Swiss Federal Council to prolong Action Plan for Nanomaterials
The Swiss Federal Council intends to prolong the Action plan for Synthetic Nanomaterials until 2019. The Federal Council issued a report, analyzing the implementation of the action plan to date and defining goals for the coming years.
The report shows the measures adopted so far to promote responsible handling of nanomaterials. The primary focus was on providing guidelines for the industry and developing methods and instruments to improve understanding of the behavior of nanomaterials. Furthermore, regulation was enhanced and the public dialogue on chances and risks was promoted. Research investigating the impacts of nanomaterials was supported as well.
Regarding future developments, the Federal Council identified the needs to improve risk assessment and harmonize international requirements regarding test methods for synthetic nanomaterials. The importance of the cooperation with the OECD is emphasized. A further focus is on the adaption of law. The reporting procedure for nanomaterials shall be adapted and the declaration of nanomaterials in food and cosmetics is planned to be harmonized with the regulation in force in the European Union.
In order to achieve these goals, the Federal Council decided to prolong the implementation phase of the Action plan on Synthetic Nanomaterials until 2019. The Action plan was developed by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and was first adopted in 2008.
Source: (in German) Bundesverwaltung - Bundesrat will Sicherheit im Umgang mit Nanomaterialien weiter verbessern, vom 17. Dezember 2014
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