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.

Keller and Heckman Partner Rachida will give a presentation at Smither’s PRIMA Conference, titled, “Regulatory compliance – single-use plastic, food safety, reuse, and recycling – where do the discrepancies lie and how might they be resolved?" The PRIMA Conference, which is being held online September 8-9, 2021, will focus on the pulp, paper, and packaging supply chains. Attendees also will hear about solutions to challenges facing the print sectors and have the opportunity to network virtually with fellow industry professionals.

Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark have issued a questionnaire as the next step for preparing a REACH Annex XV Restriction Dossier on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to restrict the manufacturing, use, and placement of PFAS on the EU market.  The purpose of the questionnaire is to provide an overview of the information that these five authorities have on the different uses of PFAS.

The European Commission (EC), EU Member States, and the EU Food Fraud Network agreed on May 6, 2021 to launch an Enforcement Action Plan concerning plastic food-contact materials (FCMs) containing bamboo “powder” The use of bamboo in plastic FCMs is not authorized in the EU since bamboo is not on the positive list of authorized substances in the Plastics Regulation, (EU) 10/2011.

Hazel O'Keeffe will offer a two-part presentation, "Overview of the World Legislation on Adhesives" at the Italian Packaging Institute's November 8th Adhesives Day Conference. The conference will explore adhesives, a key element in the packaging supply chain, addressing applicable techniques and sciences, together with laws and good manufacturing practices in the food sector. For more information, click here.

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recently posted updated versions (dated April 1, 2021) of certain of its food-contact recommendations. The updated recommendations are:

The European Commission (EC) announced an online targeted stakeholder consultation as part of a review of the definition of “nanomaterial” for use across all EU regulations.  The introductory note for the consultation emphasizes that the “common definition of the term ‘nanomaterial’ across EU regulation supports a harmonised approach, facilitates implementation and enforcement, and can serve as the technical and scientific basis for EU legislation and policies that set provisions specific to nanomaterials.

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.

Keller and Heckman Partner Hazel O’Keeffe will be one of the presenters at Chem Academy’s Food Contact Materials Regulations Conference, to be held January 27-28, 2020, in Berlin, Germany. The title of her presentation is, “Japanese Legislation: Similarities and Differences to EU Legislation.”

For more information on the conference, including how to register, please click here.

Rachida Semail will present "Mutual Recognition Principle in Marketing of FCMs" at the 6th Edition European Food Contact Plastics Seminar, which will be held April 11-12 in Brussels, Belgium. Polymer Comply Europe (PCE) has organized the program on behalf of European Plastics Converters (EuPC), with this year's focus being improvement of transparency throughout the supply chain. Rachida will present on April 11th in the section "Dossiers Impacting Feed Contact Plastics."