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The South Korean Ministry of Environment released on January 18, 2011, the National Chemicals Control Basic Plan, which it intends to help it implement the United Nations’ sustainable chemical control rules under the 2006 Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). According to the Ministry, the Plan will reduce the amount of human carcinogens released into the environment annually by 32 percent by 2020, and will expand the national toxicity information database...

The United Nations’ Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) urges each nation to make efforts to reduce hazards associated with the use of chemicals. In response to this request, South Korea recently has taken steps to implement a process for the management of chemicals with the objective of minimizing the harmful effects that substances have on human health and the environment....

On February 3, 2011, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Toxics, and Environmental Health held a hearing entitled “Assessing the Effectiveness of U.S. Chemical Safety Laws.” Subcommittee Chair Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) last year introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, a bill that would have reformed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) by shifting the burden of proof to industry to show chemicals are safe, rather than the U.S....

Korea has taken a major step toward achieving full compliance with the United Nations Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the classification and labeling of chemicals by identifying 151 substances as “hazardous” for consultation. The Ministry of the Environment (MoE) in Korea also is placing more responsibilities on manufacturers and importers by introducing new rules regarding updating and content of material safety data sheets (MSDS). The MoE has given companies just ten days to...

On August 24, 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a proposed rule seeking to harmonize the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs) with international standards. 75 Fed. Reg. 52069. The proposal revises several proper shipping names, hazard classes, packing groups, special provisions, packaging authorizations, air transport quantity limitations, and vessel stowage requirements. PHMSA states that these revisions...

On Thursday, July 29, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT), the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection held a legislative hearing on H.R. 5820, the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010 (TCSA). Witnesses at the hearing were (in order of testimony): Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Rush (D-IL) provided opening remarks. He referred to the stakeholder discussion that was conducted prior to the bill being introduced on July 22, 2010. He acknowledged that the bill was not...

On Wednesday, June 23, 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a public hearing on the draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Pesticides General Permit (PGP). This hearing, along with three previous public meetings, was held during the 45-day public comment period (through July 19, 2010) on the draft PGP for point source discharges from the application of pesticides to waters of the U.S. EPA proposed the PGP in response to the 2009...

On June 23, 2010, Health Canada issued final regulations to set forth new “rules on how the scientific data used to support a pesticide registration is protected from reliance by another applicant or registrant.” The regulations are available online. Health Canada states: “These Regulations are designed to provide a legally enforceable and fair process of pesticide data protection. They are intended to benefit pesticide users, particularly in the agricultural sector, by...

Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs of the Executive Yuan (CLA) has developed and released operational guidelines for nominating existing chemical substances for listing on a national Inventory. Through creation of a national Inventory, Taiwan intends to strengthen its control over the manufacture, import, and use of chemicals in Taiwan, thus improving its national chemical management. It is a preparatory process for establishing the National Existing Chemical Substance Inventory. Once...

On June 6, 2010, the European Commission (EC) Joint Research Center Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (JRC-IHCP) and the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the European Union (EU)-China Food Safety Scientific Seminar held at the Shanghai World Expo.  According to JRC-IHCP, “[b]oth institutions provide technical support for policy makers and aim to reinforce their co-operation in scientific research for consumer...