Regulatory
REGULATORY NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 19, 2022
Our services will remain available during the holidays if you have any urgent requests. On behalf of the teams at Food Preventive Control Services Canada Inc. and Chemical Compliance CA Inc. we wish you, your families and friends all the very best this holiday season. The weekly newsletter will resume with the reopening of our offices on Monday January 2, 2023. The Codex Alimentarius Commission has adopted a series of new food safety standards at its 45th session which drew to a close on 13 December 2022. Eleven new texts include guidelines on ready-to-use therapeutic foods and on the management of biological foodborne outbreaks; a code of practice for the prevention and reduction of cadmium contamination in cocoa beans, and six new commodity standards. The Commission also established 476 new maximum residue limits for pesticides and 13 maximum levels for contaminants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reminding manufacturers that effective January 1, 2023, foods containing sesame will be subject to specific food allergen regulatory requirements, including labeling and manufacturing requirements. Sesame is joining the list of major food allergens defined in the law as the result of the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research (FASTER) Act, which was signed into law April 23, 2021. Sesame joins eight other major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. Registration is open for the eighth national Consumer Food Safety Education Conference (CFSEC 2023) being held in Crystal City, VA March 1-3, 2023. The Workplace Hazardous Products Program (WHPP) of Health Canada has been examining the consumer products exclusion under the Hazardous Products Act (HPA), where in accordance with section 12 and Schedule 1 to the HPA, the HPA does not apply to consumer products. Since consumer products are excluded, suppliers of these products are not required to provide safety data sheets or labels, posing potential risks to workers who use, handle and store consumer products that are hazardous products in the workplace. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has (CFIA) updated the Automated Shipment Inspection Status Search Tool (ASSIST) with an enhanced tool called the CFIA Shipment Tracker for Food, Plant and Animal products. All respondents were in favour of regulation of the pest and the majority supported the CFIA’s recommended option to add C. perspectalis on the List of Pests Regulated by Canada, create a regulated area for all of Ontario, and apply phytosanitary risk mitigation measures to the importation and domestic movement of Buxus spp. plants for planting. Canada has an opportunity to harness its ocean growth potential by building back better—and bluer. Growing a sustainable blue economy requires a strategy to create jobs in coastal communities while ensuring our oceans remain healthy. This guidance document was prepared in collaboration with the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water and assesses all available information on corrosion control in the context of drinking water quality and safety. The objective of the proposed regulatory amendments is to increase regulatory agility to keep pace with innovation and facilitate access to advanced treatments and promising therapies, while continuing to ensure authorized drugs and licensed medical devices are safe, effective, and subject to appropriate oversight. Effective December 20, 2022, the manufacture and import for sale of the following harmful single-use plastics in Canada will be prohibited: The ban on the manufacture and import of ring carriers will enter into force in June 2023 This inspection bulletin provides guidance pertaining to how to properly placard a commercial motor vehicle transporting flammable and/or combustible liquids that have been properly classified on a shipping document.
After extensively consulting with employers, workers and health and safety professionals, Alberta’s government will be implementing changes to parts of the OHS Code. The changes will take effect on March 31, 2023. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration responded to several objections and requests for a hearing on provisions in the yogurt standard of identity final rule, published on June 9, 2021. The FDA denied the requests for a hearing and modified certain provisions in the final rule. Specifically, the FDA is modifying the yogurt standard of identity to allow the use of all safe and suitable sweeteners, including non-nutritive sweeteners, and to make the minimum optional fortification of Vitamin D 10% of the Daily Value, consistent with our food additive regulations. The FDA is also modifying the general definition and standard of identity under 21 CFR 130.10 to permit the use of fat-containing flavors (such as coconut flakes, chocolate, etc.) in lower fat yogurt. This rule is effective on January 17, 2023, and the compliance date is January 1, 2024. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a redesign and updates to the statistics webpage for the New Chemicals Review Program. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a correction to a proposed rule that published in the Federal Register of Friday, December 2, 2022 to correct an inadvertent error in the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry number identified for Phosphonium, tributyl (2-methoxypropyl)-, salt with 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,4-nonafluoro-N-methyl-1-butanesulfonamide (1:1) (PMN Number P-03-77) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the final revision to the risk determination for the 1-bromopropane (1-BP) risk evaluation issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA concludes that the Agency’s risk determination for 1-BP is better characterized as a whole chemical risk determination rather than condition-of-use-specific risk determinations. Accordingly, EPA is revising and replacing Section 5 of the August 2020 1-BP Risk Evaluation (Ref. 2) where the findings of unreasonable risk to health were previously made for the individual conditions of use evaluated. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the final revision to the risk determination for the n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) risk evaluation issued under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA concludes that the Agency’s risk determination for NMP is better characterized as a whole chemical risk determination rather than condition-of-use-specific risk determinations. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the final revision to the risk determination for the perchloroethylene (PCE). EPA concludes that the Agency’s risk determination for PCE is better characterized as a whole chemical risk determination rather than condition-of-use-specific risk determinations. California Air Resource Board (CARB) Final 2022 Scoping Plan to reduce demand for petroleum by 94%, cut air pollution by 71%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85%, and reach carbon neutrality by 2045. The European Commission has adopted a recommendation to promote a framework to assess safety and sustainability of chemicals and materials. The proposed European framework sets a common baseline for evaluating safety and sustainability – an important step to increase the protection of human health and the environment against hazardous substances. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) have listed 24 substances for evaluation by EU Member States under the Community rolling action plan (CoRAP) for 2023-2025. Five are planned to be evaluated in 2023, with 19 listed for evaluation in 2024 and 2025. Safety Share Having a plan and emergency supplies for your home and car will help keep you safe this winter. Have an event you would like to share? Please send details to [email protected]. Are you prepared for emergencies? Join WSPS for a discussion about emergency preparedness and how you can ensure you are ready. The Guelph Organic Conference will be returning in 2023 for a hybrid in-person and online event, now hosted by the Organic Council of Ontario (OCO). Learn more about the RACE process of hazard recognition or identification, risk assessment methodologies, control options, and the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of controls, and learn the value of a coordinated hazard identification and risk assessment system. Alberta Chemistry and Plastics Day is an annual event designed to build dialogue on common issues, better understand industry and government positions, and get to know new participants from both industry and government. The 2023 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference (CFSEC) will bring answers and clarity to questions like this and more. While the science behind safe food handling and hand hygiene guidance hasn’t changed, the way people are sourcing their food, experiencing their food and receiving information is changing. Take this opportunity to mark in your calendars next years Bakery Showcase, May 14, 15 2023 in Vancouver BC. There is no other health and safety event like this in Canada. Make a plan to join us for this two-day national event that will bring together leaders, change makers, and subject experts representing government, labour, and workplaces, to share their knowledge and experience around current and emerging health and safety issues.Advocacy
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