Regulatory
REGULATORY NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 31, 2023
Two major recalls regarding energy drinks have recently happened. Although we were surprised that Health Canada did not object to some of the trade names used, the focus seems to have been on label compliance and the lack of French, which is a requirment. There are some exemptions that allow for 1 official language only but are limited to specialty foods, local foods and test market foods as defined by the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. Health Canada recently published a Notice of Intent to inform Canadians, regulated parties and other stakeholders of the Minister of Health’s intention to: Comments on the proposals can be provided until August 28, 2023. This monthly publication is intended primarily for healthcare professionals and includes information on pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices and natural health products. It provides a summary of key health product safety information published in the previous month by Health Canada, as well as a selection of new health product safety information meant to raise awareness. New information contained in this issue is not comprehensive but rather represents a selection of clinically relevant items warranting enhanced dissemination. This year’s theme “Food standards save lives”, holds a call for action for policymakers, food businesses and workplaces, educational institutions, and most importantly consumers. Drawing attention to the role of food safety standards in protecting consumers health, food security, economies and livelihood. Please be advised that the information for importers to understand feed controls to prevent African swine fever (ASF) has been updated. The Consumer Product Enforcement Summary Reports provide information to industry and consumers on products reviewed by Health Canada. The Reports inform Canadians as to which products met or did not meet safety standards. Reports on cosmetics and consumer chemicals are included. The publication of the final Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, 2022 (the final Regulations). The final Regulations, initially expected to be published in late 2023, are now expected to be published in summer 2024, at the earliest. The Report of the Sub-Committee of Experts on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals on its forty-fourth session held in Geneva from 10 to 12 July 2023 is now available. A Ministerial Condition has been published for the new substance notification of 2-propenoic acid, 2-methyl-, 2-hydroxyethyl ester, polymer with chloroethene, 1,1-dichloroethene and 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluorooctyl 2-alkyl-2-propenoate, Confidential Substance Identity Number 19675-3. Transport Canada is proposing to increase fine amounts associated to designated offences under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992 (TDGA). As the fines have not been updated since 2007, the proposed amendments are taking into account inflation and are expected to increase the deterrent effect. Comments should be sent by email or by mail at the address below by September 8, 2023.
Refocusing red tape reduction efforts to measure, benchmark and reduce wait times for permit approvals across all ministries. Report on the feasibility of adopting an “automatic yes” policy that would assume a permit is approved within a reasonable and specific amount of time after an application, unless the ministry in question delivers a written rationale on why it should be rejected. WorkSafeBC announced on July 27, 2023, that the preliminary average base rate for 2024 will remain unchanged at 1.55 percent of employers’ assessable payroll. Subject to final approvals by WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors, this will be the seventh year in a row that the average base rate has remained at this level, consistent with WorkSafeBC’s goal of keeping rates stable. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing the fiscal year (FY) 2024 user fee rates for importers approved to participate in the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP) and accreditation and certification bodies interested in participating in the Accredited Third-Party Certification Program (TPP). The user fee rates are authorized by the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and allow the agency to assess and collect fees to cover the FDA’s cost of administering these programs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a 45-day public comment period on a proposed expansion of its Safer Choice and potentially its Design for the Environment (DfE) programs to include certification of additional product categories beyond cleaners and disinfectants. Safer Choice and DfE are voluntary EPA programs that help consumers, businesses, and purchasers find cleaning and disinfectant products that perform and meet stringent EPA criteria for effects on human health and the environment. The Agency will hold a listening session webinar on August 29, 2023, to gather feedback on certification of additional product categories by EPA’s Safer Choice and DfE programs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to address the unreasonable risk of injury to human health presented by carbon tetrachloride (CTC) under its conditions of use as documented in EPA’s 2020 Risk Evaluation for Carbon Tetrachloride and 2022 Revised Unreasonable Risk Determination for Carbon Tetrachloride pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Comments must be received on or before September 11, 2023. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of and requesting public comment on a draft revision to the risk determination for 1,4-dioxane following a risk evaluation issued under TSCA. EPA published a risk evaluation for 1,4-dioxane in December 2020 and a draft supplement to the risk evaluation in July 2023. This draft revision to the 1,4-dioxane risk determination reflects policy changes announced in June 2021, to ensure the public is protected from unreasonable risks from chemicals in a way that is supported by science and the law, as well as information from the 2023 Draft Supplement to the risk evaluation. In this draft revision to the risk determination EPA has preliminarily determined that 1,4-dioxane, as a whole chemical substance, presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health when evaluated under its conditions of use. Comments must be received on or before September 8, 2023. he U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has removed ALL TRUCKERS ELD, GOLDEN ELD, PRIMELD, and SECURE ELD devices from the list of registered Electronic Logging Devices (ELD). FMCSA has placed these ELDs on the Revoked Devices list due to the companies’ failure to meet the minimum requirements established in 49 CFR part 395, subpart B, appendix A, effective July 25, 2023. You must apply for authorisation to import or export decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and its salts, and PFOA-related compounds. This applies to both current and future importers and exporters of these chemicals. An information collection is due September 15, 2023. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is pleased to announce that Volume 132 of the IARC Monographs, Occupational exposure as a firefighter, is now available online. The Working Group evaluated occupational exposure as a firefighter as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) on the basis of sufficient evidence for cancer in humans. Unsafe food causes an estimated 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths each year worldwide. The number of foodborne illnesses attributed to resistant organisms in food is increasing. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) emphasizes the economic costs of antimicrobial resistance related not only to health care but also productivity. As estimated in the new publication “Foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR): an economic concern”, the economic value of a premature death due to non-Typhoidal Salmonella is USD 10 million. Safety Share The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is providing this free resource. Climate change can affect both the physical and mental well-being of everyone in the workplace. Employers that anticipate and plan for the impacts of climate change will be more resilient. Use our new PDF handbook as a resource to help you take action to identify, assess, control, and monitor climate-related hazards affecting your workplace. As an employer, you need to have safe work practices and procedures in place to help protect outdoor workers from the sun. Start by conducting a hazard assessment that considers your surroundings and remember that reflective surfaces, such as lakes, ponds, snow, and glass panels increase the risk. Communicate the associated risks of working outdoors to all employees and make sure everyone has the personal protective equipment needed to mitigate that risk. This includes selecting the correct type of sunglasses. Have an event you would like to share? Please send details to [email protected]. ChemEdge 2023 is bringing supply chain professionals all along the chemical distribution industry together to share best practices and business solutions. Asian Chemicals Forum (ACF) will cover a wide range of topics related to safe chemical management. “Diving into the future“ is the future-oriented motto of this year’s Annual Congress of Fecc (= the European Association of Chemical Distributors), which will return to beautiful Sitges/Barcelone from Monday, 11 September 2023 afternoon to Wednesday, 13 September afternoon. 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. The World Food Forum officially unveiled its theme for 2023: “Agrifood systems transformation accelerates climate action” and launched its activities for the year culminating in a series of global events, competitions and actions taking place from 16-20 October at the Rome headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The International Baking Association (IBA) trade fair, a leading trade fair for the baking and confectionery industry set for Oct. 22-26 in Munich, will feature an area focused on innovative start-up businesses. The next European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Conference will take place on 28 February 2024 in Helsinki. As we are preparing the programme, we want to hear what would be the most important topics for you. So, fill in our short survey and help us shape a relevant and inspiring stakeholder event.Advocacy
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