This regulation updates and improves the regulatory regime for materials that are intended to come into contact with foodstuffs. It is a joint regulation of the European Parliament and the Council. Following its publication by the Commission in November 2003, there appeared to be much support for its early adoption. Accordingly it was given a high priority as part of the Irish Presidency. A number of meetings of the Council foodstuffs working group were held in the period January to March 2004 co-chaired by Mr. Eddie Feehan from my Department and Dr. Bernard Hegarty from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland — FSAI. The proposal was also considered by the environment and industry committees of the European Parliament. A revised text which took account of these discussions was approved by the permanent representatives committee of the Council on 24 March 2004 and by the Parliament on 31 March 2004.
It is expected that the revised text will be formally adopted by the Council of Ministers in the near future as an agreed "A" point, once it has been translated into all official EU languages. The regulation will then come into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. I take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to Mr. Feehan and Dr. Hegarty for the great work they did in securing agreement on a complicated dossier in a short period of time and to thank Dr. Reilly for the excellent support and co-operation provided to my Department by the FSAI.
This regulation will apply to all materials and articles that are intended to come into contact with foodstuffs, including packaging materials but also cutlery, dishes, processing machines, containers, etc. Such materials can potentially transfer some of their constituents into the food they contact. In order to protect consumers' health, it is important that the materials are safe and do not transfer their components into the foodstuff in unacceptable quantities.
This proposal involves the replacement of the existing framework directive with a new regulation, which takes account of substantial technological developments in the area of food packaging in the past number of years. The regulation is intended as a general framework for food contact materials and sets out the general principles that should apply to all packaging, such as a requirement for traceability, though there will be a two-year delay before these provisions apply to enable industry to respond; a more detailed, transparent procedure for the safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority; and authorisation by the Commission of substances to be used in the manufacture of food contact materials.
The regulation also extends the list of materials that could be subject to specific controls, adding active materials which are designed to deliberately add substances to food, intelligent packaging which gives consumers information on the condition of the food, ion-exchange resins, adhesives and printing inks, as well as food contact materials made from recycled materials.
The primary concern, in discussions on the proposal, was over the introduction into the scope of the regulation of certain active packaging systems that are designed to release substances such as food additives into packaged food after it has left the food factory. At present, this packaging cannot be introduced into the EU because the packaging must be inert. Amendments were agreed to specify some principles that should apply to active packaging, for example, that the food industry must be informed of substances that would be deliberately released from packaging and that these would be identified on the label as if they were food ingredients. These should ensure consumers are not mislead about either the packaging or the condition of the packaged food they purchase. Active packaging would only be permitted to release substances already authorised as food additives. Further requirements will be detailed in specific legislation to be drafted later by the Commission.
My Department welcomes the proposal which recognises the technological developments in manufacturing of food contact materials that have taken place such as the development of active and intelligent packaging, while still seeking to protect consumers and public health. I should also point out that a public consultation process was carried out on the proposal, through the FSAI's website during December and January last, although no comments were received as a result. This supports our view that the industrial impact in Ireland is expected to be slight. It probably reflects the fact that major European trade associations and the food packaging industry made significant inputs to the proposal. Their concerns mainly related to the impact of traceability. As the regulation increases the range of packaging technologies that will be available to the food industry, it should facilitate international trade.
The new regulation will require a change to our existing European Communities (Materials and Articles Intended to Come into Contact with Foodstuffs) Regulations 1991 to 2003, to provide that non-compliance with the new regulation would be an offence under Irish regulations and to establish sanctions for non-compliance.