The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP Panel) published the minutes of the 22nd to 24th meetings of its Working Group on Food Contact Materials (WG-FCM), which were held between March and July. In March, the WG-FCM reviewed the European Commission’s Inception Impact Assessment on the revision of EU rules on FCMs. During the discussion, the WG-FCM discussed migrating chemicals, reiterating “the need to harmonize risk assessment principles/guidance independently of the FCM types” and that the “safety assessment of all migrating chemicals from final articles may require different approaches than the current one, and that not all the assessments may be done by EFSA and national risk assessment authorities.” Private review bodies may be necessary, but roles and procedures need to be clarified. Later meetings discussed applications received for new FCMs including silver as a nanomaterial, chopped carbon fiber, and ground sunflower seed hulls.
The EFSA CEP Panel also published the minutes of the 44th through 52nd meetings of its Working Group on bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7) re-evaluation (WG-BPA) held in February through July. Most meetings were dedicated to the “re-evaluation of the risks to public health related to the presence of BPA in foodstuffs and protocol for the risk assessment strategy.” Each meeting focused on the uncertainty of different health categories based on information from the first round of expert feedback.
Updated minutes of the 23rd through 27th meetings of its Working Group on Recycling Plastics (WG-RP), which were held in March through July, were published on July 21, 2021. During the meetings, the WG-RP discussed over 25 draft opinions for various recycling processes. Some of the processes were scheduled for possible adoption by the CEP Panel including: Green Loop System (closed loop) (EFSA-Q-2019-00016), deSter (EFSA-Q-2020-00231), Viridor (Starlinger iV+) (EFSA-Q-2019-00703), ESTERPET (Starlinger iV+) (EFSA-Q-2019-00749), Nosoplas (Starlinger iV+) (EFSA-Q-2020-00106), and Viridor (EFSA-Q-2019-00703).
The newest EFSA CEP Panel working group on preparation for re-evaluation of phthalates, structurally similar substances, and replacement substances held their 3rd through 13th meetings. According to the minutes, every other meeting focused on either ‘protocol for exposure assessment’ or ‘prioritization.’ The exposure assessment sub-group focused on issues such as the “questions and sub-questions for the draft protocol on exposure assessment… evidence needs and related methodologies (incl. call for data).” The prioritization sub-group is working through feedback received from the Member States consultation.
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EFSA CEP Panel (July 20, 2021). “Minutes of the 22nd – 24th meetings of the working group on food contact materials 2018-2021.” (pdf)
EFSA CEP Panel (July 1, 2021). “Minutes of the 44th – 52nd meetings of the working group on BPA re-evaluation.” (pdf)
EFSA CEP Panel (July 21, 2021). “Minutes of the 23rd – 27th meetings of the working group on recycling plastics 2018-2021.” (pdf)
EFSA CEP Panel (July 16, 2021). “Minutes of the 3rd – 13th meetings of the working group on preparation for re-evaluation of phthalates, structurally similar substances and replacement substances.” (pdf)
EFSA CEP Panel (July 2021). “Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids.”
