China notified WTO the “National Standard of the P.R.C., Limits of Certain Heavy Metal in Printing Ink” 
On September 22, 2020, State Administration for Market Regulation of China submitted a notification， the “National Standard of the P.R.C., Limits of Certain Heavy Metal in Printing Ink” to WTO/TBT. The notified document is open for comments in 60 days from notification. According to the notification, currently the proposed date of adoption is still undecided, but it is expected to entry into force in 12 months after adoption. The outline of the notification is as follows.
Enforcement
All technical content of the standard is enforceable.
Scope of application
Apply to printing inks.
Limit requirements
Limit requirements for certain heavy metals in inks are specified as the following table (mg/kg).
| Name of the harmful element | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Lead element | Total content≦100 |
| Cadmium element | |
| Mercury element | |
| Hexavalent chromium | |
| Soluble antimony element (Sb) | ≦60 |
| Soluble arsenic element (As) | ≦25 |
| Soluble barium element(Ba) | ≦1,000 |
| Soluble cadmium element(Cd) | ≦75 |
| Soluble chromium element (Cr) | ≦60 |
| Soluble lead element (Pb) | ≦90 |
| Soluble mercury element (Hg) | ≦60 |
| Soluble selenium element(Se) | ≦500 |
The standard specifies detailed test and measurement methods for each heavy metal element in the ink. In the annex of the standard, it also specifies the methods for measuring the content of various elements using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry method (FAAS) and other methods.
WTO/TBT notification (G/TBT/N/CHN/1466) （English）
http://tbtims.wto.org/en/RegularNotifications/View/167711?FromAllNotifications=True
Full text of notified document (Simplified Chinese)
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2020/TBT/CHN/20_5662_00_x.pdf
