Feature Stories

Oct 21, 2014

U.S. FDA Releases Guidance Documents for Food Facility Registration Renewal

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released three guidance documents to help food facilities renew their registrations during the three-month renewal period beginning on…

Oct 13, 2014

Turkish Ministry Applies Additional Mandates for Imported Footwear

Details The Turkish Ministry of Economy recently implemented changes to the Communication of Import of Consumer Products – Product Safety and Inspections No. 2014/ 18 (communiqué at…

Oct 8, 2014

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Certificate of Compliance

There have been recent regulatory developments in the UAE with regards to building materials and fire suppression products. These developments require manufacturers/suppliers selling…

Oct 6, 2014

UL Acquires Advanced Furniture Testing

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – Oct. 6, 2014– UL, a global safety science leader, acquired today Advanced Furniture Testing, a Holland, Mich.-based privately held firm that provides performance and…

Oct 3, 2014

ECHA’s RAC Delivers Sixteen CLH Opinions

The European Chemical Agency’s (ECHA) Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) has adopted opinions for 16 harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) proposals for 16 substances, including the…

Oct 1, 2014

EC Proposes to Amend Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC Lead Limits

Details The European Commission (EC) is proposing to amend, for the purpose of adapting to technical progress, Annex II to Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council…

Sep 29, 2014

EC Proposes Adoption of Limit Values for Chemicals in Toys

Details The European Commission (EC) has proposed draft Commission Directive amending, for the purpose of adopting specific limit values for chemicals used in toys, Appendix C to Annex II…

Sep 26, 2014

CPSC Approves Safety Standard for High-Powered Magnet Sets

Details The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved a new national safety standard for high-powered magnet sets to protect the safety of consumers, especially young…

Sep 24, 2014

First UL battery laboratory in Europe opens

We are pleased to inform you that from October 2014 our first battery testing laboratory in Europe will be ready to support customers in the field of testing and certification of both cells…

Sep 24, 2014

Testing Solutions for Wearable Technologies

Wearable products are rapidly developing into an industry that will impact people’s daily lives from consumer electronics to medical devices. While this advancing technology may lead us to…

Sep 23, 2014

California Bill to Ban Microbeads Fails to Pass

California state bill AB 1699 banning microbeads – tiny bits of plastic used in a wide range of personal care products, including facial scrubs and toothpaste – has failed to go through the…

Sep 23, 2014

Canada Proposes Lead and Cadmium Limits in Children’s Jewelry

Health Canada has proposed new lead and cadmium limits for children’s jewelry, amending the Children's Jewellery Regulations. The objective of the proposal is to reduce children’s exposure…

Sep 23, 2014

EC Considers Reassessment of Chlorhexidine Safe Use Levels in Mouthwash

The European Commission is considering the need to reassess the safe use of the preservative chlorhexidine in mouthwash, according to a response by the EU Consumers' Commissioner Neven…

Sep 23, 2014

EPA Issues Three Final Risk Assessments for Three Chemicals Found in Common Household Products

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released three final risk assessments for specific uses of three chemicals found in common household products. The risk assessment for…

Sep 23, 2014

EU Approves Use of Tinosorb A2B for Cosmetics

The European Union has approved Tinosorb® A2B to be included in the positive list (Annex VI) of the EU Cosmetics Regulation No 655/2013. It is the first UV filter with particle sizes…

Sep 23, 2014

FDA Reviews Methods to Strengthen Program to Assess the Safety of Chemicals in Foods

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed a review of how the agency evaluates the harmful effects of chemicals in foods, cosmetics, dietary supplements, animal food/feed…

Sep 23, 2014

Germany Proposes to Introduce “Social Label” for Textiles

Germany’s Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development has initiated a project for the introduction of a “social label” for textiles due to growing health and environmental concerns. …

Sep 23, 2014

Hong Kong Releases New Microbiological Guidelines for Food

Hong Kong’s "Microbiological Guidelines for Food", published by the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, in effect as of on August 14, 2014,…

Sep 23, 2014

Japan’s MHLW Amends the Minimum Requirements for Biological Products

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) amended the minimum requirements for biological products to add the standard for a vaccine product to be newly approved. The amendment…

Sep 23, 2014

Korea Categorizes Wet Tissues as Cosmetics

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea announced that it would include wet tissues for sanitation purpose as cosmetics to raise quality supervision. Currently, they are categorized…