Brazil Updates Toy and School Supplies Regulations

Brazil has revised two pieces of legislation to change the country’s requirements for toys and school supplies.

The Brazilian National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO) has published Ordinance No. 217 of June 18, 2020 (the ‘Ordinance’). It came into effect on June 24, 2020 – the date of publishing – and revises:

  • Ordinance No. 481 of December 7, 2010 ‘Assessment Requirements for Compliance with School Supplies’ (Ordinance 481/2010)
  • Ordinance No. 563 of December 29, 2016 ‘Technical Regulation and Conformity Assessment Requirements for Toys’ (Ordinance 563/2016)

The Ordinance moves ‘modeling clay’ from the scope of Ordinance 481/2010 and reclassifies it as a toy. It therefore now needs to be certified according to Ordinance 563/2016.

There is also a comprehensive set of changes relating to toys, under Ordinance 563/2016. These include:

  • New compliance dates set for domestic manufacturers, importers, distributors and other businesses that carry out trade activities for compliance with the Ordinance on toy safety
  • Setting a new compliance date of January 1, 2022 for toys containing expanded ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer to comply with the more stringent limit for formamide content (from 0.5% to 0.3%)
  • A new set of complementary standards and documents, including a completely new standard for laser product safety, to be adopted for Technical Quality Regulation:
    • ABNT NBR NM 300-1:2011 ’General, mechanical and physical properties’
    • ABNT NMR NM 300-2:2004 ‘Flammability’
    • ABNT NBR NM 300-3:2011 ‘Migration of certain elements’
    • ABNT NBR NM 300-4:2004 ‘Experimental sets for chemistry and related activities’
    • ABNT NBR NM 300-5:2004 ‘Chemical toys (sets) other than chemistry sets
    • ABNT NBR NM 300-6:2004 ‘Electric toys’
    • ABNT NBR 13793:2012 ‘Feeding bottles and nipples’
    • ABNT NBR 11786:1998 ‘Specifications’ – this cancelled standard is used for 2 tests in this RTQ on a normative basis
    • ABNT NBR 16040:2018 ‘Phthalates – determination of phthalic plasticizers by gas chromatography’
    • ABNT ISO/TR 8124-8:2017 ‘Age determination guidelines’
    • IEC 60825-1:2014 ‘Safety of laser products’
    • Inmetro Ordinance No. 250, 2016
  • New definitions – includes a new definition for ‘toy’ – any product designed or clearly intended for use in play by children under fourteen years of age
  • Extending the validity of the Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from ‘3 years’ to ‘5 years’
  • Extending the maintenance evaluation period (audit and tests) from ‘6 months’ to ’12 months’ after the CoC has been issued
  • A completely new requirement for all packaging to contain the supplier’s identification (ID), containing the company name or when available, the trade name and/or registered trademark and address. This ID and address can be abbreviated but must be clearly identified
  • New warnings and statements, including those for marbles for the 0-3 age group
  • New warning on packaging for aquatic toys
  • New warnings for teethers and a completely new set of warnings for toy swings

The Ordinance has also modified the list of products that are not considered to be toys.

The latest amendment stipulates that toys must comply with the Ordinance on ‘Technical Regulation and Conformity Assessment Requirements for Toys’ by the following dates:

  • January 1, 2022 – domestic manufacturers and importers
  • January 1, 2023 – manufacturers and importers selling toys
  • July 1, 2025 – businesses marketing toys

SGS Toy & Juvenile Product Services

SGS offers a wide range of services to ensure that products comply with relevant standards for juvenile products and childcare articles. They provide consulting, training, product development, testing, audit and inspection services to ensure that products comply with strict regulations worldwide, demonstrating the safety and quality of juvenile products being brought to the market. Learn more about SGS’s Toy & Juvenile Product Services.

 

SGS SafeGuardS keep you up to date with the latest news and developments in the consumer goods industry. Read the full Brazil Revises Regulations on Toys and School Supplies SafeGuardS. 

 

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For further information contact:

Hingwo Tsang

Global Information and Innovation Manager

Tel:(+852) 2774 7420

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.sgs.com/hardlines

LinkedIn: sgs-consumer-goods-&-retail

About SGS

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 89,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world.

