FSA Consultation Letter, 20 August 2009
A copy of the consultation document is available on this site. See: Proposed Food Contact Amendments
Responses are requested by: 21 September 2009
Consultation details
Who will this consultation be of most interest to?
The proposed Regulations are relevant to port and trading standards officers involved in the enforcement of the law governing these materials and articles. Businesses will need to be aware of the proposals.
What is the subject of this consultation?
The Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, amending the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2007. To provide notice of the intention to make proposals for statutory provisions for the enforcement of certain requirements, particularly labelling and declaration requirements, in Commission Regulation 450/2009 on active and intelligent materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods ('the AIM Regulation').
What is the purpose of this consultation?
To seek comments from enforcement authorities on the proposed Regulations, to make businesses aware of the requirements and to provide opportunity for interested parties to comment on the proposals.
The Food Standards Agency would welcome your comments on the proposed Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, enclosed as Annexe B. The proposed Regulations provide for the enforcement of a number of provisions contained in Commission Regulation (EC) No. 450/2009, the AIM Regulation. These provisions relate to particular labelling and declaration requirements for goods placed on the market. They specifically concern the labelling of parts of the packaging that could be wrongly taken by some consumers to be edible, the written declaration of legal compliance to accompany active and intelligent materials and articles prior to retail sale, and the production, to enforcement authorities on request, of supporting documentation to substantiate the declaration of compliance. These provisions need to be in place by 19 December 2009 to ensure that enforcement authorities have the necessary powers to act under the AIM Regulation at the time they come into force, thus avoiding a gap of several months before the enforcement provisions for the remainder of the AIM Regulation are introduced, probably in July 2010.
We are therefore conducting this short four week consultation to seek comments from interested parties while also ensuring that these provisions are in place by the deadline set out in the AIM Regulation. We welcome your comments on the way in which the proposed Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 provide for enforcement of the AIM Regulation.
The AIM Regulation was published in the Official Journal (OJ) of the EU on 30 May 2009 (Ref OJ, 30.05.2009, L135 pg 3-11), came into force on 18 June 2009 and is directly applicable throughout the EU. Copies of the new Regulation can be freely accessed and downloaded via the link below.
The Food Standards Agency in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will each consult on parallel but separate Regulations that will apply in their territories.
The general principles on all food contact materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs are established in Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004. This lays down the framework of regulation for all materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, including those classed as ‘active’ and 'intelligent'. The enforcement provisions of that Regulation are implemented in England by The Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2007. The proposed Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 will amend the 2007 Regulations to take into account a number of provisions in the AIM Regulation that have to be in place by 19 December 2009. The remaining enforcement provisions will be subject to a full 12-week consultation later in the year.