New York bans hoverboards on trains and subways over fire concerns
January 27, 2016, Mashable.com
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that it is banning the possession of hoverboards on its public transportation system facilities, adding to the growing list of facilities and institutions that have instituted bans. It’s chief safety officer said that in addition to concern over the safety of hoverboards on station platforms, “we’re equally concerned about the safety risk of bringing devices that pose fire hazards into the confined spaces inside trains and buses.”  

Consumer Affairs update on hoverboards
January 27, 2016, bernews.com
Add Bermuda (British Overseas Territory) to the locations that are tracking developments on the risks that hoverboards represent globally. The island territory uses the U.S. consumer Product Safety Commissioner’s public announcements relating to the fire-prone product as the basis for its warnings to citizens. Bermuda urges residents who own hoverboards “to use them with great caution” and “have a working fire extinguisher nearby while charging or using these boards in and around your home.”

South Korea expresses concerns over China’s toughened safety rules on batteries
January 28, 2016, English.yonhapnews.co.kr
A South Korea committee consisting of government and business officials has asked the Chinese government to delay introducing tougher safety rules on lithium-ion batteries. In October, the Chinese government said it would look closely into whether imported lithium-ion batteries meet safety rules when issuing its product quality certification.  The Koreans are asking for more time to respond to the new rules, which are set to go into effect.

Batteries with a less fiery future
January 21, 2016, NPR News
Stanford University chemical engineer Zhensen Bao says she and her colleagues think they have a “very simple solution’ that can prevent the catastrophic failure of lithium-ion batteries that can heat up to point of starting fires on such products as airplanes, cars, and hoverboards.  By chemically treating a piece of heat-sensitive plastic to conduct electricity, its carbon-coated nickel nanoparticles expand under heat and pull apart so they can no longer conduct electricity and stop the battery from operating.

Volkswagen may buy back diesel cars it can’t fix
January 28, 2016, The New York Times
A company attorney says the automaker may buy back some diesel cars in the United States if it cannot make them compliant with air quality rules fast enough.  This is seen as the “clearest indication yet that the company, which is based in Wolfsburg, Germany, may not have the technology to bring emissions for some cars into line with regulations without hurting performance and fuel economy.

Water pollution in Hoosick Falls prompts action by New York State
January 27, 2016, The New York Times
Scrambling to contain an environmental scare in a small upstate village, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is using Superfund money, filtration systems and testing to address the presence of a toxic chemical, perfluoroctanoic acid, or PFOA, an industrial chemical used in the manufacture of coatings such as Teflon, cleaning products and other materials. Local officials welcomed the governor’s decision.

Monsanto sues California over herbicide classification
January 22, 2016, The New York Times
The company stepped up its defense of Roundup, a widely used weed killer, by filing a lawsuit in California seeking to prevent glyphosate, the main ingredient in the herbicide, from being added to the stat’s list of known carcinogens under the provisions of Proposition 65. The company’s suit against California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment is based on the state’s use of an assessment by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer as an “unelected, undemocratic, unaccountable and foreign body.” It claims the lack of oversight violates the company’s right to procedural due process under sate and federal law.

New food safety rules loom over industry
January 21, 2016, Handfordsentinel.com
As U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials issue rules to enforce the sweeping Food Safety Modernization Act, local operators around the country involved in food product chains from farms to restaurants are trying to understand what it means to their operations.  Rules covering fresh produce growers were released in November. In March, rules will be released covering third party certification of foreign food facilities, increased sanitation requirements, for food haulers, and mandatory anti-terrorism plans to be submitted by domestic and foreign food facilities.

Ready for a crisis?
January 27, 2016, Agweb.com
Prepare in advance to save time when an emergency strikes is the advise of one writer. She recommends tat experts be call on to advise farm owners on how to develop protocols and plans for handling disasters such as tornadoes, disease outbreaks, and charges of animal cruelty.

New guide to complex supply chain disputes released on Amazon
January 28, 2016, einpresswire.com
Supply chain legal experts have published a first of its kind legal and operational guide to successfully manage supply chain relationships.  The book is a guide for optimizing supply chain relationships, beginning with the first states of supplier-buyer relationships through handling legal disputes when supply chain relationships fail.  

DOT, Automakers agree on proactive safety principles
January 15, 2016, Transportation.gov
In an “historic agreement” the Department of Transportation secretary praises a response to the record number of vehicles recall and record civil penalties issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The government and 18 automakers announce a new collaborative approach to safety that is aimed at improving data quality that automakers and NHTSA analyze and identify defects “before they explode into massive recalls.”

Dodgy safety certificates behind Aussie ‘hoverboard’ recall
January  14, 2016, Yahoo News
An attorney-conducted audit of the fire-prone products from a New South Wales company found the faulty component in the hoverboard to be the battery charger. The attorney noticed that the accompanying safety certificate were either incorrect or non-existent. In some cases a certificate would be present, however the product numbers on the document would not match the numbers of the items being sent into the country by some Chinese suppliers for the controversial product.

How the hoverboard industry could have dodged a product safety crisis
January 11, 2016, Compliance Today
There are now 28 fire investigations underway in 19 states, according to the CPSC. Like laptops, tablets, or phones, hoverboards use lithium ion batteries as their power source. Because hoverboards were rapidly engineered due to their sudden popularity, and because that are a new product, there is no safety standard designed to apply.

Is there a danger from scented candles?
January 14, 2016, bbc.com
The levels of perfume chemicals are regulated inside products; but what happens to air quality is worth analyzing.  While house plants may not have a significant effect on a candle’s limonene level, formaldehyde levels came down. Plants that are the best absorbers include English ivy, geraniums, and many ferns.

CPSC Launches new portal to guide companies through regulatory maze
January 7, 2016, The National Law Review
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has rolled out a new self-help compliance tool, the Regulatory Robot. The compliance tool is intended to help guide industry, particularly new product makers and small businesses, through the maze of CPSC regulations and guidance.  After inputting product information into the tool through a series of automated questions, the user will receive customized product safety regulatory guidance related specifically to that product.

The House passed a bill to reform asbestos lawsuits
January 8, 2016, The Hill
The House approved legislation to set new limits on class action lawsuits and new requirements for asbestos victims. Seeking compensation through the court system.  Proponents say the Republican-backed bill will protect finite trusts from paying out money for fraudulent or inflated claims, while advocates for asbestos victims argue the legislation would allow scam artists and identity thieves to prey on victims of asbestos exposure who have filed claims with trusts.

 Can Russia and the EU restore their friendship?
January 15, 2016, rbth.com
Despite strong trade dependencies on the part of the two, they criticized the policies of their respective capitals at a recent forum in Moscow. Both sides accused each other of being unreceptive to the interests of their counterpart and acrimony prevailed. Among the few bright spots of cooperation that was elusive around broader geo-political developments: education and product safety.

Lingering food safety regulatory issues for China in 2016
January 10, 2016, Forbes
As China continues implementing its revised food safety law, two features of the regulation and their development are striking. First, while recently emphasizing its desire to eliminate unnecessary licensure requirements, the new food law is holding steady if not increasing in some causes. The second striking feature is the ever changing body of national food safety standards, because they dictate what ingredients to use and how to use them.

Stanford scientists develop safer battery material
January 13, 2016, Information Week
The university’s researchers have developed a polymer that can prevent lithium ion batteries from overheating without permanently disabling them. Lithium ion batteries have extremely high energy density, which has made them prone to combustion under adverse conditions or manufacturing defects.

Key risk management issues for 2016
January 14, 2016, Continuity Central
A number of operational and external risks will require close watching and management this year.  Some key strategic risk areas that bear attention include technology, third party risk management, fraud and misconduct, crisis management and data security.

Anti-tip-over law, inspired by Ogdensburg (NY) child’s death, signed into law
December 29, 2016, northcountrynow.com
Moved by a tragic event, a New York State Senator and Assemblyman have sponsored legislation to prevent “tip over” accidents that was signed into law at the end of 2015. Under the law’s provisions, the state’s Consumer Protection Division will be required to develop a public awareness campaign about the danger and the need to anchor to floors or walls heavy furniture that could fall or be pulled down by children.

U.S. Colleges begin banning hoverboards from campus over fire concerns
January 7, 2016, CTVnews.ca
At least 20 universities have banned or restricted hoverboards on their campuses in recent weeks, saying that the 2-wheeled, motorized scooters are unsafe and found in some cases to cause fires according to federal authorities. In New Jersey, a Kean University official issued a campus-wide ban telling the school’s 14,000 students that any hoverboards found on campus would be confiscated. Outright bans have also been issued at American University and George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Hoverboard fire: Consumer watchdog launches investigation after blaze destroys Melbourne house
January 6, 2016, abc.net.au
Australia’s consumer watchdog will launch an investigation into hoverboards after one of the motorized scooters caused a fire that destroyed a family’s home causing an estimated $500,000 in damage. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will conduct the investigation at the request of the Victorian government, following the path that led to a ban of the product in the UK.

New ASTM standard supporters greener chemicals in consumer products
January 7, 2016, Thomasnet.com
With E3027, Guide for Making Sustainability-related Chemical Selection Decisions in the Life Cycle of Product, manufacturers and regulators can determine whether the most sustainable chemicals are being used for consumer products. The standard also provides guidance on how to perform analysis of alternative chemicals that is a regulatory requirement in states like California.

California Proposition 65 reformulation of phthalates in consumer products
January 5, 2016, 4-Traders.com
A number of Prop 65 settlements have been reached for a wide variety of products containing phthalates. The parties to these settlements agreed to reformulate phthalates or to provide Prop 65 warnings.  The Prop 65 list contains approximately 850 chemicals, including 6 phthalates.

U.S. Sues Volkswagen for cheating on emissions tests
January 5, 2016, The New York Times
The Justice Department sued the German automaker in federal court saying that the company installed illegal devices in nearly 600,000 diesel engine systems to impair emissions controls, increasing harmful air pollution. The company admitted in September that it had installed the software created to cheat on emissions tests in 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide.

Companies regulatory matters increase fourfold: costs, risk, data security top list of concerns for U.S. and European companies
November 15, 2015, Metropolitan Corporate Counsel
In its annual litigation and corporate compliance survey, one law firm polled general counsel and compliance officers at companies with annual revenue of $250 million or more. Top of mind concerns included: controlling costs (73%), data security (66%), proactive risk management (66%), early case assessment (57%), and global compliance (55%). “Bet the company” cases involved 11% of respondant companies, versus 8% in a 2014 survey.

Takata emails show brash exchanges about data tampering
January 5, 2015, The New York Times
Accused by one of its leading customers, Honda Motor Company, Takata emails newly obtained claim that the air bag supplier submitted testing data that had been “misrepresented and manipulated.”  The emails suggest the manipulation was both bold and broad, involving open exchanges among Takata employees in Japan and the U.S. Honda announced 2 months ago that it would no longer use Takata as supplier of its airbags.

Recently finalized FSMA rules create new safety requirements
January 6, 2016, naturalproductsinsider.com
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently finalized rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that create new food safety requirements for FDA-registered food facilities and importers of food and beverages.  Preventative controls rules have a compliance deadline of September, 2016, and contain a requirement for written food safety plans, including a more rigorous assessment of supplier compliance history. The foreign supplier verification program (FSVP) provisions have a compliance deadline of May, 2017 and are described as “risk-based activities to verify that food imported into the United States has been produced in a manner that meets applicable U.S. safety standards.

Supply Chain Managers: Use certified products in your supply chain
January 7, 2016, ebonline.com
Despite the heightened importance of supply chain technology and regulatory compliance where data privacy is concerned, many organization still aren’t giving cyber security the attention needed in this interconnected age of business operations. One path forward involves working with vendors who offer certified products to mitigate risks and adds a level of security.

