What’s Trending In Compliance In May 2023

At Compliance & Risks we help manufacturers, retailers and their supply chain partners to monitor and manage global regulations via C2P, our compliance knowledge management platform.

These are some of the top trending compliance topics that generated the most interest globally for May 2023.

1. Minnesota (USA): Restrictions on PFAS, Lead, and Cadmium in Products, and Food Package Labeling, Senate File 2438, House File 2310, 2023

Minnesota Legislature on April 21, 2023 appointed a Conference Committee to resolve issues with House Bill 2310, which was refused by the House on receipt of Senate amendments.

This omnibus bill includes Sections restricting PFAS, lead and cadmium in products, standards for labeling of plastic bags and packaging:

Section 31: PFAS – Products containing PFAS.

Subd. 2. Information required. Requires a manufacturer of a product that contains intentionally added PFAS sold, offered for sale, or distributed in the state to submit certain information to the PCA beginning January 1, 2026, including a description of the product, and the purpose and amount of the PFAS in the product. Requires a manufacturer to revise the information whenever there is a significant change in the information or when requested by the agency. Prohibits a person from selling, offering for sale, or distributing for sale a product if the manufacturer has failed to submit the required information and the person has received notification.

Subd. 4. Testing required and certificate of compliance. Allows the PCA to require a manufacturer to provide certain PFAS testing results if the commissioner has reason to believe a product being offered for sale in the state contains intentionally added PFAS.

Subd. 5. Prohibitions. Prohibits a person from selling, offering for sale, or distributing for sale the following products containing intentionally added PFAS beginning January 1, 2025: carpets or rugs; cleaning products; cookware; cosmetics; dental floss; fabric treatments; juvenile products; menstruation products; textile furnishings; ski wax; and upholstered furniture.

Beginning January 1, 2032, a person may not sell, offer for sale, or distribute for sale any product that contains intentionally added PFAS, unless the commissioner has made a determination, by rule, that the use of PFAS in the product is a currently unavoidable use. The commissioner may identify specific products, or product categories, for which a determination has been made that the use of PFAS is a currently unavoidable use.

Section 33: Standards for labeling bags, food or beverage products, and packaging.

Expands the current prohibition against labeling plastic bags as biodegradable or compostable unless the product is certified as meeting a standard established for those terms by the American Society for Testing and Materials, to include all bags, food or beverage products, and packaging.

Subd. 2a. Certification of compostable products. Prohibits, beginning in 2026, the sale of covered products unless the product is certified as meeting the requirements of Subbdivision 2 by a nonprofit entity that is capable of analyzing compliance with that subdivision and that promotes the design of biodegradable/compostable products.

Section 34: Lead and cadmium in consumer products; prohibition.

Prohibits a person from importing, manufacturing, selling, holding for sale, distributing, or offering for use certain products containing lead or cadmium above certain levels unless preempted by federal law. Allows the PCA, Department of Commerce, and Department of Health to coordinate in enforcing the section.

Section 36: Prohibition.

Prohibits the manufacture, sale, distribution, or use of class B firefighting foam containing PFAS beginning January 1, 2024. States that the restriction does not apply for purposes of use at airports until the state fire marshal makes certain determinations or when the inclusion of PFAS is required by federal law. If federal requirements to include PFAS are revoked after January 1, 2024, the prohibition applies to those foams one year following the day of the revocation.

2. EU: Ecodesign Requirements for Off Mode, Standby Mode, and Networked Standby Energy Consumption of Electrical and Electronic Household and Office Equipment, Regulation (EU) 2023/826

On 17 April 2023, the EU Commission approved the new EU Ecodesign Standby Regulation (EU) 2023/826. This regulation will apply from 9 May 2025 and will repeal the existing EU Ecodesign Standby Regulation (EC) No 1275/2008 on this date. 

Some of the main highlights of the text include the following:

1. Expansion and Clarification of the Products Covered

This regulation expands and clarifies the scope of covered products. New products specifically listed include:

• Appliances for hair treatments;
• Media streaming devices;
• Audio speakers;
• Complex set top boxes and Simple set-top boxes; [Note Regulation (EC) No 107/2009 on the Ecodesign of Simple Set-Top boxes is repealed on 9 May 2025.]
• Motor-operated adjustable furniture:
  • height-adjustable desks;
  • elevation beds and chairs, excluding medical devices and wheelchairs;
  • other motor-operated adjustable furniture.
• Motor-operated building elements:
  • shutters;
  • blinds;
  • screens;
  • awnings;
  • pergolas;
  • curtains;
  • doors;
  • gates;
  • windows;
  • skylights;
  • other motor-operated building elements.

