Keller and Heckman Partner Jeff Keithline will speak at the Australasian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (Appita) Fibre Value Chain Conference (FVCCON21), to be held December 3-10, 2021. The conference will kick off with a live one-day event at the Novotel Hotel, Rotorua, New Zealand, on December 3, followed by 13 virtual technical sessions and panel discussions from December 6 through December 9, and a virtual closing event on December 10.

New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment published a plan to phase out certain hard-to-recycle and single-use plastic items after a public consultation held in 2020 revealed general support to reduce plastic consumption in the country.

Keller and Heckman Counsel Mark Thompson will be speaking at the Pan Pacific Fibre Value Chain Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand. His presentation, which will take place during the conference’s Food Contact Material Forum, is titled, “Hot Topics in the EU.” 

The conference is sponsored by the Australasian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (Appita). This year’s theme is: “Current research & perspective on the Fibre Value Chain.” More information, including how to register, can be found by clicking here. 

The Australian Government has released a plan to reduce plastic waste. Currently, 2.5 million metric tons of plastic waste is generated in Australia each year, with 13% of that recovered.

Keller and Heckman Partner Mark Thompson, along with Lou Sherman, Chair of the Australasian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (Appita) Food Contact Committee, will discuss recent updates on global food contact regulation for paper and plastics, including regulations for recycled content in food packaging. The discussion also will incorporate the latest developments in Chinese concerning regulations for paper food contact materials and articles.

More information, including how to register, can be found here.

The Australian Department of Health (DOH) has published a guidance for importers and manufacturers of chemicals that will be used in food-contact articles. The guidance is intended to facilitate compliance with a new requirement under the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS) to categorize such food-contact chemicals as “exempted,” “reported,” or “assessed”.

A three-year study recently completed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) concluded that the risk of chemicals migrating from packaging into food is low and not of concern for human health. FSANZ initiated the study (Proposal P1034) to assess the need for changes in the regulatory scheme for food-contact materials in Australia and New Zealand. 

Keller and Heckman Associate Mark Thompson will give two presentations as part of the Packaging & Food Contact Materials Forum at the Fibre Value Chain 2017 Conference. He will speak on "Packaging Unwrapped: Chinese regulation of food-contact paper" and "Recycled Paper requirements in the US: Untangling the FDA." 

A review of scientific literature on exposure to nanoscale silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, and silver in food, including from sources of food packaging, did not find any significant health risks, according to the results of a study which was recently commissioned by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).  The results of the study were published in two reports: Nanotechnologies in Food Packaging: an Exploratory Appraisal of Safety an