Baker McKenzie’s annual International Environmental Conference will take place in Chicago on June 22 and 23, bringing together Global Environmental Group attorneys from around the world and leading industry experts to discuss current environmental law and policy issues impacting global business operations. We are pleased to have Scott Fulton, President of the Environmental Law Institute, join us as our keynote speaker along with a number of distinguished industry experts, including Chris Walker, North American Director…
We are, no doubt, entering a golden age of sustainability in the apparel and footwear industries. Many initiatives will be launched, some with longevity and permanence and others serving as perhaps footnotes in the progression towards a low-carbon, circular economy. One such trend afoot is the novel use of agricultural inputs in footwear and apparel, such as a corn-derived shoe sole. An interesting product which will, no doubt, capture market interest. Ethanol as Sustainability Case…
On March 20, 2017, Jonathan Cocker attended The Thirty-Second International Conference on Solid Waste Technology Management in Philadelphia and presented on North America’s First Circular Economy Framework – Challenges and Opportunities.
When it comes to being “Green”, many of the leading apparel and footwear brands have more in common than you might think. A number of leading brands have implemented a form of responsible forest product purchasing policies. Most recently, apparel brand conglomerate VF Corporation adopted its Forest Derived Materials Policy which sets purchasing guidelines and commits the company and its suppliers to using sustainable forest materials and products. As part of its policy adoption, the apparel…
If you thought that pest control products can’t be found at your local clothier, you haven’t been reading Canada’s Pest Control Products Act. A pest control product under that Act includes any: “product… that is manufactured, represented, distributed or used as a means for directly or indirectly controlling, destroying, attracting or repelling a pest” Still not following? Micro-organisms that are “injurious, noxious or [have] troublesome effects” are pests under the Act and your gym shirt…
Jonathan Cocker will be speaking at the Annual Spring Meeting of the Society for Chemical Hazard Communication on Managing Hazardous Product Compliance Variances Between the US HCS 2012 and Canada’s HPR. The Annual Meeting is being held in New Orleans March 25-29th. Visit the SCHC’s website for more details.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Global Harmonized System was supposed to be just that – a seamless harmonized set of classification and communication standards as applied to hazardous chemical products worldwide. Safety Data Sheets (nee MSDS) and labels would, in meeting the standards of one country – necessarily meet them all. At least between United States and Canada, no? Variances Between HCS 2012 and HPR With the introduction of GHS, both Canada’s…
While there has been some hand-wringing over the fate of the North American Free Trade Agreement following the recent US election, a renegotiation of NAFTA would present the parties an opportunity to rethink their objectives behind the environmental provisions. Just What Does NAFTA Say About the Environment? The main environmental Article in NAFTA itself provides a vague requirement to maintain current EHS standards: Article 1114: Environmental Measures 1. Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed…
On November 29, 2016, EPA identified the first ten chemicals that it will send through the risk review process under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). EPA was obligated to publish this list by December 19, 2016. Publication of the list in the Federal Register in the next several days will trigger the three-year statutory deadline for EPA to determine whether the chemicals present an unreasonable risk to humans and the environment. If EPA…
*Our Firm’s EMI group has authored this helpful summary on the anticipated impact of the recent US election upon energy, mining and infrastructure, which will also have implications for our environmental and climate change practices: The surprise election of Donald Trump has caused a flurry of research to discover, and often reconcile, Trump’s policy proposals. Other than relatively broad platitudes, Trump’s plans for many sectors of the economy are unclear and at times inconsistent.…