. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/USA/216 
15 September 2006 
 (06-4423) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED STATES
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (223) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:         
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:         
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):    
Chemicals (HS:  Chapter 29 ) (ICS:  13, 71) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Hazard 
Communication (10 pages, in English). 
6. Description of content:   Advance Notice of Proposed Rulelmaking (ANPRM). OSHA, 
other Federal agencies, and stakeholder repr esentatives have participated in long-term 
international negotiations to develop a Globa lly Harmonized System of Classification and 
Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).  The GHS has b een adopted by the United Nations, and there 
is an international goal for as many countr ies as possible to implement the GHS by 2008. 
The GHS includes harmonized provisions for cl assification of chemicals for their health, 
physical, and environmental effects, as well as for labels on containers and safety data 
sheets (SDS). Adoption of the GHS by OSHA w ould require modifications to the Agency's 
Hazard Communication Standard (HCS).  For ex ample, an order of information would be 
established for safety data sheets.  In this notice, OSHA is providing further information 
about the GHS, the benefits of adopting it, and its potential impact on the HCS. OSHA is seeking input from the public on a number of issues related to implementation of the GHS. 
The Agency is simultaneously announcing the ava ilability of a new guide on its Web site at 
http://www.osha.gov/ that describes the GHS. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:   : 
Protection of human life and health; protection of the environment 
8. Relevant documents:   71 Federal Register (FR) 53617 12 September 2006; Title 29 Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 1910, 1915,  1917, 1918, and 1926.  Will appear in the 
Federal Register when adopted. G/TBT/N/USA/216 
Page 2  
 
  9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }To be determined 
10. Final date for comments:   13 November 2006 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
Internet URLs: 
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/24 22/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/06-
7584.htm 
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/24 22/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/
06-7584.pdf