On October 22, 2021, China National Health Commission (NHC) approved one new food-contact material, one food-contact material with usage expanded, and 3 new resins. The substances and specifications are listed below.
New Food-Contact Materials and Articles
The Grupo Mercado Común (GMC) of MERCOSUR (Mercado Común Del Sur or the “Common Market of the South”) recently published three resolutions that modify existing resolutions related to food-contact materials. The new resolutions (available in Spanish and Portuguese at: https://www.mercosur.int/documentos-y-normativa/normativa/ by selecting the “resoluciones” tab, and then “2021”) are listed below.
Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island, Queens) introduced a bill that would impose a fee on the sale of virgin plastic used for single-use products. The tax would start at 10-cents per pound in 2022, increase to 15-cents per pound in 2023, increase to 20-cents per pound in 2024, and then be adjusted for inflation from 2025 onward. The bill, S. 2645, was originally introduced in the Senate by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) on August 5th.
Keller and Heckman Partners Pamela Langhorn and Hazel O’Keeffe will be giving presentations during the virtual Plastics and Paper in Contact with Foodstuffs Conference, which will take place December 14-16, 2021. Pam will speak on Food-Contact Paper Regulations Around the Globe and Hazel will speak on the German and the Swiss Printing Inks Ordinances.
Keller and Heckman Partner Hazel O’Keeffe will present, “Legislative aspects: food contact and recycled material,” followed by Associate Ales Bartl who will present, “Legislative aspects: REACH and recycled material,” at the International Seminar on Plastics Recycling, taking place in Valencia, Spain on December 1-2, 2021. The seminar will focus on the challenges of recycling plastic waste when implementing a circular economy that aims to create more sustainable solutions.
I believe ASTM took over administration of the Resin Identification Codes and issued a standard (ASTM D7611) that changed the recycling arrow...
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is in the process of updating its food-contact recommendations. While BfR recommendations are not legally binding, they are widely respected by industry throughout the European Union.
New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment published a plan to phase out certain hard-to-recycle and single-use plastic items after a public consultation held in 2020 revealed general support to reduce plastic consumption in the country.
A South Korean study published on June 25, 2021 in Food and Chemical Toxicology reported the results of overall and specific migration testing of various food contact plastic materials using food simulants. The data indicate that the minimal migration of evaluated substances from plastic food packaging and their corresponding dietary concentrations pose no significant human health or safety concerns.
The European Commission (EC) published its long-awaited Guidelines on single-use plastics, Commission notice 2021/C 216/01, in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on June 7, 2021.