This regulation does not apply to:

• Household dishwashers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2022
• Household washing machines and household washer-dryers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2023
• Desktop computers, integrated desktop computers and notebook computers covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013
• Servers and data storage products covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/424
• Electronic displays covered by Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2021
• Projectors with mechanisms for exchanging the lenses with others with different focal length

Please note the change in wording of some covered products to clear up any confusion:

1. “Video recorders” are replaced by “video players”
2. “Hi-fi recorders” are replaced by “Hi-fi players”
3. “Hand-held video game consoles” are replaced by just “games consoles”
4. “Sports equipment with electric or electronic components” are replaced by just “sports equipment”

2. New Stricter Energy Consumption Limits

New stricter energy limits will apply. These new restrictions will apply 2 years after the date of application (.ie from 9 May 2027), except for the new standby limit for covered electrical and electronic products (EEE) with a display which applies from 9 May 2025. 

The new power consumption limits are highlighted in bold font below: 

1. Off mode power consumption limit for EEE is ≤ 0.50 Watts(W)
2. From 9 May 2027 – Off mode power consumption limit for EEE is reduced to  ≤ 0.30 W 
3. From 9 May 2025 – Standby mode power consumption limit for EEE with a display is ≤0.80 W.  [Currently this is 1W, this new limit does not apply to tumble dryers]
4. Standby mode power consumption limit for Tumble Dryers with a display is ≤1W
5. Networked Standby mode power consumption limit for HiNA equipment or equipment with HiNA functionality ≤ 8 W
6. From 9 May 2027, Networked Standby mode power consumption limit for HiNA equipment or equipment with HiNA functionality is ≤7 W
7. Networked Standby power consumption limit for EEE (other than  HiNA equipment or equipment with HiNA functionality) is ≤2 W

Please note the power consumption limits do not apply to large format printing equipment or to desktop thin clients, workstations, mobile workstations, and small-scale servers as defined in Regulation (EU) No 617/2013.

3. Delay Time to Switch Other Modes

For coffee machines, the text relating to the delay times for switching to off-mode or standby mode is simplified to read as follows:

• For drip filter household coffee machines storing the coffee in an insulated jug, a maximum of five minutes;
• For drip filter household coffee machines storing the coffee in a non-insulated jug, a maximum of 40 minutes;
• For household coffee machines other than drip filter household coffee machines, a maximum of 30 minutes.

For EEE, other than coffee machines, the maximum delay time to switch to off-mode or standby mode is 20 minutes. For networked standby mode, the period is also 20 minutes unless this is inappropriate for the product’s intended use. 

4. Websites and Instruction Manuals

Instruction manuals for end-users, and free-access websites of the manufacturers, importers or authorized representatives must include the specified information listed in Annex III point 3. As an alternative, certain information can be provided in the instruction manuals for end-users in the form of a link to this information in the free access websites. 

5. Where is the Circular Economy?

Notably, this new regulation lacks requirements on the circular economy such as requirements relating to repair and the provision of spare parts which we have become accustomed to seeing in the newer type eco-design regulations. Perhaps the EU Commission could be seen as dropping the ball in this regard, as this new regulation could have been used to apply circular economy requirements horizontally across numerous product groups.

3. EU: General Product Safety, Regulation, April 2023

The EU’s new modernized product safety framework was finally signed by the Presidents and Secretaries-General of Parliament and Council on 10 May 2023, and publication in the Official Journal of the European Union is therefore forthcoming.

Entry into force will be on the 20th day after its publication. However the new rules will only become legally binding 18 months thereafter, most likely at some stage in 2024, and at the latest in early 2025.

The agreed text, which represents a new era in the Union’s regime for the protection of consumers from unsafe products, is adapted to the modern digital age and sees increased obligations on economic operators in the non-harmonized sphere, greater scrutiny of the activities of online marketplaces and a vastly improved product recall system.

4. Russian Federation: On the Peculiarities of Legal Regulation in the Field of Labeling Goods by Means of Identification in the Territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Luhansk People’s Republic, the Zaporozhye Region and Kherson, Resolution No. 690, 2023

On 5 May 2023, the Russian Federation Government published Resolution No. 690 on the peculiarities of legal regulation in the field of labeling goods by means of identification in the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Zaporozhye region and the Kherson region.

The Resolution regulates:

1. The procedure for the circulation of goods in the territories of the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Zaporozhye region and the Kherson region;
2. The procedure for the delivery of goods from these regions to other regions of the Russian Federation;
3. The rules for the withdrawal of goods from circulation when delivered to these regions from other regions of the Russian Federation.

Starting from 1 April 2025, participants in the circulation of goods are required to register into the state monitoring information system. Before this date, circulation of goods is allowed without registration and without marking by means of identification.

It is prohibited to put into circulation and withdraw from circulation in Russia unmarked goods produced for export in these regions before 5 October 2022.

This Resolution came into force on 5 May 2023.