Hoverboard Controversy Sweeps Across the Globe

>Hoverboard related falls spike for the holidays
December 28, 2015, cnn.net
The popular gift already had a dangerous reputation following reports of hoverboards suddenly catching fire. But on Christmas, sudden fires weren’t the most dangerous part of the product. Gravity was, and the CPSC has been urging consumers experiencing incidents to report them in order to gather data on source of injuries.

>New York rethinks hoverboard ban
December 30, 2015, Fortune
A state senator and assemblyman are moving to let cities decide for themselves whether to allow hoverboards and what protective gear to require. State and local officials are challenging the classification of the scooters as motor vehicles, claiming they are essentially fast skateboards. A patent is held by its inventor describing a “two-wheeled self-balancing personal vehicle.”

 >Trade, health caution against buying hoverboards
December 30, 2015, thestandard.com
The hoverboard has attracted growing global attention, including actions taken in the U.S. where CPSC has an ongoing investigation, the UK which impounded 17,000 units ready for release and distribution at country ports, and Australia, which has announced a recall. Warnings to consumers in the Philippines urge consumer caution in buying the two-wheeled scooters.

Chemical safety overhaul passes Senate, earns industry praise
December 21, 2015, Environmental Leader
The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the U.S.’ primary chemical regulation, moved closer to getting a long sought overhaul as the U.S. Senate approved the chemical safety bill, titled Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21^st Century Act. It now goes to a conference committee to be reconciled with the U.S. House of Representatives’ version passed in June.

CPSC: Report on “Refinement of temperature-limiting control systems for preventing oil ignition in gas and electric cooktops
November, 2015, cpsc.gov
A research report by a government contractor has addressed a CPSC aim to identify and mitigate the risks of unattended fires, and will assist the agency staff as they continue to work with standard developers, the Association for Home Appliance Manufacturers, and other interested parties in the future development of requirements. The report concludes that there is additional data to support the implementation of pan temperature limiting technology into electric coil, gas and electric glass ceramic cooktops.

California lists an Aloe Vera extract and Goldenseal Root Powder under Prop 65
December 30, 2015, National Law Review
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) added the 2 substances “known to the State to cause cancer under Proposition 65,” effective December 5, 2015. The basis for the listing is their  classification in Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic to humans) by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.

CarMax, consumer groups spar over recall repair responsibility
December 15, 2015, Automotive News
Consumer groups say CarMax, the nation’s largest used-vehicle retailer, should be responsible for correcting unfixed safety recall issues before a sale is completed. CarMax says it discloses the pending recall work, but the burden is on the consumer after the sale.

U.S. Official: America’s new food safety law ‘flexible’ for EU imports
December 15, 2015, EurActive.com
FDA Deputy Commissioner Michael R. Taylor says that the Food Safety Modernization Act signed into law in 2011 is a very major overhaul of the U.S. food safety system. He notes that “it’s really a mandate to build in to our oversight system, preventative measures in a comprehensive way beginning on farm where fresh products is grown, and food manufacturing facilities, and the transport of food, and very importantly, apply the same standards to imports as we apply to our domestically-produced food to be able to verify that the imported food is meeting our standards.”  The U.S. approach will include “flexibility and a built-in harmonization…with European partners.”

CFDA announces draft regulation to implement China’s new food safety law
December 21, 2015, National Law Review
The government released a draft Regulation on the Implementation of the Food Safety Law, detailing issues that surround enforcement that entered into force in October, 2015. The regulation will likely have a major impact on foods imported into China that have been under a high level of scrutiny, such as health food and infant formula.

What’s next for the supply chain in 2016
December 29, 2015, ebnonline
An industry observer looks at top trends and topics for the electronics industry.  His assessment: the industry will be dealing with issues surrounding refurbishment of parts and products, repair avoidance and advanced processes for testing and diagnostics, and an influx of new products in the fast growing wearable technology industry.