Bergeson & Campbell, PC (LexBlog France)

In France, under Decree No. 2012-232, companies that manufacture, import, and/or distribute a “substance with nanoparticle status” in an amount of at least 100 grams per year must submit an annual report with substance identity, quantity, and use information. According to the R-Nano website, managed by the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health...

According to a February 13, 2023, press release issued by France’s Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and Ministry of Energy Transition, France is appealing the November 23, 2022, decision of the European General Court that annuls the 2019 harmonized classification and labeling of titanium dioxide as a carcinogenic substance by inhalation in certain...

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has posted “important information” for the 2022 reporting period under R-Nano, France’s national reporting scheme for substances in nanoparticle form. ANSES states that it is asking providers to give an updated declaration number to their customers upon request, “even if they have no...

As reported in our May 7, 2021, blog item, the European Commission (EC) recently held a targeted stakeholder consultation to update, test, and verify the preliminary findings of its review of the 2011 Recommendation on the definition of a nanomaterial. According to a July 23, 2021, news item posted by the French Agency for Food,...

On March 4, 2021, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) announced that it is recommending an eight-hour occupational exposure limit (OEL) of 0.80 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) for titanium dioxide nanoparticles.  According to ANSES, compliance with this value “should help prevent lung inflammation, an effect that occurs at...

On December 1, 2020, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) announced the results of an assessment of R-Nano, France’s national reporting scheme for substances in nanoparticle form.  In 2013, France began requiring companies that manufacture, import, and/or distribute a “substance with nanoparticle status” in an amount of at least...

On June 9, 2020, the French National Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) issued a press release, in French, proposing an inventory of manufactured nanomaterials in food.  According to ANSES, manufactured nanomaterials are used in food: As additives to improve the appearance and palatability of the product; As food contact materials to...

On April 17, 2019, the Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition issued a press release announcing that France will prohibit foods containing food additive E171 (titanium dioxide) from being placed on the market beginning January 1, 2020.  The press release cites the April 15, 2019, opinion from the Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation,...

The 2019 U.S.-European Union (EU) NanoEHS Communities of Research (COR) Workshop will take place October 15-16, 2019, at the Europole de l’Arbois in Aix en Provence, France.  The workshop is organized by the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and the European Commission (EC).  The agenda for the October 2018 Bridging NanoEHS Research Efforts Joint Workshop...

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on September 27, 2017, that the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) concluded on ten opinions for harmonized classification and labeling (CLH), including titanium dioxide.  In May 2016, France submitted a CLH proposal for titanium dioxide, stating that titanium dioxide should be considered as being potentially carcinogenic to humans when...

According to a July 12, 2017, press release, a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGO) wrote to the French Prime Minister and several ministers to call for labeling and restriction of nanomaterials in consumer products.  The NGOs request that three measures be taken “as a matter of urgency”: Temporarily ban titanium dioxide particles present in E171...

On June 9, 2017, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced that the Committee for Risk Assessment (RAC) “concluded that the available scientific evidence meets the criteria in the [Classification, Labeling and Packaging (CLP)] Regulation to classify titanium dioxide as a substance suspected of causing cancer through the inhalation route.”  In May 2016, France submitted a...

On April 26, 2017, France’s National Research and Safety Institute (INRS) published a press release announcing the availability of an English summary of a foresight study conducted in 2014 on the development of nanomaterials by 2030 and the consequences on safety and health in small businesses in France.  Four scenarios were envisioned: (1)       Strong...

In November 2016, the Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and the Sea released its 2016 report, in French, Éléments issus des déclarations des substances à l’état nanoparticulaire.  The report analyzes nanomaterial declarations received in 2016 for reporting year 2015.  Under Decree No. 2012-232, companies that manufacture, import, and/or distribute a “substance with nanoparticle status” in...

The fifth Nanosafe conference was held November 7-10, 2016, in Grenoble, France.  The conference included panel discussions on responsible development with non-governmental organizations; urban particles mitigation:  what is reasonably possible; and nanomedicine:  benefit-risk.  Topics addressed during the conference included: Measurement and characterization of nano objects; Exposure;...

On May 31, 2016, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) began a public consultation on a harmonized classification and labeling (CLH) proposal submitted by France for titanium dioxide.  The proposed entry in Annex VI of the Classification, Labeling, and Packaging (CLP) Regulation is “Carc. 1B, H350i.”  The CLH report states:  “Based on available evidence and information...

The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, and Energy published a report, available only in French, concerning the second round of mandatory reporting of nanomaterials.  Under Decree No. 2012-232, companies that manufacture, import, and/or distribute a “substance with nanoparticle status” in an amount of at least 100 grams per year must submit an annual report with...

On November 29, 2013, the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy published an initial assessment, available only in French, of the mandatory reporting of nanomaterials, which took effect January 1, 2013. Under Decree No. 2012-232, companies that manufacture, import, and/or distribute a “substance with nanoparticle status” in an amount of at least 100 grams per...

The Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy recently announced that it has extended the deadline for declaring substances with nanoparticle status to June 30, 2013. According to the Ministry, it received 1,991 declarations from 457 companies by the original deadline of April 30, 2013. The Ministry states that, given the “diversity of actors covered by the...

The French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development posted a January 8, 2013, memorandum (in French) concerning the annual mandatory reporting of nanomaterials, which took effect January 1, 2013.  Under Decree No. 2012-232, companies that manufacture, import, and/or distribute a “substance with nanoparticle status” in an amount of at least 100 grams per year must...

The French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development published an order in the August 10, 2012, Journal Officiel de la République Française concerning the content and submission requirements for the annual declarations of information relating to nanoparticle substances, as substances or as part of a mixture. The order comes into force on January 1, 2013, and...

In a September 22, 2010, report entitled Current Developments/Activities on the Safety of Manufactured Nanomaterials, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) provides information on current and planned activities related to the safety of manufactured nanomaterials in OECD member and non-member countries that attended the seventh meeting of OECD’s Working Party on...