COFRAC Accreditation ISO 17025 Received by SGS France for Juvenile Product Testing
On January 15, 2012, SGS France became COFRAC certified in the physical and mechanical testing of juvenile products. Laboratories use ISO/IEC 17025 to implement a quality system designed to consistently produce valid results. The...
Detecting and Preventing Viral Contamination of Food
Foodborne viral outbreaks are ever present in the media spotlight. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported that viral agents were responsible for 11.9% of the foodborne outbreaks in the European Union (EU) during 2007,...
SGS Announces the Opening of a New Textile Testing Laboratory in Cairo, Egypt
SGS has announced the opening of its new premises in Cairo offering a complete suite of facilities and services, enhanced in capacity and capability, for the testing of textile and leather goods. The relocated testing laboratory...
Benchmarking Developing Countries Food Safety Improvements
Concerns surrounding food safety continue, despite many improvements in food production and handling. Foodborne diseases constantly evolve and new infections are often discovered. In addition, new challenges to food safety arise...
SGS extends Partnership with Leading Japanese Testing and Inspection Firm BOKEN at Jakarta
In March 2012, SGS has started its fifth overseas business partnership with Japans leading textile testing and inspection organization BOKEN. The Jakarta regional hub is an addition to the current BOKEN overseas representatives...
SGS brings Sustainability Service to the Indian Textiles Industry
As consumers demand greater environmental accountability for the products they use, SGS, a global leader in inspection, verification and certification for the textile industry launches a new sustainability service for the Indian...
SGS Turkey Opens New Hi-tech Textile Testing Laboratory in Istanbul
A new SGS Textile Testing Laboratory has been opened in Istanbul, Turkey, containing the latest in cutting edge technologies for the development and innovation of services in testing, inspection, verification and certification.
Indonesian Draft Decree Sets out Standards for Babies and Children’s Clothing
The Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade of the World Trade Organization has issued notification of a draft decree, published by the Indonesian Ministry of Industry. The decree states that all fabric used in the production of...
SGS Brazil Acquires Inmetro Certification Body Accreditation for Toys and Juvenile Products
In December, 2011, Inmetro, the Brazilian Regulatory Agency, accredited SGS Brazil as a product certification body for Toys Certification. Accreditation had already been granted in a number of different product areas including...
Functional Safety Training ISO 26262 in New Delhi, India Hosted by SGS
SGS will provide a training program according to ISO 26262 for functional safety in New Delhi, India. The course is spread over five days and takes place June 4-8, 2012.
SGS Egypt is Accredited as 3rd Party Inspection Company by GEOIC
When exporting products to Egypt it is necessary to comply with the country’s mandatory quality and safety standards. Egypt’s General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) implements and monitors a Conformity...
Continuance of Germany’s Stricter Chemical Limits in Toys Permitted by EC
In response to a request by Germany in January 2011 to continue applying existing national rules on toy safety that are stricter than the Toy Safety Directive, the European Commission (EC) has agreed to the retention of some, but...
SGS helps Guinness® Set New World Record, Making St Patrick’s Day ‘The Friendliest Day of the Year’
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ has been a totally independent award organization since 1991. When the Global Marketing team for Guinness (the Irish Stout beer) needed to verify the number of attendees at St Patrick’s Day celebrations...
New ASTM F2907-12 Safety Standard for Infant Slings is Published
In February 2012 ASTM International published ASTM F2097-12, a new voluntary consumer safety specification for infant sling carriers. This ASTM consensus safety standard is intended to minimize the hazards associated with infant...
US Grants Specific Exception to Lead Content Limit for Ride-On Toys
The US CPSC granted a petitioned exception to the lead content limit of 100 ppm for specific aluminum die-cast components in ride-on pedal tractors for children on April 5, 2012. This exception also applies to similar aluminum...
Increase of Foodborne Illnesses from US Imports
The latest research data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that foodborne disease outbreaks linked to imported foods are on the rise. In all, 39 outbreaks and 2,348 illnesses were linked...
ECHA Provides Information about SVHC Use in Consumer Articles
For the very first time, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) published details on March 5, 2012 about the practical use of candidate list Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) in consumer articles. This information was...
Final Rule for Portable Bed Rails Safety Standards Approved by the CPSC
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has promulgated the Final Rule regarding safety standards for portable bed rails, to be effected from August 29th, 2012. The publication of 16 CFR Part 1224, as found in the federal...
CPSC Amends Consumer Registration Regulations for Durable Infant Products
With publication of a Final Rule in the Federal Register by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on February 17, 2012 amending the 16 CFR 1130 requirements for consumer registration of durable infant or toddler...
New EU Framework Targets Uniform Product Safety Regulatory Environment
To simplify regulations surrounding the marketing of products, the EU’s New Legislative Framework (NLF) was enacted in 2008 as part of a ‘Goods Package’ to counter claims the existing legislation is difficult to apply. With the...
South Africa Introduces New Regulation for Food Labeling
Delayed for one year to allow the industry extra time to revise their product labels in preparation, South Africa has now established new labeling regulations (R146) that applies to food manufacturers both nationally and...
Mexico Modifies Requirements for Labels on Textile and Apparel
The Mexican Ministry of Economy issued a resolution on December 23, 2011, to amend the labeling requirements of the official Mexican Standard NOM-004-SCFI 2006 for textiles and apparel – that sets out the labeling of textile...
Update to Toys and Juvenile Product Safety for Hong Kong
Effective from April 1, 2012, Hong Kong has recently updated two toy safety standards and realigns the standards to reflect changes to European, Australia/New Zealand and United States standards for eight children’s product...
New European Safety Barriers Standard (EN 1930:2011)
A revised European standard EN 1930:2011 was published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) in December 2011. It concerns the domestic indoor use of child safety barriers across door openings and replaces the...
US FDA Demands New Requirements of Records Access
To bring legislation in line with provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act 2010 (FSMA) the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an interim final rule and draft guidance for record access requirements on February...