Discover the Latest Product Compliance Trends – October 21

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1. South Korea: Operation Bulletin of Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act, KATS Notice 2007-1268

On 8 October 2021, the South Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) issued an amendment to the Operation Bulletin of Electrical Appliances and Consumer Products Safety Control Act (KATS Notice 2007-1268).

The amendment was introduced to improve safety management of certain electrical appliances and to strengthen customs control of imported products. The main changes of the amendment are as follows:

Exclusion of cord sets for semiconductor equipment from safety management in Annex 1
Re-classification of hand-held (portable) garden vacuums to fans and range hoods, as specified in Annex 1 (list of electrical appliances subject to safety certification)
Revision of the Application Form 6 (Application for Confirmation of the Customs Office for Electrical Appliances and Household Goods) which must be submitted for import clearance purpose – sections for product ratings of electrical appliances and model classification of household goods are added in this form.

The Notice came into force on 8 October.

2. USA: Toxic Substances Control Act (TCSA), Regulation of Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic Chemicals Under Section 6(h), Phenol, Isopropylated Phosphate (3:1) PIP(3:1), Rule, 40 CFR 751 – Amendment – (on extension of deadlines on PIP(3:1) in products), 86 FR 51823, Final Rule, September 2021

The EPA is extending the compliance date applicable to the processing and distribution in commerce of certain PIP (3:1) containing articles, and the PIP (3:1) used to make those articles from 8 March 2021, to 8 March 2022. For such articles, EPA is also extending the compliance date for the recordkeeping requirements applicable to manufacturers, processors, and distributors from 8 March 2021, to 8 March 2022.

The articles covered by this amendment include a wide range of key consumer and commercial goods such as cellular telephones, laptop computers, and other electronic and electrical devices and industrial and commercial equipment used in various sectors including transportation, life sciences, and semiconductor production.

3. France: Consumer Information on the Environmental Qualities and Characteristics of Waste-generating Products, Draft Decree, October 2021

On 4 October 2021, France sent a draft decree to the EU Commission laying down detailed rules for the application of Article L. 541-9-1 of the Environmental Code, which provides proper information to consumers, from producers and importers, of the environmental qualities and characteristics of waste-generating products.

This information shall be made available electronically and, where appropriate, in accordance with procedures laid down by an Order from the Ministry of Environment, display, labeling or any other legible and comprehensible device, at the time of the purchase. Those environmental qualities and characteristics shall include, depending on the product categories concerned:

The incorporation of recycled material
The use of renewable resources, sustainability, compostability, reparability, possibilities for re-use, recyclability
The presence of hazardous substances; precious metals (gold, silver, platinum and palladium) or rare earth metals (scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium), traceability
The presence of plastic microfibers

The draft decree is scheduled to enter into force on 1 January 2022.

4. Mexico: Approval of Standard No. NMX-J-821-1-ANCE-2020 on Determination of Certain Substances in Electrical Products – Part 1, Declaration, September 2021

On 9 September 2021, the Mexican Secretariat of Economics published a Declaration on the validity of Standard NMX-J-821-1-ANCE-2020 on determination of certain substances in electrical products – part 1: introduction and overview.

This standard provides guidance on the disassembly procedure used to obtain a specimen; however, it does not determine or specify the following:

The level of disassembly procedure required to obtain a specimen
The definition of “unit” or “homogeneous material” as a specimen
Conformity assessment procedures

The standard is identical to IEC 62321-1 (ed1.0 (2013-05)).

This standard will enter into force on 8 March 2022, 180 days from the date of publication of the declaration in the Mexican Official Gazette.

5. UK: Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information (Amendment) Regulations, SI 2021/1097

These regulations make amendments to legislation in the field of ecodesign and energy labeling for energy-related products.

Parts 2 and 3 correct minor technical issues in retained EU tertiary legislation. Part 2 amends Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/424 of 15 March 2019 laying down ecodesign requirements for servers and data storage products pursuant to Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Commission Regulation (EU) No 617/2013 (EUR 2019/424).

Part 3 amends Commission Delegated Regulations relating to the energy labeling of electronic displays, household washing machines and household washer-dryers, refrigerating appliances, and household dishwashers (EUR 2019/2013, EUR 2019/2014, EUR 2019/2016 and EUR 2019/2017 respectively).

The amendments in Part 2 and 3 are closely aligned with the amendments made by the European Union to the underlying EU legislation. The amending EU measures are Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/341 of 23 February 2021 amending Regulations (EU) 2019/424, (EU) 2019/1781, (EU) 2019/2019, (EU) 2019/2020, (EU) 2019/2021, (EU) 2019/2022, (EU) 2019/2023 and (EU) 2019/2024 with regard to ecodesign requirements for servers and data storage products, electric motors and variable speed drives, refrigerating appliances, light sources and separate control gears, electronic displays, household dishwashers, household washing machines and household washer-dryers and refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function (OJ L 68, 26.2.2021, p. 108-148) and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/340 of 17 December 2020 amending Delegated Regulations (EU) 2019/2013, (EU) 2019/2014, (EU) 2019/2015, (EU) 2019/2016, (EU) 2019/2017 and (EU) 2019/2018 with regard to energy labeling requirements for electronic displays, household washing machines and household washer-dryers, light sources, refrigerating appliances, household dishwashers, and refrigerating appliances with a direct sales function (OJ L 68, 26.2.2021, p. 62-107).

Parts 4 and 5 update the tables in schedule 1 to the Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2617) and schedule 1 to the Energy Information Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/1524) to ensure that the market surveillance authorities in England, Wales and Scotland can enforce the relevant measures for energy-related products.

This information is based on the most viewed regulations on C2P this month. If you would like to find out more about how you can stay on top of global regulations, why don’t you Book a Demo today?