In the News
UK Publishes Guidance on Food Contact Regulations
Jul 14, 2009
The United Kingdom's (UK) Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published a 43-page guide titled, Guide to United Kingdom Legal Compliance and Good Practice for Business Documentation: Materials and Articles in Contact with Food. The publication provides guidance on preparing documentation required under European Union (EU) regulations governing materials and articles: that are intended to come into contact with food; that could be brought into contact with food; or that could be the source of chemical migration into food. The Guide also covers specific requirements in EU regulations that are, of course, law in the UK as well.
The EU regulations that are cited in FSA's Guide are the Framework Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004), Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006 on good manufacturing practices (GMPs) for materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, and the Plastics Directive (2002/72/EC).
The Framework Regulation is the basic legislation covering all food contact materials in the EU. Specifically, Article 16 of this regulation requires that food contact materials and articles be accompanied by a "written declaration stating that they comply with the rules applicable to them" and that "appropriate documentation" be made available to authorities to demonstrate such compliance when requested. (For more information, see the PackagingLaw.com article, EU Finalizes Framework Regulation on Food Contact Materials.)
Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006 on GMPs came into force on August 1, 2008. It applies to all groups of materials and articles listed in Annex I to the Framework Regulation, and to all stages of manufacture, processing, and distribution. This regulation requires that appropriate documentation be maintained with respect to specifications, manufacturing formulas, and processing.
The 4th Amendment to the Plastics Directive (Directive 2007/19/EC), published on March 30, 2007, added a declaration of compliance requirement to Article 9 of the Plastics Directive. Specifically, operators up and down the supply chain are required to provide customers with information regarding compliance of products intended for use in plastics, including monomers, and additives. The documentation must also be kept available for public authorities on demand. (For more information, see the PackagingLaw.com article, European Commission Publishes the 4th Amendment to the Plastics Directive.)
The Compliance Guide also includes advice on good business practices, which is not legally binding but could "help minimize inspection and enforcement burdens" on businesses. Feedback from a workshop for businesses and enforcement officers held last November, responses to a three month public consultation, and results from an Agency funded trial between cooperating business and enforcement authorities were used to develop the Guide.