Northern VA HR Consultants Discuss Cultural Diversity Counseling Benefits

Alexandria, VA (release-news ) August 6, 2020 - The Northern Virginia HR Consultants at Smart HR has recently released a new educational article regarding HR consulting and cultural diversity counseling. The article reviews the top benefits that cultural diversity counseling can provide business owners and HR professionals. The blog can be found on the company's website. The HR solutions company draws from their years of experience helping to educate HR teams and business owners on these topics while also helping to improve profits, productivity, and employee satisfaction in the process.

Smart HR has designed this new blog to be used by business owners and HR teams in order to help them become properly educated on cultural diversity in the workplace and how it can help reshape your company culture. The firm has nearly 20 years of experience providing organizations with high-end HR management and expertise that, on average, costs 50% less than maintaining an in-house HR department. Their dedicated team of HR professionals takes pride in offering innovative, world-class human resource services to their clients.

The team at SmartHR hopes that this new article will help business owners and HR teams understand the effects that proper workplace diversity measures can have on their business. While this article focuses on cultural diversity, the SmartHR website also provides information on their team, experience, and other services that they offer such as HR audits, outsourcing, and management training programs. Their professionally trained and experienced team believes in helping to create cohesive and effective workplace environments for their clients. According to one client from the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, "Commitment and professionalism set SmartHR apart from others in the industry."

Speak to the experienced outsourced HR solutions firm today and help make your workplace run more smoothly than ever! Call Smart HR at 703-972-3177 or visit their website at https://www.smarthrinc.com. Their offices are located at 917 Prince Street Alexandria, VA 22314.

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Ecuador Issues Revised Draft Technical Regulation on Food Contact Ceramics

Ecuador has announced a revised proposal that, if accepted, will update its technical regulation for food contact ceramics.

The latest proposal, designated Ecuadorian Technical Regulation RTE UNEN 010 (2R) – ‘Ceramic Tableware Intended to Come into Contact with Food’, was circulated attached to World Trade Organization (WTO) document no. 20-4675 on July 8, 2020. It has a new structure and contains several important changes, including:

  • Revision to existing definitions and addition of new definitions
  • Addition of a table detailing the migration requirements for lead and cadmium (see below)
  • Mandating the list of information that must be included for labeling requirements.
  • Requirements for conformity evaluation procedure (Procedimiento de Evaluación de la Conformidad (PEC)), including:
    • Inspection and sampling
    • Requiring four identical units/samples for testing
    • Product certificate of conformity (CoC)
    • Supplier declaration of conformity (DoC)
    • Test reports recognized by the Ecuadorian Accreditation Service (Servicio de Acreditación Ecuatoriano, SAE)

The table detailing the migration requirements (criteria for 4 units) for lead and cadmium covers:

Lead

  • Flatware ≤ 0.8 mg/dm² (average)
  • Small Hollowware ≤ 2 mg/l
  • Large Hollowware ≤ 1 mg/l
  • Storage Hollowware ≤ 0.5 mg/l
  • Cups and Mugs ≤ 0.5 mg/l
  • Cooking Ware≤ 0.5 mg/l

Cadmium

  • Flatware ≤ 0.07 mg/dm² (average)
  • Small Hollowware ≤ 0.5 mg/l
  • Large Hollowware ≤ 0.25 mg/l
  • Storage Hollowware ≤ 0.25 mg/l
  • Cups and Mugs ≤ 0.25 mg/l
  • Cooking Ware ≤ 0.25 mg/l

The table lists ISO 6486-2 as the standard and ISO 6486-1 or NTE INEN ISO 6486-1 as the test standard.

Ecuador is currently holding a consultation on the proposal. Once approved, Ecuadorian Technical Regulation RTE UNEN 010 (2R) will enter into force six months after it is published in the Official Register, according to the WTO document in Q1 of 2021. It will replace RTE INEN 010:2013 (IR) and Amendments 1, 2 and 3:2014 on food contact ceramics.

SGS Food Contact Material Services

SGS’s technical experts have extensive experience of testing materials and articles in contact with food. They can ensure that your products meet the appropriate regulations for food contact materials and pave the way for compliance. SGS offers the full range of testing, including migration tests, along with expert advice on emerging regulations, compliance issues and documentation review. Learn more about SGS’s Food Contact Material Services. 

 

SGS SafeGuardS keep you up to date with the latest news and developments in the consumer goods industry. Read the Ecuador Consults Over Revised Draft Technical Regulation on Food Contact Ceramics SafeGuardS.

Subscribe here to receive SGS SafeGuardS direct to your inbox.

For further information contact:

Hingwo Tsang

Global Information and Innovation Manager

Tel:(+852) 2774 7420

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.sgs.com/hardlines

LinkedIn: sgs-consumer-goods-&-retail

About SGS

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 89,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world.

Trade Glaze Offers Amazing Deals On Double Glazing Herne Bay

Trade Glaze is your ultimate partner in keeping your home insulated and secured while helping you save on money. Proudly carrying 25 years of excellent double glazing Herne Bay tradition, the family-owned business offers its services at competitive rates — allowing their clients to enjoy the benefits of double glazing technology without breaking the bank.

Boost Your Insulation Minus The High Cost

double glazing in Herne Bay continues to gain attention from many homeowners because of its highly reliable thermal ability.

Thanks to its design — the use of two panes of glasses that create a tight air pocket in the middle — double glazed windows and doors can minimise heat transfer as needed. It can prevent heat from escaping your home during the winter season and from entering into your residential space during the warmer months. This, in effect, leads to lower energy bills.

Trade Glaze, a member of the Home Improvement Protection and is fully accredited by Assure Windows and Doors, guarantees that their double glazed products are durable and of the highest quality. This makes the already cost-effective offering an even more economical way of keeping your home warm — the company offers their products at the most competitive rates in the industry.

Their amazing deals come with the expertise of their reputable fitting and installation teams. These double glazing Herne Bay experts ensure that all their windows and doors are internally glazed for safety, fully welded, reinforced, and equipped with appropriate security measures for maximum protection.

What Trade Glaze Offers

A master of their craft, the folks at Trade Glaze use their adeptness in double glazing to offer a variety of products to their clients.

Windows. The company offers both double glazing and triple glazing options for their window offerings. The design can also range from contemporary casement to vertical sliding sash to bow or bay — the last two are known for their ability to add space to the room where they will be located. Colour options include white, wood grain, and rosewood.

Doors. Trade Glaze’s experts in double glazing in Herne Bay also offer insulated composite doors, French doors, bi-fold doors, and patio doors that are well-suited for porch and garden applications.

Conservatories. Conservatories let you enjoy the views of nature while you stay at the confines of your home. Trade Glaze creates energy-efficient conservatories that can be designed as Victoriana (classic conservatory design), Kent Extension (a more modern interpretation), or Lean To (suitable for low-level extensions and bungalows).

Firestone RubberCover. Apart from the abovementioned, the company also supplies and fits the in-demand Firestone rubberised roofs. This roofing solution — which features a 25-year guarantee — is durable, flexible, and easy to install. This low-cost roofing system is also environment-friendly.

Whether you’re building your home or doing a renovation, equipping it with double glazing Herne Bay products is a wide investment. Get help from the best names in the field and call Trade Glaze at 01227 365 333 or visit them at http://www.trade-glaze.com.

A New Cryptocurrency: BitcoinPoS - Bitcoin Proof of Stake

A New Cryptocurrency to Revolutioneze Crypto World: BitcoinPoS - Bitcoin Proof of Stake

While Bitcoin (BTC) is the most popular cryptocurrency on the market, nowadays, it is quite difficult to invest in the coin if you do not have a higher capital status. Mining for Bitcoin is also an expensive venture, as the costs can get very high for hardware, its maintenance and updating. But crypto enthusiasts that missed out when BTC was at a lower price have a new opportunity of investment, Bitcoin Proof of Stake.

BitcoinPoS: A Better Bitcoin

Bitcoin Proof of Stake (BPS) is a new and improved version of the Bitcoin core, as it eliminates the issues faced by its Proof of Work consensus, with the new coin using the more efficient Proof of Stake protocol.

Bitcoin’s Proof of Work is the protocol that manages the issuing of new coins by verifying and approving new transactions. There are, however, some disadvantages when it comes to PoW, as it makes Bitcoin slower in processing times, less scalable, and more prone to centralization.

Bitcoin has many principles that are unique to the crypto world, and by adding Proof of Stake, BPS developers have created a coin which removes the limitations of PoW. Also, if any updates are made to the code of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Proof of Stake will be updated with these new changes.

There are variations of the Proof of Stake models, some more efficient than others. To benefit from the best security and make BPS as resilient as possible to attacks, the developers opted to implement the Mutualized Proof of Stake consensus. MPoS requires a lot of time and money from attackers if they want to breach the network, making it almost impossible for them to do so.

Issuing and Block Reduction

Like Bitcoin, BitcoinPoS can only have a maximum of 21 million BPS. Instead of creating new coins via mining, the BPS network uses staking (holding coins in an active account). In terms of supply management, the BPS protocol reduces the block reward by 25% every 700k blocks, once every 4 years. Bitcoin also has a supply measure that decreases the mining reward, with 50% at the same rate.

What Makes BitcoinPoS Special?

Encourages Decentralization

PoW mining is very competitive, and now it takes a lot of resources for a miner to get the block reward. In contrast, Proof of Stake networks allow users, or validators, to generate new coins by staking a certain amount of coins in an open wallet/account. Staking is considerably less demanding from a computing perspective, meaning users can easily get new BPSs without breaking the bank. Today, only huge mining companies are able to mine Bitcoin, excluding most of the individual crypto enthusiasts that might have wanted to participate. In the BPS network, all users can stake, which means that everyone can join to make the crypto stronger and more decentralized.

Resilience Against 51% Attacks

As a PoW network risks of becoming centralized, there is another security issue that can endanger the entire network. When a person takes control of 51% of the network hashrate, he can do whatever he wants on that blockchain and use all its resources to his own advantage. As BPS is a PoS-based system, the network has added resilience against 51% attacks, as the design of the protocol is based on decentralization, and the attacker would have to spend too much on an attack.

99% Reduction in Power Consumption

The staking process requires significantly less electric energy for producing new coins, consuming 99% less than the mining resources needed to generate a new Bitcoin. 

Friendly to the Environment

Mining Bitcoin is very detrimental to the environment, but as staking Bitcoin PoS requires only a fraction of the energy and resources for mining, it makes BPS greener.

Staking Is Easy and Accessible to Everyone

Many people do not have the funds or the space to buy and house ASIC mining rigs. However, those who own laptops or desktop computers can use it to stake BPS without extra costs.

Bitcoin Proof of Stake (BPS) is the second chance for those that came too late to invest in BTC, as it features the advantages of the world’s number one coin, with the added improvements from its Proof of Stake integration.

Staking on BitcoinPoS - Getting Started   

Staking on Bitcoin Proof of Stake is a simple way of earning passive income. It requires minimal hardware coupled with low electricity costs. Here's how you can start staking BitcoinPoS coins on the blockchain and earn passively. 

  • Download Wallet- The first step is to download the BitcoinPoS wallet for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
  • Purchase BitcoinPoS- After downloading the wallet, the next step is to purchase BitcoinPoS from your preferred crypto exchange. BPS has been listed in Coin Tiger,Finexbox and Bilaxy crypto trading platforms.
  • Stake Coins- Staking BPS is quite easy and straightforward. Anyone with a computer and a minimum amount of BPS in his wallet can stake. However, if you don’t want to stake on your own and leave the wallet open to generate the rewards, you can use one of the staking pools, which support BPS: StackofStake or MyCointainer. The team is also working on the cold staking feature that should be released in the nearest future. 

Earn Rewards- After staking, start earning rewards based on the amount of staked BitcoinPoS. The rewards are calculated using the MPOS algorithm.

While Bitcoin Proof of Stake uses a proof of stake mechanism, the Bitcoin PoS still keeps up with upgrades to the Bitcoin network. Any upgrade made by the developers are added to the Bitcoin PoS blockchain. Today, the coin is tradable on crypto exchanges; it has a market price of USD 89.07 according to data on CoinMarketCap. It has a market cap of $308,995,384 and it is ranked at 40 by market cap in the world but actual raking on coinmarketcap.com is 205 because of their raking systems.

New listings on different platforms and exchanges will come.

Visit Bitcoin Proof of Stake at: https://www.bitcoinpos.net

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