Informal discussions are taking place on working documents from the Commission, that could go on to form the basis of harmonised EU rules governing plastic materials and articles in contact with food, the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) reported.
Harmonising the rules would make it easier for processors to trade under the same requirements across the EU, where a hodgepodge of regulations exist on the use of recycled plastic by the food sector.
"Under this draft proposal, a system will be put in place that will allow a person or company to apply for an authorisation to use a specified process to recycle food contact plastics for further use in contact with food," the FSA reported.
"The processes that will be authorised will be managed by a quality assurance system that guarantees the reproducible quality of the recycled plastic."
The proposed regulation would set the conditions under which recycled plastics can be used as a source of manufacturing food contact plastics.
It would also harmonise rules for manufacture and for the authorisation of the recycling process.
The Commission's draft deals with mechanical processes for recycling plastic food packaging for further use by processors, the FSA reported.
The proposals do not deal with recycling that chemical depolymerisation processes, as the method is already subject to the rules laid down in EU Directive 2002/72/EC.
They also do not deal with a manufacturer's re-use of virgin in-house plastic production scrap.
Recycled plastics used behind a plastic functional barrier as provided for in
Commission Directive 2002/72/EC also fall outside the scope of the draft proposal.
The proposals would also lay down the dates by which the list of additives in food contact plastics will be closed. It would also set out interim arrangements for additives that have been petitioned for authorisation.
The Commission has set a provisional date of 31 December 2009 as the last date by which additives not in the positive list may be used, the FSA reported.
The Commission has also proposed a provisional date of 1 January 2010 for the positive list to take effect.
The date would allow the European Food Safety Agency time to obtain any additional information it might need for its risk assessment of those additives on the provisional list, the FSA stated.
It will also allow time for the EU to adoption any resulting directive and for the publication and transposition by member states in their laws
The Commission plans to publish its provisional list of additives subject to application for authorisation by December 2006.
Additives remaining on the list after 1 January 2010 may continue to be used subject to national laws, the FSA noted.
At present the EU does not have harmonised rules for such recycled plastics. Consequently, divergent regimes are in operation, ranging from a total ban in some
countries to authorisation schemes in others, the FSA reported.
The majority of member states have no rules in place or rely on compliance with the provisions of Directive 2002/72/EC.
"Such divergence poses a barrier to trade and results in different levels of consumer protection throughout the EU," the FSA noted. "The Commission's proposal seeks to overcome all these problems."
The Commission has placed the proposal on recycled plastics before the adopting Committee in Brussels. Both are likely to be proposed for adoption in December 2007, the FSA reported.
If adopted, the text of the draft regulation would be published in the early part of 2008 and become law soon after.
The FSA is holding a consultation for UK processors on the proposals. The deadline for responses is 28 November 2007.
In related news two new regulations on food contact materials come into force on 29 October 2007 in England.
The Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2007 provide
for the enforcement of a new European Regulation (EC) No. 2023/2006 on good
manufacturing practice.
The regulations will revoke and replace earlier ones and re-enact them, amended to take account of the 2006 European regulation.
This 2006 regulation applies to all food contact materials affected by Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 and lays down detailed principles for businesses' GMP protocols.
The provisions in the England regulations will come into force on 29 October 2007. Those on GMP will apply from 1 August 2008.
"These ensure the safety, quality and compliance of goods across the EU," the FSA reported.
Another regulation, the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Lid Gaskets) (England) Regulations 2007 provide for the enforcement of another new, but time-limited European regulation (EC) No. 372/2007.
The regulation lays down transitional migration limits for plasticisers in lid gaskets.
The EU regulation will apply until 30 June 2008.
