In the News
EU's Positive List of Food-Contact Plastic Additives Now in Effect
Jan 12, 2010
Effective January 1, 2010, only additives included in the Plastics Directive (Directive 2002/72/EC), as amended (or on the provisional list of additives), may be used in the European Union (EU) for the manufacture of plastic materials and articles comprised exclusively of plastics. Initially, the Plastics Directive contained an "incomplete" list of substances (in Annex III) that could be used as additives in the manufacture of plastic materials. However, the 5th Amendment to the Plastics Directive (2008/39/EC), which became effective March 27, 2008, set January 1, 2010 as the date on which the list of plastics additives would become a Positive List. The 6th Amendment to the Plastics Directive, published on October 20, 2009, removed the word "incomplete" from the Positive List of additives, and added 32 new substances to the Positive List. (For more information on the Positive List, see the PackagingLaw.com article, European Commission Publishes 5th Amendment to the Plastics Directive.)
Business operators may now only use additives on the Provisional or Positive Lists in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles in the EU. In addition, the 5th Amendment provides very little leeway for business operators to exhaust existing supplies of additives (or plastics containing additives) not included on these lists, as it sets out that Member States must prohibit the manufacture and importation into the EU of food contact plastic materials and articles that are not in compliance with the Plastics Directive, as amended, by March 7, 2010. On October 21, 2009, the European Commission published an updated Provisional List of additives for use in plastics. Additives on the Provisional List may continue to be used after January 1, 2010, pending their inclusion in the Positive List of the Plastics Directive.