On January 23, the European Commission (EC) notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) the proposed update to Regulation (EU) No. 10/2011 (the Plastics Regulation). The draft amendment is now subject to a 60-day period for comments that are due by March 24, 2023.

European Commission's (EC) Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 of September 15, 2022, on recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 282/2008, were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on September 20, 2022 (and a

On September 7, 2022, the China National Health Commission (NHC) gave final approval to one expanded use for a food-contact substance, two new resins, and one expanded use for a resin. The substances and specifications are listed below.

On June 20, 2022, the Canadian government enacted the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations, SOR/2022-138. This law, reflecting Canada’s commitment to ban single-use plastics, will come into effect on December 20, 2022, with implementation occurring over the course of three years.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has taken further steps towards authorizing the use of certain recycled plastics in food-contact materials (FCMs) under its existing regulations.  FSSAI issued a Notification of Draft Regulations on May 17, 2022, inviting public comment on an amendment authorizing the use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) in food-contact applications. 

On June 18, 2022, the Thai Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) published Notification No. 435 (in Thai), “Regarding Qualities or Standards of Containers Made from Plastic.” The new standards, which entered into force on the same day they were published, include definitions and general safety requirements for plastic food packaging. For example, specific migration limits for certain types of food contact plastics, along with migration limits for various metals, are listed in Annex 1.

Colorado Governor Jared Schutz Polis signed HB22-1345 into law on June 3, 2022. The new law, as previously reported, prohibits the sale or distribution of fiber-based food packaging and other products, such as fabric treatments, carpets, cosmetics, juvenile products, and textile furnishings, to which PFAS has been inten

The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) announced on May 12, 2022, an application process for the use of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) chips and flakes in food containers and packaging manufacturing.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) has proposed a reorganization of the Positive Lists (PL) for synthetic resins for food utensils, containers, and packaging (UCP). 

By way of background, on April 28, 2020, MHLW published Notification No. 196 of 2020, which required approval of substances used in “synthetic resins” for food-contact articles. The Notification was accompanied by a PL of substances that could be used to produce food-contact utensils, containers, and packaging (UCP). The current structure of the lists of permitted substances is shown below.

A recently introduced bill in New Jersey (Bill S2145/A1554) would prohibit the sale, distribution, and import of certain products and packaging marked as recyclable, unless the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determines that the products are widely recycled.