State activity due to lack of Federal actions. Other challenges
include new VOC rulemakings, required ingredient disclosure in
certain household products, hydrofluorocarbon confusion and
aerosol product waste disposal concerns.
The good news is that the U.S. Pipeline & Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration (PHMSA) has a special aerosol project to assess
impacts of U.S. harmonization with international regulations.
Additionally, there have been reduced barriers for plastic aerosols,
Fire & Building Code activity and a Federal reclassification
of aerosol waste that makes it easier to dispose of filled or partially
filled aerosol cans.
Regarding the harmonization of the definition of an aerosol,
PHMSA is currently contracting a special aerosol project to review
potential impacts; the review will be concluded February 2020.
If the assessment concludes in the favor of HCPA and the other
allied trade organizations who petitioned PHMSA, PHMSA will
conduct rulemaking to align the definition of an aerosol.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a
Sunscreen Proposed Rule regarding over-the-counter sunscreen
products. It proposes to restrict the particle size of spray sunscreen
products—90% of particles dispensed must be at least 10 microns
or greater and the minimum particle size must be no less than five
microns. The FDA proposes to require lot particle size testing and
lot flammability testing; the HCPA provided FDA comments in
July 2019.
Regarding the reclassification of aerosol waste, filled or partially
filled aerosol cans are considered hazardous waste under the
Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) currently. In
2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed
to add aerosol cans to its universal waste regulations. A few States
have already added aerosols to their universal waste programs, but
this rule would make it easier for other States to do the same. The
final rule was expected as SPRAY went to press.
Advice on No-Deal Brexit Preparation was jointly presented by
Ewen Jones from the UK Dept. for
Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
and Lee Vousden, Policy Manager,
Chemical, UK Dept. for Business, Energy
& Industrial Strategy (BEIS). According
to Vousden, businesses that trade
with the European Union (EU) need to
act now to ensure that they are prepared
in the event of a “No Deal EU Exit.”
Firms should apply for an Economic
Operators Registration & Identification
(EORI) number or check that it has been
automatically generated. EORI is an EU
registration and identification number
for businesses that partake in the import
or export of goods into or out of the EU.
The Dept. for International Trade
(DIT) is running over 100 additional
“Get Ready for Brexit” workshops to help businesses (primarily existing
exporters to the EU) develop personalized Brexit Readiness
Action Plans. Information road shows will include speakers from
other government agencies to talk about cross-cutting themes,
including importing and exporting goods, supplying services to
the EU, employees and transferring data.
Today, Freedom of Movement means EU citizens and their
family members can reside freely in the UK. Post Brexit, The UK
will develop its own immigration policy, ending EU Freedom
of Movement. This means EU citizens will need to check which
measures are needed to stay in the UK. Businesses can visit
ww.gov.uk for the Employer’s Toolkit on supporting EU staff. To
continue living in the UK after June 30, 2021, workers should
check with the EC to see if/where professional qualifications will
be recognized. A company’s duty is not to discriminate against
EU citizens, said Vousden, but to make sure customers, employees
and suppliers are ready for Brexit.
According to Jones, transitional measures for Brexit means all
existing UK-held EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorization &
Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) registrants have 120 days to
provide the UK authorities with initial information. All importers
of substances from EU-based registrants have 180 days to provide
UK authorities with initial information. Those companies then
have two years after the point of exit for full registration to be
completed. Joint registrations would be encouraged to minimize
data duplication. It is recommended that UK businesses identify
the chemicals they manufacture, sell or use and identify their
regulatory responsibilities with respect to that chemical in the UK
market. They should check contingency plans across supply chains
to understand what information they may need to provide to
maintain UK and EU market access. Businesses need to consider
appropriate actions if the status of existing EU REACH registrations
or authorizations should change.
Blockchain & the Supply Chain was presented
by Wen Chen, Director of CLAP
Associates. Blockchain is the technology
behind Bitcoin; it was launched in
2009 and is also known as distributed
ledger technology (DLT). Blockchain
is a method of logging information in
blocks—a digital ledger of transactions,
agreements and contracts linked in a timesequence
chain. Key features include smart contracts, which are
flexible binding contracts that can be made to suit a wide range
of activities. Another feature is decentralized authentication by
a group of nodes in the system rather than a central authority. A
third feature is consensus algorithms that rule governing decisions
that power the architecture behind every blockchain. Assets that
can be traced with blockchain include proof of existence in ownership
specific products or product data. Blockchain can enrich
assets with source and destination information to record product
data exchanges to show the transaction took place. It can help reduce
counterfeiting by preventing double-spends. Blockchain may
reduce risks from cyber threats in the
manufacturing supply chain. Most users
now see blockchain as a top-five strategic
priority; this is a 10% jump over 2018.
Accelerating the Big Shift to a Sustainable
Future was presented by Hannah Pathak,
Director, Forum for the Future. Forum
for the Future is an international sustainability
non-profit with offices in London,
BAMA Forum & Awards
Grant Coupland, Sustainability Director, Colep, won
the Special Recognition Award for his contribution
to the aerosol industry. Coupland was a key figure in
the creation of ACOA—an alliance between Colep,
Pax in Australia and Diazo in Japan. In addition, he
has sat on the BAMA Committee, held the position
of Chairman of the Association and currently represents
BAMA on the European Aerosol Federation
(FEA) Board of Directors.
Jones
Vousden
24 Spray January 2020
Chen
Pathak