Non-food legislation – April 2026

Hazardous substances – Rules and regulations in the EU
ECHA has opened a consultation on the draft opinion on the PFAS restriction proposal of its Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC). The proposal was submitted by five countries (Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) in January 2023.
The EP has adopted a report on the Omnibus VI package to simplify provisions related to the CLP Regulation among other things. MEPs agree with most of the proposed changes by the EC but are against deleting all requirements for the text that should be on a product label, insisting that it must be legible for consumers. They also want to reintroduce the requirement to have a telephone number for the supplier included on the label.
ECHA (95 kB) has announced the 27 substances that are up for evaluation under the REACH Community rolling action plan (CoRAP) for the years 2026-2028.

Hazardous substances – Rules and regulations outside the EU
Australia: SGS reports that in March 2026, the government opened a consultation on the proposed listing of 14 classes of industrials chemicals to the IChEMS Register. New Zealand: In March 2026, EPA opened a consultation on plans to restrict the three POPs chlorpyrifos, MCCPs and LC-PFCAs in alignment with the Stockholm Convention. UK: SGS reports that in March 2026, Defra launched a consultation on the addition of 15 SVHCs to the UK REACH Candidate List. Defra also opened a consultation on proposed changes to the POPs Regulation, including legislation to prohibit five new POPs. US: EPA has delayed the PFAS reporting requirements under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

EU updates regulation on detergents and surfactants
SGS reports that Regulation (EU) 2026/405 on detergents and surfactants has been published, becoming applicable on 23 September 2029. This regulation updates the labelling requirements and introduces a Digital Product Passport (DPP) among other things.

EU guidelines for the traceability of medicines in hospital settings
The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) has published guidelines for the traceability of medicines in hospital settings. The guidelines present best practices and a harmonised European regulatory framework for barcoding all authorised medicines at primary packaging level, with options for phased implementation. You can download the guidelines after filling in your details.

Evaluation of EU tobacco control framework
The evaluation of the EU tobacco control framework by the EC shows that smoking rates have fallen from 28% to 24% of the population since 2012, with an even sharper decline among young people. Tobacco-related deaths have also decreased substantially, reflecting the positive impact of stricter rules on product regulation, advertising bans and health warnings. At the same time, the evaluation highlights growing challenges linked to the rapid emergence of novel tobacco and nicotine products, particularly among young people.

Research
Frontiers reports on Shanghai Jiao Tong University research finding that PFAS appears to speed up biological aging in middle-aged men.
A recent INRAE study estimates that 83 million years of healthy life will be lost amongst the global population by 2040 if plastic production and use continues on the current trajectory.
 

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