FSA Consultation Letter, 3 February 2006
The FSA are inviting your comments on the draft Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food ( England ) Regulations 2006. Responses are requested by: 2 May 2006
For a copy of the supporting documents available on this site, got to: Draft Plastic Regulations and Draft Plastic Regulations - Notes
Consultation details
In November last year we informed you of the adoption of the new Regulation (EC) No. 1895/2005, on the restrictions of use of certain epoxy derivatives intended to come into contact with foods. The new regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 19 November 2005 (OJ Ref. L302, 19.11.2005 p28-32).
The EC regulation came into force on 9 December 2005 and is directly applicable throughout the EU. A copy of that EC Regulation is available from the European Union portal website.
We are now inviting your comments on the draft Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food ( England ) Regulations 2006. These draft regulations make provision, in relation to the EC regulation, for its enforcement in England :
Separate, but parallel regulations will be made in Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland .
At the same time as making these regulations we need to revoke, in England , existing provisions in our legislation arising from the implementation of two earlier EC Directives on epoxy derivatives. These are directives 2002/16/EC and 2004/13/EC that have been revoked by the new EC regulation.
If we did this by simply amending the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 1998 that gave effect to the revoked Directives, we would have to make substantial changes to those 1998 Regulations that have already been amended several times before.
So we are proposing, with the draft regulations on which we are asking you to comment, that those 1998 regulations and their five sets of amending regulations be revoked and that the provisions in those regulations that should remain in force on food contact plastics should be consolidated into one new regulation.
In doing this, it is our intention to make the regulations simpler, easier to understand and easier comply with.
Proposed timetable for the New Regulations
Important dates in the introduction of the New Regulations are:
Submitting comments on the draft Regulations
We would welcome your comments on the proposed regulations in so far as they relate to the provisions for enforcement, offences, defences and penalties.
We would also welcome comments on likely costs in implementing the enforcement proposals.
Although the costs arising from the need to comply with European regulation are not strictly part of the impact assessment here, it is always helpful to provide a full picture of any burdens placed upon those affected by proposals.
Where the costs of compliance relate to the European regulation, they should be shown under separate headings showing those attributable to the European regulations and those attributable to the regulations for England .
If these costs are indivisible it would be helpful to have this made clear.
Please also comment on: