G/TBT/N/USA/1697  
18 February 2021  
(21-1367) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA   
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 
Department of Labor [1726]  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding t he notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
Please submit comments to: USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point, Email: usatbtep@nist.gov  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [   ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other  [X]:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  
Chemicals; ORGANIC CHEMICALS (HS 29); Environmental protection (ICS 13.020), 
Occupational safety. Industrial hygiene (ICS 13.100), Production in the chemical industry 
(ICS 71.020), Products of the chemical industry (ICS 71.100)  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Hazard 
Communication Standard (256 page(s), in English)  
6. Description of content:  Proposed rule; request for comments - OSHA is proposing 
through this notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to modify the Hazard Com munication 
Standard (HCS) to conform to the United Nations' Globally Harmonized System of 
Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) Revision 7 (GHS, Rev. 7), to address 
issues that arose during the implementation of the 2012 update to the HCS, and pr ovide 
better alignment with other U.S. agencies and international trading partners, without 
lowering overall protections of the standard. OSHA has preliminarily determined that the 
proposed revisions to the HCS will reduce costs and burdens while also impr oving the 
quality and consistency of information provided to employers and employees regarding 
chemical hazards and associated protective measures. Consistent with the Executive 
order entitled "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review" (18 January 2011) and 
section 3(a) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which call for assessment and, where 
appropriate, modification and improvement of existing rules to minimize any significant 
economic impact upon a substantial number of small entities, OSHA has reviewed the 
existing HCS. The agency has preliminarily determined that the proposed revisions will 
enhance the effectiveness of the HCS by ensuring employees are appropriately apprised 
of the chemical hazards to which they may be exposed, thus reducing the inciden ce of 
chemical -related occupational illnesses and injuries. The proposed modifications to the 
standard include revised criteria for classification of certain health and physical hazards, 
revised provisions for updating labels, new labeling provisions for s mall containers, 
technical amendments related to the contents of safety data sheets (SDSs), and related 
revisions to definitions of terms used in the standard.  G/TBT/N/USA/1697  
 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Protectio n of human health or safety; Harmonization  
8. Relevant documents:   
86 Federal Register (FR) 9576, 16 February 2021; Title 29 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) Part 1910:  
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2021-02-16/html/2020 -28987.htm  
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2021-02-16/pdf/2020 -28987.pdf  
This proposed rule; request for comments is identified by Docket Number OSHA -2019-
0001. The Docket Folder is available on Regulations.gov at 
https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=OSHA -2019-0001 and provides access to 
primary and supporting documents as well as comments received. Documents are also 
accessible from Regulations.gov  by searching the Docket Number. WTO Members and 
their stakeholders are asked to submit comments to the USA TBT Enquiry Point . 
Comments received by the USA TBT Enquiry Point from WTO Memb ers and their 
stakeholders will be shared with the regulator and will also be submitted to the Docket  
on Regulations.gov if received within the comment period.  
G/TBT/N/USA/216 and the subsequent addendum and corrigendum  
Relevant actions notified under the symbol G/TBT/N/USA/216  are identified by docket 
number OSHA -H022K -2006-0062.   The Docket Folder is available on Regulations.gov at 
https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=OSHA -H022K -2006-0062  and provides access 
to primary and supporting documents as well as comments received. Documents are also 
accessible from  Regulations.gov  by searching the docket number.  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force:  To be determined  
10. Final date for comments:  19 April 2021  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2021/TBT/USA/21_1192_00_e.pdf  
https://members.wto .org/crnattachments/2021/TBT/USA/21_1192_01_e.pdf  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2021/TBT/USA/21_1192_02_e.pdf  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2021/TBT/USA/21_1192_03_e.pdf  
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2021/TBT/USA/21_1192_04_e.pdf