Just so I find the passage back later:
Namespaces can now be defined for packages other than `base':
see `Writing R Extensions'. This hides some internal objects
and changes the search path from objects in a namespace. All
the base packages (except methods and tcltk) have namespaces,
as well as the recommended packages `KernSmooth', `MASS',
`boot', `class', `nnet', `rpart' and `spatial'.