Non-food legislation – June 2026

Hazardous substances – Rules and regulations in the EU
EU: The Council and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on simplifying rules related to the regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP) as part of the Omnibus VI package. The provisional agreement would extend the date of entry into application of the revised CLP regulation to 1 January 2030.
The ECHA (165 kB) Socio-Economic Analysis Committee (SEAC) has received 3511 comments on the draft opinion concerning the PFAS restriction proposal. The proposal was submitted by five countries (Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) in January 2023.
ECHA reports that Germany has submitted an intention to restrict the placing on the market of bisphenols with endocrine disrupting properties for the environment.
In its updated Key Areas of Regulatory Challenge Report (6.28 MB), ECHA calls for targeted research to address gaps in environmental risk assessment and support evidence-based decisions on chemical safety across the EU.
ECHA has also published the fourth report (4.01 MB) on the operation of REACH and CLP. The report over the period 2021 to 2025 shows that these laws continue to play an important role in managing chemical safety in the EU.

Hazardous substances – Rules and regulations outside the EU
Japan: SGS reports that the government has designated MCCPs, LC-PFCAs and LC-PFCA-related compounds as Class I Specified Chemical Substances. These substances are persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
South Korea: SGS reports that the government is prohibiting three persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including UV-328.
US: Keller and Heckman reports that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has opened a public comment period for its updated draft toxicological profile for xylenes.
New Mexico: SGS reports that the government has published the PFAS Protection Act to regulate PFAS in products.

Belgium: all tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging from 1 June
Under the tobacco regulations (in Dutch), packaging for cigarettes, rolling tobacco and waterpipe tobacco must be plain. From 1 June 2026, this will also apply to other tobacco-based products and herbal products intended for smoking. The government recently published FAQ (419 kB).

Microplastics in tumours
In a recent article, FPF discusses research comparing microplastics in tumours and in healthy brains led by Capital Medical University in Beijing. The researchers found that microplastic abundance was significantly higher in the tissue surrounding a brain tumour than in healthy brain tissue. Nanoplastics (<1µm) were more commonly detected throughout all samples than microplastics (>1µm), indicating that smaller particles appear to reach the brain more easily. Based on a survey of donors of brain tumour samples, the main exposure sources identified were medical injections, cosmetic application, and plastic food packaging use.

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