Argentina Announces New Office for Submission of MERCOSUR Petitions

The Argentine government has announced that the National Administration of Drugs, Food, and Medical Technology (ANMAT) will now accept submission for amendments to the Argentine Food Code (CAA), including requests seeking to amend MERCOSUR (Mercado Común Del Sur or the “Common Market of the South”) technical regulations to include listings for new food-contact materials (FCMs). As a result, MERCOSUR petitions will now be filed via ANMAT.

Previously, the National Food Commission (a.k.a. the Comisión Nacional de Alimentos (CONAL)) accepted those submissions. However, CONAL was dissolved on August 5, 2025, when Argentina’s Official Gazette published Decree 538/2025, which amended Decree 815/1999 (the framework governing the National Food Control System and the Argentine Food Code). The stated purpose for the reorganization was to streamline regulatory updates and improve oversight of the Argentine Food Code.  

As background, MERCOSUR is the largest trade bloc in South America. The regulation of FCMs in MERCOSUR-member countries is generally accomplished through regulations that are adopted and incorporated into the laws of the member countries by their individual legislative bodies. In Argentina, MERCOSUR technical regulations on food-contact materials become legally binding once incorporated into the Argentine Food Code.

With respect to FCMs, MERCOSUR employs a positive list approach, and in the case where an individual substance is not listed on an applicable resolution covering a harmonized food-contact sector, the compound may not be used. To obtain a listing for a new food contact substance, a petition should be submitted to either Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) or now to Argentina’s ANMAT for potential inclusion in an update to the applicable MERCOSUR resolution.

(For more background information, see the Packaginglaw.com article, Regulation of Food-Contact Materials in Latin America (Part 1).