EU Endocrine Disruptor Guidance Open For Comments; Benefit Cosmetics Recall; More News In Brief

The European Chemicals Agency and European Food Safety Authority seek public comment on newly released draft guidance "for the identification of endocrine disruptors" in the context of regulations governing biocidal products and plant protection products. According to the Dec. 7 announcement, ECHA and EFSA have been developing the guidance at the European Commission's behest following the Commission's publication of two related draft legal acts in June 2016. (Also see "EC Releases Endocrine-Disruptor Criteria, Drawing Heavily On WHO Definitions" - HBW Insight, 24 June, 2016.) Since then, European Parliament has rejected the European Commission draft regulation for implementing the criteria under an existing PPP regulation, but a corresponding regulation for biocidal products met no such resistance, publishing Nov. 17 in the EU's Official Journal. (Also see "EU Endocrine Disruptor Regs In Limbo; Parliament Urges 'Suspected' Category" - HBW Insight, 16 November, 2017.) Discussions with member states on implementing the ED-identification criteria for PPP purposes will resume, ECHA and EFSA say, noting, "The Commission considers that the criteria for PPPs should not differ substantially from those adopted for BPs and will prepare a new proposal accordingly." The present draft guidance must be finalized by June 7, 2018, when the biocidal criteria regulation becomes applicable, the agencies say.