Commission Regulation (EU) No 202/2014

of 3 March 2014

amending Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and repealing Directives 80/590/EEC and 89/109/EEC1, and in particular Article 5(1), Article 11(3) and Article 12(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Annex I to Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/20112 establishes a Union list of substances which may be used in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles (‘Union list of authorised substances’).

(2)

On 24 July 2012 the European Food Safety Authority issued favourable scientific evaluations for two additional substances, namely 2-phenyl-3,3-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)phthalimidine3 and 1,3-bis(isocyanatomethyl)benzene4. Those substances should now be added to the Union list of authorised substances as food contact material (FCM) substances Nos 872 and 988.

(3)

From the scientific evaluation of FCM substance No 988 it follows that migration of its hydrolysis product, 1,3-benzenedimethanamine should be controlled. 1,3-benzenedimethanamine is already authorised as FCM substance No 421. As the migration of FCM substances Nos 421 and 988 is controlled on the basis of the migration of FCM substance No 421, a group restriction including both substances should be introduced. Therefore, the authorisation of FCM substance No 421 should be amended and the group restriction introduced in Table 2 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011.

(4)

FCM substance No 340 (dicyanodiamide) is authorised as an additive in plastics in Table 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 without a specific migration limit. The Opinion reported in the 33rd series of the Scientific Committee for Food5 established a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 1 mg/kg body weight resulting in a specific migration limit (SML) of 60 mg/kg food. This limit coincides with the generic specific migration limit established in Article 11(2) of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011. However, since the SML of 60 mg/kg is derived from a toxicological threshold such as the TDI, the SML should be specifically mentioned in Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011.

(5)

In order to limit the administrative burden to business operators, plastic materials and articles which have been lawfully placed on the market based on the requirements set out in Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and which do not comply with this Regulation should be able to be placed on the market until 24 March 2015. They should be able to remain on the market until exhaustion of stocks.

(6)

Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: