On 29 October 2026, the EU Official Journal published two food contact material amending regulations on the same day. Regulation (EU) 2026/2412 adds four substances to the Union positive list for plastics (Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011), and Regulation (EU) 2026/2376 restructures the recycled plastics framework of Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 across registration, declarations of compliance, testing methods and import release documents. Both regulations enter into force on 18 November 2026.
Seven inspection and test methods (revised replacements and new additions) are incorporated into the STSC.
On October 19, 2026, UK HSE issued a notice formally adding nine chemical substances to the UK REACH Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC).
On October 15, 2026, China's NIDC published landmark draft standards for freeze-dried and single-dose cosmetics. Open for public feedback until November 22, 2026, the drafts establish unified testing requirements while excluding freeze-dried masks and trial samples, urging businesses to review formulations and plan compliance early. (51 words)
CIRS Group has summarized the latest global cosmetic regulatory developments of September 2026 to help enterprises gain a comprehensive view of global regulatory trends.
Health Canada has proposed the most significant reform of Canadian food-contact materials regulation in decades, with the first round of consultation closing on 9 October 2026. Two core changes are on the table: replacing voluntary declaration with mandatory pre-market notification, and considering a binding positive list aligned with US FDA and EU systems. A second consultation round is expected between November 2026 and January 2027, followed by roughly five years of phased implementation once the rules are finalized — leaving exporters a multi-year window to prepare documentation and testing.
From 10 October 2026, the first batch of products under EU REACH Annex XVII Entry 79 on PFHxA comes into scope. Affected categories include clothing and accessories for the general public, footwear, food-contact paper and paperboard, public mixtures, and cosmetics. Two independent limits must be met in each homogeneous material: the sum of PFHxA and its salts at or below 25 ppb, and the sum of PFHxA-related substances at or below 1 000 ppb.
2026 marks a watershed year for Food Contact Material (FCM) compliance in the European Union. The new plastics regulation is now in force, and the requirements on Non-Intentionally Added Substances (NIAS) and on the purity of starting substances have become legally binding. Since 16 September 2026, plastic articles produced under the old rules can no longer be placed on the EU market for the first time. RASFF data point in the same direction.
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR) has applied in full since 12 August 2026. All four categories of export packaging — food, pharmaceutical, medical device and tobacco — fall within its scope, but each is primarily governed by a different piece of legislation, and each has a different set of exemptions.
With exactly six weeks remaining, China’s revised national toy safety standards GB 6675.1-2025 to GB 6675.4-2025 will take effect on 1 November 2026. From that date, all toys newly manufactured in, or imported into, China must comply with the 2025 revision.
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