U.S. Customs and Border Protection is proposing to reclassify certain insulated lunch bags as bags with an outer surface other than textile under HTSUS 4202.92.10 (3.4 percent duty) rather than as bags with an outer surface of manmade textile under HTSUS 4202.92.08 (7 percent duty). Comments on this proposal are due by 2 September.

Canada is regulating six categories of single-use plastic product, including checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, ring carriers, stir sticks and straws. The provisions in the new law will be implemented in phases, starting in December 2022.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking input by 5 August on the proposed reclassification of certain paint sticks and power packs.

The International Trade Administration has self-initiated country-wide inquiries to determine whether imports of aluminium foil completed in South Korea and Thailand using mainland Chinese-origin aluminium foil and/or sheet are circumventing the AD and CV duty orders on aluminium foil from mainland China.

Starting 1 April 2022, a new tax will apply to plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into, the UK, subject to conditions. The Plastic Packaging Tax is expected to impact several industries, such as cosmetics, consumer goods, food and drink, online retail, oil, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and industrial and packaging manufacturing. Hong Kong traders dealing in these industries or importing plastic packaging into the UK may be affected by this tax.

Topics: Canada Issues AD/CV Duty Orders on Container Chassis; Brazil Renews AD Duty Orders on Pens and Mirrors.

The U.S. state of Maine recently issued a list of ten food contact chemicals of high concern as part of efforts to gather information on the current use of these chemicals in food packaging. Manufacturers and distributors of food packaging containing any of these chemicals in an amount greater than de minimis are required to report that fact to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection by around June.

Several provisions of France’s Prevention of Waste and Circular Economy Law have entered into force. The Law itself was adopted two years ago, on 20 February 2020, aiming to transform the French economy into a circular one by (i) removing disposable plastic, (ii) providing better information to consumers, (iii) combating waste, (iv) tackling planned obsolescence, and (v) producing sustainably.

The Food and Drug Administration is seeking public input by 11 April on a proposal to modify its procedures for determining that a pre-market notification for a food contact substance is no longer effective. The agency states that these changes would better enable it to respond to new information on the safety and use of food contact substances as well as to manufacturers’ business decisions.

Various consumer and environmental groups represented by Earthjustice on 7 December sued the Food and Drug Administration in an attempt to compel this agency to act within 60 days on petitions filed in 2016 requesting a ban on phthalates in food packaging and processing materials.