In the News
Dutch Propose Revised National Positive List to Harmonize with EU's Plastics Directive
Nov 17, 2009
The 5th Amendment to the Plastics Directive (2008/39/EC) established January 1, 2010 as the date on which the list of additives approved for use in food-contact plastic in the European Union (EU) is converted to a Positive List. (See the PackagingLaw.com article, European Commission Published 5th Amendment to the Plastics Directive, for more information.) After that date, only additives on the Positive List or that still remain on the Provisional List may be used in the EU. (Monomers and other covered reactants have long been harmonized under the Plastics Directive.) In anticipation of this deadline, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has issued a draft revision of its "positive list" of substances permitted in food-contact plastics that are not subject to EU harmonized legislation (click here to view a copy of the proposed revisions of VWG, chapter 1, section 2.4).
By way of background, when the Plastics Directive was published in 2002, it did not fully harmonize legislation for all food contact plastic applications. At that time, 15 EU Member States—including the Netherlands—had "positive lists" of permissible substances for use in manufacturing food contact plastics beyond the required implementation of the EU directives.
More specifically, in the Netherlands, food packaging materials are regulated pursuant to the decree on Packaging and Articles of Daily Use (WVG). Established in 1980, the WVG Regulations are structured in 10 chapters that regulate plastics, paper and board, rubber, metals, glass, ceramics, textiles, regenerated cellulose, wood and cork, and coatings. Each chapter contains positive lists of food-contact materials. Chapter I, on plastics, is subdivided into the following sections:
- Part 2.1, Monomers;
- Part 2.2, Monomers waiting for a final decision;
- Part 2.3, Additives evaluated by the EFSA and listed in Directive 2002/72/EC; and
- Part 2.4, Additives and polymerization aids, as well as their decomposition products, that may be used at national level.
Once a substance was listed in Directive 2002/72/EC, it was supposed to be moved from Part 2.4 to Part 2.3, but this did not always happen. Thus, in light of the January 1, 2010 implementation of the positive list mandated by Directive 2002/72/EC, the G4 Commission, a scientific advisory body to the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, has now prepared a draft update to the list in Part 2.4 to comply with the directive.
Originally, substances listed in Part 2.4 could be used for any function, provided they complied with relevant regulations. The Plastics Directive, on the other hand, includes only positive lists of monomers and additives; polymerization aids, epoxy resins, adhesives and adhesion promoters, and printing inks remain subject to the national laws of individual EU Member States. Therefore, in order to properly update the Dutch list, it was necessary to determine the function of the listed substances. If a substance on the list is an additive or monomer, it will be deleted. However, if a substance falls within a non-harmonized category, then it will remain on the Part 2.4 list.