From the Government of Mexico – Draft procedures for conformity assessment of Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-028-STPS-2004, Organization of work-safety processes chemicals. A google translate version of the amendments here:

That pursuant to the provisions of Articles 73 of the Federal Law on Standardization and Metrology and 80 of its Rules of Procedure, it is necessary to establish procedures for conformity assessment of standards Mexican official, when required for official purposes of verifying compliance the same;

That conformity assessment is determining the degree of compliance with the Mexican official standards and includes among others, the sampling procedures, testing, calibration, verification and certification;

Click on the link above for the Google translate version, or click for the Spanish version.

From the Government of Mexico – Draft amendments to the Norma Oficial Mexicana NOM-017-STPS-2001, Personal Protective Equipment-selection, use and management in the workplace, to be as PROY-NOM-017-STPS-2007, Personal Protective Equipment – Selection, use and management in the workplace. A google translate version of the amendments here:

The Bill clarifies, updates and supplements the health and safety requirements with which employers must have in the workplace for the selection, use and management of personal protective equipment (PPE), with the aim to protect workers physical agents and working environment which can damage their health and integrity.

It reorganizes the standard for ease of application and the procedure is included conformity assessment that establishes the criteria for compliance with each provision, which gives legal certainty to individuals in the process of inspection and verification centres work.

The draft changes the identification and selection of an EPP Mandatory Appendix to a Reference Guide, which gives the employer the option to use other methods to determine the personal protective equipment for their employees and visitors center work. This means an improvement since it was reduced from three to two, the tables for determining the personal protective equipment, which allows better information management and the precise contents of the records of the selection of protective equipment staff.

Click on the link above for the Google translate version, or click here for the Spanish version.

From The Government of Canada:

Canada’s food supply is increasingly global in nature and many Canadians are seeking clearer information about the foods they buy. Recognizing this, the Government of Canada is taking action to improve the labelling information on food products and to help Canadians make better purchasing decisions.

Following the launch of the Healthy Canadians website on October 24th, 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced Canada’s Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan on December 17th, 2007, with the goal of ensuring Canada’s product safety standards are second to none.

As part of the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, the Government committed to reviewing the policy on the use of “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” claims on food labels and advertising.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered on this commitment on May 21, 2008, by unveiling the new Canadian Food Labelling Initiative together with Gerry Ritz , Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The new Canadian Food Labelling Initiative improves the definition of “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” on food labels and advertising, to ensure that Canadians can be more clear about the food products they purchase. These proposed guidelines are outlined in the Discussion Paper found on this page.

See the above link and the Discussion Paper for more information.

From the Malaysian Star:

THE annual meeting of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) was held in Ottawa during the first week of May. Hosted by the government of Canada, the 36th meeting of CCFL was attended by close to 300 delegates representing 72 member countries, one Member Organization, European Community and 27 international organisations…

After almost 50 years, the Programme has established the Codex Alimentarius (Latin, meaning food law or food code). This is a collection of standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations that serve to provide guidance to governments for their respective national food control systems. It aims to achieve international harmonisation in food quality and safety requirements.

More than 200 specific commodity standards for individual foods or groups of foods have been developed. In addition, a number of horizontal standards have been published to cover general topics, including food labelling, nutrition and foods for special dietary uses, food additives, contaminants and methods of analysis and sampling…

A full report of the 36th Session of CCFL can be obtained from www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp in the next few weeks.

More information can be found by clicking on the links.

From FoodNavigator.com:

Six flavouring agents used in a variety of foods are cleared by Europe’s risk assessor but industry is still awaiting the outcome for seven other agents evaluated at the same time…

Following evaluations of 13 aliphatic secondary alcohols, ketones and related esters, a scientific panel at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that there was no safety concern at estimated levels of intake for six of the 13 substances…

The FGE.63 evaluation concerned 13 aliphatic secondary alcohols, ketones and related esters evaluated by the JECFA (59th meeting), and considered in relation to the EFSA evaluation of 35 saturated and unsaturated aliphatic secondary alcohols, ketones and esters of secondary alcohols and saturated linear or branched-chain carboxylic acids evaluated in the Flavouring Group Evaluation 07 (FGE.07).

But for the remaining six of the 13 Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) evaluated aliphatic secondary alcohols, ketones and related esters [FL-no: 07.015, 07.123, 07.151, 07.240, 07.249 and 09.924] the panel found “no safety concern at estimated levels of intake as flavouring substances” based on the MSDI (Maximised Survey-derived Daily Intake) approach.

