On July 8, 2013 legal consultants from Hogan Lovells published an article reviewing the French law on bisphenol A (BPA) and its wider implications in Europe on the webpage Lexology. France has adopted a law banning BPA from all food packaging by January 2015. The article’s authors outline that the ban will not only affect products sold on the French market, but also those products produced in France and sold abroad. In the European Union (EU), BPA is only prohibited in infant feeding bottle (EC 10/2011). The authors depict that the European Commission (EC) will wait for the publication of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) scientific opinion on BPA before taking any legal action. According to the consultants, the EC is likely to follow France’s lead in banning BPA, if EFSA concludes that there is indeed concern regarding BPA. If EFSA on the other hand reaffirms its earlier opinion of BPA’s safety, the EC may decide to pursue France legally for breach of EU law. Thus, manufacturers of BPA containing food packaging will face a period of legal uncertainty until the publication of the opinion in 2014. In conclusion, the consultants suggest to manufacturers of BPA containing products participation in the now ongoing public consultation on EFSA’s draft opinion on the exposure assessment of BPA (previously reported on by the FPF). In the draft opinion published June 25, 2013, EFSA concluded that BPA exposure was below the levels previously estimated. EFSA’s conclusions regarding the hazard assessment of BPA remain to be awaited. This second part of the scientific opinion is scheduled for publication for early 2014.

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Lexology

FPF article “EFSA publishes draft BPA opinion, part I

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