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The Canadian government plans within the month to make Canada the first country in the world to require all companies to disclose any use of nanomaterials in their products.

"Officials said the plan is to send a notice out that requires companies and institutions that used more than one kilogram of nanomaterials in 2008 to provide information to the government," according to The Canadian Press. "The request could include how nanomaterials are used or managed, data on physical or chemical properties and any other information that could help Ottawa assess the substances."

"This is information that is vital to ensuring the safe use of nanotechnology," says Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. "This decision by Canada - to establish the world's first national mandatory nanoscale materials reporting requirement for companies - is an important step toward ensuring that nanotechnology regulation is driven by accurate information and high-quality science."

More here from NanoTechWire ... and PEN's press release is here.