Click on the above link for the full article.

From the EPA – two final rules for pesticide tolerances. First: Fluopicolide:

This regulation establishes tolerances for residues of fluopicolide in or on vegetable, root, subgroup 1A, except sugar beet and carrot; vegetable, leaves of root and tuber, group 2; vegetable, bulb, group 3-07; and Brassica, head and stem, subgroup 5A. Interregional Research Project Number 4 (IR-4) requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). In connection with a request for new uses of the active ingredient, fluopicolide, the Agency has also evaluated the toxicity and exposure databases for 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) which is a common metabolite/degradate of dichlobenil and fluopicolide. Further characterization of fluopicolide and its metabolite BAM, will be discussed herein of this document.

Second: Hexythiazox:

This regulation establishes tolerances for combined residues of hexythiazox in or on corn, field, grain; corn, field, stover; and corn, field, forage. Gowan Company requested these tolerances under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA).

As always, click on the links for more details.

From the FDA – Food Labeling: Health Claims; Dietary Noncariogenic Carbohydrate Sweeteners and Dental Caries – Final Rule:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is adopting as a final rule, without change, the provisions of the interim final rule that amended the regulation authorizing a health claim on noncariogenic carbohydrate sweeteners and dental caries, i.e., tooth decay, to include isomaltulose as a substance eligible for the health claim. FDA is taking this action to complete the rulemaking initiated with the interim final rule.

This rule is effective May 27, 2008.

Click on the above link for the full details.

From the EPA:

In accordance with section 6(f)(1) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), as amended, EPA is issuing a notice of receipt of requests by the registrant to amend their registrations to terminate certain uses of products containing the pesticide disulfoton. The request would terminate disulfoton use in or on barley and wheat. The request would also terminate the use of the 15% granular formulation of disulfoton, Di-Syston 15G, (EPA Reg. No. 264-723) on broccoli and ornamentals (commercial uses). Additionally, the request would terminate the use of Di-Syston 15G and the emulsifiable concentrate formulation of disulfoton, Di-Syston 8 EC, (EPA Reg. No. 264-734) on potatoes. The registrant’s request includes amending the disulfoton technical product registration (EPA Reg. No. 264-725) to terminate potato, barley, and wheat uses. The request would not terminate the last disulfoton products registered for use in the United States. EPA intends to grant this request at the close of the comment period for this announcement unless the Agency receives substantive comments within the comment period that would merit its further review of the request, or unless the registrant withdraws the request within this period. Upon acceptance of this request, any sale, distribution, or use of products listed in this notice will be permitted only if such sale, distribution, or use is consistent with the terms as described in the final order.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 20, 2008.

Click on the above link for more information.

Another important notice from the EPA:

“Environmental Hazard General Labeling Statements on Outdoor Residential Use Products.” This PR Notice was issued by the Agency on May 9, 2008 and is identified as PR Notice 2008-1. PR Notices are issued by the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) to inform pesticide registrants and other interested persons about important policies, procedures, and registration related decisions, and serve to provide guidance to pesticide registrants and OPP personnel. This particular PR Notice provides guidance to the registrant concerning new environmental hazard statements that are designed to replace language created for agricultural products with statements that are easier for consumers to understand. The new environmental hazard statements are divided by
product type (e.g., liquid ready-to-use, broadcast granular), and recommends specific language for each product type to minimize risks to the human health and the environment, with emphasis on reducing risks to water. Revisions to product labels using these new statements may be made by notification.

Click on the above link for the full details.

From the EPA:

EPA is announcing a public comment period for the external review draft document titled, “Toxicological Review of Carbon Tetrachloride: In Support of Summary Information on the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)” (EPA/635/R-08/008A). The EPA intends to consider comments and recommendations from the public and the expert panel meeting, which will be scheduled at a later date and announced in the Federal Register, when EPA finalizes the draft document. The public comment period will provide opportunities for all interested parties to comment on the document. EPA intends to forward public comments submitted in accordance with this notice to the external peer-review panel prior to the meeting for their consideration.

The public comment period begins May 21, 2008, and ends July 21, 2008. Technical comments should be in writing and must be received by EPA by July 21, 2008.

Click on the above link for the full details.