In an article published on April 1, 2019, news provider Chemical Watch informed that the United Kingdom’s (UK) Parliament has agreed on a statutory instrument that will govern food contact materials (FCMs) in case no deal is reached in negotiations for the UK to leave the European Union (EU). The instrument is largely a copy of the existing EU law on FCMs, however it has replaced references to EU institutions with corresponding UK institutions, such as the UK Food Safety Authority instead of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
The instrument, however, does not provide any further regulation on non-harmonized FCMs such as paper, adhesives, and rubbers. This could make trade difficult in the future since the UK would no longer be covered by the mutual recognition principle, which allows products to be freely traded within the EU so long as they are compliant with national laws where they are first placed on the market. If laws within EU member states were to further develop on currently non-harmonized substances, the UK’s manufacturers may have to adapt in order to continue trading with the EU. The UK has also recently drafted legislation that would implement a version of REACH within the UK in the event of a no-deal departure from the EU.
Read more
Clelia Oziel (April 2, 2019). “UK passes FCM statutory instrument for no-deal Brexit.” Chemical Watch
Reference
United Kingdom (March 26, 2019). “No. 704 The Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.”
