by Lily Hou, PhD, CHMMOn March 28, 2017, the National Standardization Technical Committee on Consumer Product Safety of China published the draft version of a Chinese National Standard, Safety Requirements for Hazardous Chemicals in Consumer Products, for public comment.The Standard prescribes restrictions on the use of 103 categories of harmful substances in consumer products. Consumer products exclude government specially-supervised products, such as food, medicine, cosmetics, tobacco, special equipment, aircraft, ships, and military products.For the restricted substances that are regulated under existing standards for consumer products in China, the draft Standard adopts the usage restrictions set by the Chinese standards. If China hasn't set safety requirements for the harmful chemicals in consumer products, the new Standard proposes restrictions based on the requirements in the following standards:* EU REACH Regulations ((EC) NO 1907/2006);* EN 71-9 Safety of Toys - Part 9: Organic chemical compounds - requirements;* EN71-12: 2013 Safety of Toys - Part 12: N-Nitrosamines and N-nitrosatable substances; and* OEKO-TEX® Standard 100-2017The public comment period ended on April 15, 2017. The Standard is intended to be finalized as a Recommended National Standard (GB/T).Reference:Notice to Solicit Public Comment on Safety Requirements for Hazardous Chemicals in Consumer Products (in Chinese): http://www.cnis.gov.cn/wzgg/201703/t20170330_22259.shtml