Food Packaging and Contact Applications
- Published: September 08, 2020, By Josh Scanlan
The German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) presented a new draft of the 21st Ordinance amending the German Consumer Goods Ordinance, otherwise known as the German “Printing Ink Ordinance”.
Germany notified the European Commission of a draft of this Printing Ink Ordinance in 2016. Eight European Union (EU) member states expressed their concerns in the form of detailed opinions, and two member states and the EU Commission submitted comments. In response to these objections, the Commission reportedly stated that it intended to adopt EU legislation on printed food contact materials and invited Germany to postpone its national measure.
In the course of this work, the Commission reportedly identified potential deficiencies in the existing regulatory framework (the Framework Regulation (EU) No 1935/2004), which need to be considered before work on new material-specific measures can be continued.
Due to the changed timetable at the European level, the BMEL has now taken up its original initiative for a national regulation and presented a new draft of the ordinance. However, this draft is essentially identical to the draft previously notified in 2016.
The Food Federation Germany, in consultation with the German Ink Manufacturers Association (VdL), has expressed its incomprehension for this new initiative by the BMEL.
In the opinion of the VdL, only a harmonized European regulation for printed food contact materials makes sense. The printing ink industry reportedly supports the European Commission and its efforts to achieve a consistent European regulation and is advocating to give the European legislative process the time it needs.
For more information, visit https://www.sunchemical.com.