5. Washington (USA): Electronic Product Recycling Law, Chapter 70A.500 RCW, 2006 – Amendment – (on responsible environmental management of batteries) Senate Bill 5144 Enacted, 2023

Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5144 into law on 11 May 2023, enacting what has been hailed as one of the most comprehensive bills on the environmental management of batteries thus far. This falls in line with the recent trend of legislatures all over the US passing numerous bills on improving circular economy initiatives, reducing plastic waste and introducing EPR schemes in an attempt to address urgent climate and environmental issues. 

SB 5144 amends the Electronic Product Recycling Law, Chapter 70A.500 RCW of 2006 introducing a new extended producer responsibility program for batteries. Section 3 of the bill requires that from 1 January 2027, all producers selling or distributing covered batteries or battery-containing products in or into Washington must participate in an approved battery stewardship plan through participation in and appropriate funding of a battery stewardship organization.

Section 3(2) further states that any producer that does not participate in a battery stewardship organization and battery stewardship plan may not sell covered batteries or battery-containing products covered by this chapter in or into Washington.

Covered batteries are defined in §2(5)(a) as a portable battery or, beginning 1 January 2029, a medium format battery.

Portable batteries are defined as those which are rechargeable batteries whereby they weigh more than 11 pounds and have a rating of no more than 300 watt hours or a primary battery where the battery in question weighs no more than 4.4 pounds.

Medium format batteries are defined in §2(11) as those which are rechargeable batteries whereby they weigh more than 11 pounds or have a rating of more than 300 watt hours, or both, and no more than 25 pounds and have a rating of no more than 2000 watt hours; or as a primary battery where the battery in question weighs more than 4.4 pounds but not more than 25 pounds.

Excluded from the definition of covered batteries are the following; a battery contained within a medical device that is not designed and marketed for sale or resale principally to consumers for personal use, a battery that contains electrolyte as a free liquid or that weighs greater than 11 pounds, a battery covered by the Vehicle Battery Recycling Program or a battery contained in a battery-containing product that is not intended or designed to be easily removeable.

The bill introduces the following obligations and their respective compliance deadlines: 

• Beginning 1 July 2026, or within six months of the adoption of program rules, whichever comes later; each battery stewardship organization must submit a plan to the department for approval;
• Beginning 1 Jan 2027, each producer selling or distributing covered batteries or battery-containing products in or into Washington must participate in an approved battery stewardship plan through participation in and appropriate funding of a battery stewardship organization;
• Beginning 1 July 2027, all persons must dispose of unwanted portable batteries through one of the disposal options specified in section 15;
• Beginning 1 July 2027, in relation to portable batteries, a retailer may not sell, offer for sale, or otherwise make available for sale a covered battery or battery containing product unless the producer of the covered battery or battery containing product participates in a battery stewardship organization whose plan has been approved by the department;
• Beginning 1 January 2028, a producer or retailer may only sell, distribute, or offer for sale in or into Washington a large format battery, covered battery, or battery-containing product that contains a battery that is designed or intended to be easily removable from the product, if the battery is marked with an identification of the producer of the battery, unless the battery is less than one-half inch in diameter or does not contain a surface whose length exceeds one-half inch;
• Beginning 1 June 2028, and each June 1st thereafter; each battery stewardship organization must submit an annual report to the department covering the preceding calendar year of battery stewardship plan;
• Beginning 1 July 2029, in relation to medium format batteries, a retailer may not sell, offer for sale, or otherwise make available for sale a covered battery or battery containing product unless the producer of the covered battery or battery containing product participates in a battery stewardship organization whose plan has been approved by the department;
• Beginning 1 July 2029, all persons must dispose of unwanted medium format batteries through one of the disposal options specified in section 15;
• Beginning 1 January 2030,  a producer or retailer may only sell, distribute, or offer for sale in or into Washington a large format battery, covered battery, or battery-containing product that contains a battery that is designed or intended to be easily removable from the product, if the battery is marked with an identification of the producer of the battery, unless the battery is less than one-half inch in diameter or does not contain a surface whose length exceeds one-half inch; and marked with proper labeling to ensure proper collection and recycling, by identifying the chemistry of the battery and including an indication that the battery should not be disposed of as household waste; and
• During the first year of program implementation and every five years thereafter, each battery stewardship organization must carry out a survey of public awareness regarding the education and outreach requirements of the program.

SB 5144 makes reference to target recycling efficiency rates of at least 60 percent for rechargeable batteries and at least 70 percent for primary batteries under Section 6 which outlines that “each battery stewardship plan must include performance goals that measure, on an annual basis, the achievements of the program”  however no deadline for compliance has been specified for the aforementioned. 

SB 5144 enters into force 23 July 2023, with information on larger batteries dependent on the results of a study by the Washington State Department of Ecology that must be completed by 1 July 2027 and requires that policy recommendations be made for managing electric vehicle batteries by 30 November 2023.

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