On April 5, 2022, the food packaging consultancy Smithers hosted the second day of its annual Global Food Contact conference for regulatory and industry stakeholders to discuss developments and emerging issues in the food packaging world. The sessions this year were grouped by continent to get an overview of the regulatory landscape in each region, but recurring themes appeared in the talks across the different regions. The second day of the conference brought together speakers to discuss food packaging and food contact regulations in China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, and the European Union.
Xiaolu Wang, a senior chemical regulatory compliance consultant at 3E Research, presented what has changed in Chinese food contact regulation in the last year, and she shared some of the expected standards and regulations still to come. China currently has proposals to change its food contact adhesives, plastics, and rubber regulations. Updates would clarify the definitions of adhesives, increase technical requirements, and divide adhesives into categories of direct and indirect food contact. For food contact plastics, the existing regulations on resins and plastics would be merged into one. Additionally, the technical requirements for starch in starch-based plastics would be increased, and the updated plastics regulations would add a specific migration limit (SML) on polyaromatic amines (PAAs). The proposed revised standard on food contact rubber updates migration testing methods and adds concentration limits for PAAs, as well as requirements for inks and adhesives. The proposal also removes silicone from the standard for food contact rubber because a separate application for silicone is being developed.
Wang also noted that “various industry standards for food contact materials [FCMs] have been placed on the agenda of multiple trade or industry associations or are currently being drafted or developed.” Upcoming standards Wang mentioned clarify terminology and definitions for recycled plastics for food contact, degradable storage bags for food, microwaveable aseptic paper-based composite packages for liquid food, and environmentally friendly water and grease-proof paper and cardboard for food contact use. They further clarified, “these standards are industry standards, which means that they are not actually compulsory. That being said, these standards normally have a substantial amount of impact on the practical operations of the industry. Especially when the compulsory national standards are absent.”
Additionally, the China National Food Industry Association is updating its general guidance documents for the declaration of compliance (DoC) for FCMs and adhesives which will affect all materials and articles. “This proposal… will include the basic principles for drafting the DoC, the responsibilities of relevant parties on the supply chain in relation to the DoC, as well as the elements that need to be reflected in a compliant DoC.”
Wang concluded, “there are a lot of regulatory activities that are either happening right now or are on the horizon… this means that there will be more regulatory requirements and restrictions covering a broader scope of FCMs, and secondly, it will mean that the cost of non-compliance in China may potentially increase.” Additionally, industry guidance is playing “an increasingly important role.”
Tina Robertson, senior regulatory affairs manager at Knoell USA, explained that in the last few years Japan has been busy updating lists and regulations. Robertson shared a few expected organizational updates on how Japan organizes chemical substances on its positive list for food contact plastics. Japan is simplifying the categories of substances by merging the synthetic polymers and additives tables while dropping the table for minor monomers. Additionally, Robertson explained that companies with a branch in Japan can get a voluntary certificate of compliance with the positive list for the substances they use. When all chemicals used in a material comply, companies can further receive a certificate of compliance for the material itself.
Kevin C. Kenny, executive chairman at Decernis, gave a whirlwind tour of food packaging regulations across South and Southeast Asia. Many pertain to plastics. Kenny opened the talk enthusiastically discussing the recent updates in India allowing the use of recycled PET (rPET) for food packaging “this is a game-changer. This is a big deal there” (FPF reported). He clarified that with the January 2022 amendment, PET recyclers must register with the state or local pollution control board. “Otherwise, you will be in trouble. They will theoretically be fining you for not complying.” Continuing with the country’s strengthened extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme (FPF reported), Kenny described the EPR recycling percentage targets as “very, very aggressive numbers.” While he thinks this is the direction India should continue heading in, he has concerns, “you have a major problem there because no one has the infrastructure to do this… we’ll see how this develops.”
For many countries in Southeast Asia, Kenny did not highlight any recent changes, but Indonesia and Thailand are working on turning previously voluntary food packaging guidelines into national regulations, as is the case for standards on paper and board. Indonesia’s standard became mandatory in February 2022, requiring paper and board packaging to receive a certification demonstrating compliance. Thailand’s new regulation setting migration limits for several heavy metals, phthalates, and other chemicals of concern will be effective as of May 2022 but only applies to paper and board containers for hot foods. Other formerly voluntary standards in Thailand, which are likely going into force in July 2022, apply to plastic bags, plastic utensils, microwavable plastics, and plastic containers for drinking water (FPF reported).
Furthermore, Thailand has released a draft regulation permitting the use of rPET in FCMs if they are “tested and shown safe” by the reference lab in Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok). The rPET regulation will likely go into effect in January 2023. Indonesia has also developed a unique Halal certification for FCMs. The certification process verifies the raw materials and additives are Halal-compliant, the packaging facility is Halal, and looks at supply chain traceability. The Halal certificate will be mandatory on October 17, 2024.
Read more
Smithers (April 2022). “Global Food Contact 2022.”
Keller and Heckman LLC (March 14, 2022). “Thailand Notified WTO of Draft Revised Regulation on Food-Contact Plastics.” Lexology
