On July 12, 2016 the members of the European Parliament’s (EP) Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) adopted the draft report “Implementation of the Food Contact Materials Regulation ((EC) 1935/2004)” with its amendments (FPF reported). In the report, “the adoption of specific EU measures for non-harmonised materials” is recommended, thereby stating that priority should be given to FCMs constituting “a particular risk to human health.” Additional improvements are recommended for “risk assessment, traceability as well as enforcement and controls.”
Michael Warhurst of the UK-based chemicals advocacy group CHEM Trust published a blog post on July 12, 2016 commenting on the report, stating that “it’s not acceptable to have materials in contact with food without proper regulation of the chemicals within them. We look forward to a strong endorsement of this report by the full European Parliament in the autumn.”
The final draft report with its amendments will be made available shortly here. The draft report will be subject to discussion and vote by the EP in October 2016. Following this vote, the report will be sent to the European Commission as recommendation how to improve FCM regulation and enforcement thereof.
Read more
Michael Warhurst (July 12, 2016). “MEPs on Environment committee call for EU regulation of chemicals in paper & board packaging.” CHEM Trust
ENVI Committee (July 12, 2016). “Implementation of the Food Contact Materials Regulation ((EC) 1935/2004).”
