Eurofins Softlines & Leather Monthly Bulletin (January 2022)

EUROPE

New update of Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs)

On 17 January 2022, the ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) has released the new Candidate List of SVHCs. With the addition of 4 new substances, the current list of SVHCs contains 223 substances.

Below is a table with the last substances included:

Click here for the official List from ECHA’s website.

Guidance publication related to the consumer rights Directive

On 29 December 2021, the European Commission published the Commission notice Guidance on the interpretation and application of Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on consumer rights.

The purpose of Directive 2011/83/EU is to achieve a higher level of consumer protection across the EU and contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market by approximating certain aspects of Member States’ laws, regulations and administrative provisions concerning contracts concluded between consumers and traders.

With this Guidance Notice, the European Commission wants to facilitate the effective application of the Directive. The Notice also aims to increase awareness of the Directive amongst all interested parties, including consumers, businesses, the authorities of the Member States, national courts, and legal practitioners across the EU.

European public initiatives

Please find below a table summarising recent public initiatives (non-exhaustive):

FRANCE

Destruction of unsold non-food items prohibited

From 1 January 2022, unsold non-food items can no longer be destroyed by incineration. The objective for 2022 is to reuse or recycle unsold non-food products and therefore prevent a large part of the millions of unsold non-food items from being destroyed and causing more greenhouse gas emissions.

The particular products concerned by the application of this provision provided for by the law on the fight against waste and the circular economy (Law AGEC) are:

• Textiles (clothing, shoes, etc.)
• Furniture
• Ink cartridges
• Hygiene and childcare products
• Food storage and cooking equipment
• Leisure products
• Books and school supplies
• Electrical and electronic products

Note: Some of these products, which do not yet benefit from an extended producer responsibility (EPR) recycling channel, have until 31 December 2023 to comply. From 31 December 2023, all products will be affected.

More sources of recent information about the guidance surrounding other goods and the circular economy can be found below:

• Single-use plastic products: Cotton swabs, cups, fruit and vegetable packaging…: what disposable plastic products are prohibited?
• Repairability index: something new in the fight against waste
• End of plastic packaging for fruit and vegetables: what timetable?

For more information about the Changes effective 1 January 2022, consult the Ministry of Ecological Transition website here.

Alignment with the European Directive on consumer rights

On 23 December 2021, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery issued the Ordinance No. 2021-1734 of December 22, 2021 transposing Directive 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 and relating to the better application and modernisation of EU rules on consumer protection.

This Ordinance was issued for adaptation to European Union law in economic and financial matters. It proposes the adoption of the measures in the field of law necessary for the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/2161 regarding better application and modernisation of EU consumer protection rules.

The transposition of this directive responds to a desire to modernise the legal framework for consumer protection, taking into account the dual need to reinforce the effectiveness of the existing rules in the face of the growing risk of infringements on a European scale and to adapt these to digital transformation.

For more information, consult the Légifrance website here.

SWEDEN

Clothing and Footwear Products without chemical tax

On 24 November 2021, the Swedish Parliament decided that a proposed tax on chemicals in clothing and shoes would not be introduced. This information is available in the State budget 2022 framework decision (see section 2.5 Changes in tax and fee rules page 108). The proposal for this new tax was submitted to the government (SOU 2020:20) in 2020. The Inquiry proposed a tax of SEK 40 per kilogram on all clothing and footwear, with the possibility of tax deductions of up to 95% for products that do not contain specific hazardous substances and biocides that may be found in all clothing and footwear.

CANADA

Quebec repeals the label requirements for upholstered and stuffed articles

On 9 December 2021, The Bill 103 was published which repealed the Act regarding Stuffing and Upholstered and Stuffed Articles with immediate effect in Quebec.

From now on, businesses, manufacturers, craftspeople, and repairers of upholstered and stuffed articles will no longer be obliged to:

• possess a stuffing permit;
• pay annual fees to obtain permits;
• place a label on their products.

In the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba this has also not been necessary since 2019 and 2020 respectively.

CHINA

China publishes updated GB Standards

On 11 October 2021, the announcement Nº 12 of 2021 was published on approving the Release of 602 National Standards by China National Standardization (SAC). Below is a table summarising the main standards (non-exhaustive):

INTERNATIONAL

Invisible pollution from textiles

On 19 January 2022, the First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute published a document related to microfibres and the invisible pollution from textiles. All textiles shed microfibres, including natural, synthetic and semi-synthetic textiles.

This document summarises the problems to humans and the environment that microfibres cause into three main points:

1. They are very commonly found in the environment
2. They are not biodegradable
3. They impact on the environment and human health

See below a table with examples of existing and proposed legislation on microfibres.

PRODUCT RECALLS / ALERTS

Below you will find a monthly summary of product recalls and alerts in Europe (Source “RAPEX”) and the U.S. (Source “CPSC”).

Europe

RAPEX (European Commission Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products – Alerts reported by EU national authorities).

There following 16 alerts regarding textile & leather products were reported between week 51 and week 52 of 2021 and between week 01 and week 03 of 2022.

U.S.

Between 21 December 2021 and 20 January 2022, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published the following recalls: 3 recalls of textile & leather products.