…

By 2010, REACH requires that the chemicals used in high volumes, or that present high levels of concern, must be registered. The deadlines stretch out as far as 2018 for registration of relatively benign chemicals, or those used in small volumes. By one estimate, the total REACH program will impact 30,000 companies and 30,000 different chemicals. Substances judged to present high risks could be banned and removed from European semiconductor fabs, she noted, estimating that there may be as many as 20 chemicals that could be challenged as unsafe. Now, Intel lawyers and lobbyists in Europe are working to reduce the number of chemicals that could be strictly controlled. The law requires toxicology testing and other expensive procedures intended to guard against environmental damage and harm to human health…

The situation is similar in China, a nation that has signed international agreements on environmental controls, including the Stockholm Accords, which go into effect in 2010. Speranza said, “For a chemical that has never been registered in China, we estimate that it will cost Intel $150,000 to $200,000 per substance for the toxicity testing alone.” Intel announced in March that it is building a chip factory in Dalian, China.

See the article for the full details.

Nexreg has more information on REACH at the following links:

• REACH Compliance Consulting (English)
• REACH gesetzliche Übereinstimmung Consulting (German)
• Consultoría de conformidad con el REACH (Spanish)
• Consultation de conformité REACH (French)
• REACH適合性コンサルティング (Japanese)
• REACH 준수 컨설팅 (Korean)
• REACH Conformiteit (Dutch)
• REACH 合规咨询 (Chinese – Simplified)

To speak to a Nexreg representative about how REACH will impact your company, please call or e-mail Nexreg at:

Nexreg Toll Free: 1-866-361-3032
Nexreg Canada: (519)488-5126 (London, ON)
Nexreg UK: +44 020 7993 5893 (London, UK)
Nexreg USA: (206)418-6663 (Seattle, WA)
E-mail:info@nexreg.com

An article from the Royal Society of Chemistry:

Agrochemical producers have warned that amendments to new European Union legislation on pesticides will lead to a drastic reduction in the crop protection agents available to farmers if they become law.

The European Parliament backed the changes on 23 October, voting in favour of tighter safety rules that would prohibit pesticides containing, for example, neurotoxic chemicals or substances poisonous to bees. MEPs also voted in favour of drawing up a list of acceptable active substances at EU level that would provide the basis for approvals of new pesticides by member states.

The additional proposed cut-off or hazard criteria would effectively ban 75 per cent of the active ingredients used in pesticides and remove over 90 per cent of insecticides from sale, according to the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), which represents agrochemical producers.

See the full article for all the details.

From The Baltimore Sun:

On Monday Greenpeace released a report criticizing Apple’s iPhone for containing environmentally hazardous chemicals. “Steve Jobs has missed the call on making the iPhone his first step toward greening Apple’s products. It seems Apple is far from leading the way for a green electronics industry as competitors like Nokia already sell phones free of PVC,” said Zeina Alhajj, identified on Greenpeace’s Web site as the organization’s “toxics campaigner.”

To compound matters, the Greenpeace report inspired the Center for Environmental Health to initiate legal action against Apple under California’s Proposition 65 law, which says products containing toxins must carry a warning label.

See the full article here: Greenpeace Knocks iPhone.

From FoodProduction Daily.com:

Informal discussions are taking place on working documents from the Commission, that could go on to form the basis of harmonised EU rules governing plastic materials and articles in contact with food, the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) reported.

Harmonising the rules would make it easier for processors to trade under the same requirements across the EU, where a hodgepodge of regulations exist on the use of recycled plastic by the food sector.

“Under this draft proposal, a system will be put in place that will allow a person or company to apply for an authorisation to use a specified process to recycle food contact plastics for further use in contact with food,” the FSA reported.

See the article for full details.

From Health Canada:

Health Canada is reviewing its policy on the use of precautionary statements for food allergens such as “may contain …” and other similar label statements to provide better information to the consumer. These statements are used by industry to identify when priority food allergens may have unintentionally been introduced into foods during the manufacturing process.

It is estimated that as many as 1.2 million Canadians suffer from food related allergies. In addition, it is estimated that 1 in 133 people are afflicted with Celiac disease. For these people, a precautionary statement can be an important tool to help them choose foods that will not trigger their food allergy or sensitivity.

However, since these statements were first introduced in 1994, there has been a dramatic increase in their use and in the variety of statements being used by industry to identify the potential presence of allergens in food. Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have heard from consumers who have indicated that their level of confusion related to these statements is on the rise. This could lead to the statements being ignored and consumers eating foods that could trigger very serious and even life threatening allergic reactions.

The full release available from Health Canada. Nexreg will be watching this very closely, both for our clients in the food industry and for our CEO, who is one of the Canadians that is afflicated with Celiac disease.

From Occupational Health and Safety:

A complete U.S. ban on production, manufacture, and distribution of asbestos is suddenly within sight, after the U.S. Senate’s unanimous approval Oct. 4 of S. 742, the Ban Asbestos in America Act of 2007…

S. 742 would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act; establish a national mesothelioma registry within one year that is set up by CDC, NIOSH, and ATSDR; and start a public information campaign about the hazards of asbestos-containing materials. Forty countries worldwide have similar bans in place.

The full article is available from From Occupational Health and Safety.

Reuters details another case of the EU finding aflatoxins in food products:

The European Union has tightened food safety rules on peanuts from Brazil due to high levels of a cancer-causing chemical in shipments, officials said on Friday.

The decision, taken by a panel of EU-27 national food safety experts, was designed to limit the risk of aflatoxins entering Europe from the South American agricultural powerhouse…

Aflatoxins, which pose a risk of liver cancer even at very low doses, occur naturally and are produced by moulds in soil, decaying vegetation, hay and deteriorating grains. Their growth is aided by high moisture content and high temperatures.

The full article available from Reuters.