Commission Directive 2007/19/EC of 30 March 2007 amending Directive 2002/72/EC relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and Council Directive 85/572/EEC laying down the list of simulants to be used for testing migration of constituents of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance )

‘2 This Directive shall apply to the following materials and articles which, in the finished product state, are intended to come into contact or are brought into contact with foodstuffs and are intended for that purpose (hereafter referred to as “plastic materials and articles”): (a) materials and articles and parts thereof consisting exclusively of plastics; (b) plastic multi-layer materials and articles; (c) plastic layers or plastic coatings, forming gaskets in lids that together are composed of two or more layers of different types of materials.’

‘4 Without prejudice to paragraph 2(c), this Directive shall not apply to materials and articles composed of two or more layers, one or more of which does not consist exclusively of plastics, even if the one intended to come into direct contact with foodstuffs does consist exclusively of plastics.’

For the purpose of this Directive the following definitions shall apply: (a) “plastic multi-layer material or article” means a plastic material or article composed of two or more layers of materials, each consisting exclusively of plastics, which are bound together by means of adhesives or by other means; (b) “plastic functional barrier” means a barrier consisting of one or more layers of plastics which ensures that the finished material or article complies with Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and with this Directive; (c) “non-fatty foods” means foods for which in migration testing simulants other than simulant D are laid down in Directive 85/572/EEC.

1 Plastic materials and articles shall not transfer their constituents to foodstuffs in quantities exceeding 60 milligrams of the constituents released per kilogram of foodstuff or food simulant (mg/kg) (overall migration limit). However, this limit shall be 10 milligrams per square decimetre of surface area of material or article (mg/dm2) in the case of the following: (a) articles which are containers or are comparable to containers or which can be filled, with a capacity of less than 500 millilitres (ml) or more than 10 litres (l); (b) sheet, film or other material or articles which cannot be filled or for which it is impracticable to estimate the relationship between the surface area of such material or article and the quantity of food in contact therewith.

2 For plastic materials and articles intended to be brought into contact with or already in contact with food intended for infants and young children, as defined by Commission Directives 91/321/EEC and 96/5/EC , the overall migration limit shall always be 60 mg/kg.

For the use of additives for the manufacture of plastic layers or plastic coatings in lids referred to in Article 1(2)(c), the following rules shall apply: (a) for the additives listed in Annex III, the restrictions and/or specifications on their use set out in that Annex shall apply, without prejudice to Article 4(2); (b) by way of derogation from Article 4(1) and Article 4a(1) and (5), additives not listed in Annex III may continue to be used, until further review, subject to national law; (c) by way of derogation from Article 4b Member States may continue to authorise additives for the manufacture of plastic layers or plastic coatings in lids referred to in Article 1(2)(c) at national level.

For the use of additives exclusively acting as polymerisation production aids which are not intended to remain in the finished article (hereinafter PPAs), for the manufacture of plastic materials and articles, the following rules shall apply: (a) for the PPAs listed in Annex III, the restrictions and/or specifications on their use set out in Annex III shall apply, without prejudice to Article 4(2); (b) by way of derogation from Article 4(1) and Article 4a(1) and (5), the PPAs not listed in Annex III may continue to be used, until further review, subject to national law; (c) by way of derogation from Article 4b, Member States may continue to authorise PPAs at national level.

The use of azodicarbonamide, Ref. No 36640 (CAS No 000123-77-3) in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles is prohibited.’

1 In a plastic multi-layer material or article, the composition of each plastic layer shall comply with this Directive.

2 By way of derogation from paragraph 1, a layer which is not in direct contact with food and is separated from the food by a plastic functional barrier, may, provided that the finished material or article complies with the specific and overall migration limits specified in this Directive: (a) not comply with the restrictions and specifications set in this Directive, (b) be manufactured with substances other than those included in this Directive or in the national lists concerning the plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food.

3 The migration of the substances referred to in paragraph 2(b) into food or simulant shall not exceed 0,01 mg/kg, measured with statistical certainty by a method of analysis in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council . This limit shall always be expressed as concentration in foods or simulants. It shall apply to a group of compounds, if they are structurally and toxicologically related, in particular isomers or compounds with the same relevant functional group, and shall include possible set-off transfer.

4 The substances referred to in paragraph 2(b) shall not belong to either of the following categories: (a) substances classified as proved or suspect “carcinogenic”, “mutagenic” or “toxic to reproduction” substances in Annex I to Council Directive 67/548/EEC ; (b) substances classified under the self-responsibility criteria as ‘carcinogenic’, ‘mutagenic’ or ‘toxic to reproduction’ according to the rules of Annex VI to Directive 67/548/EEC.

1 At the marketing stages other than the retail stage, plastic materials and articles as well as the substances intended for the manufacturing of those materials and articles, shall be accompanied by a written declaration in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004.

2 The declaration referred to in paragraph 1 shall be issued by the business operator and shall contain the information laid down in Annex VIa.

3 Appropriate documentation to demonstrate that the materials and articles as well as the substances intended for the manufacturing of those materials and articles comply with the requirements of this Directive shall be made available by the business operator to the national competent authorities on request. That documentation shall contain the conditions and results of testing, calculations, other analysis, and evidence on the safety or reasoning demonstrating compliance.’

The Annex to Directive 85/572/EEC is amended in accordance with Annex VIII to this Directive.

1 Member States shall adopt and publish, by 1 April 2008 at the latest, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions and a correlation table between those provisions and this Directive. When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made. They shall apply those provisions in such a way as to: (a) permit the trade in and use of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and complying with Directive 2002/72/EC, as amended by this Directive, from 1 April 2008; (b) prohibit the manufacture and importation into the Community of lids containing a gasket which do not comply with restrictions and specifications for Ref. No 30340; 30401; 36640; 56800; 76815; 76866; 88640 and 93760 laid down in Directive 2002/72/EC as amended by this Directive from 1 June 2008; (c) prohibit the manufacture and importation into the Community of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food which do not comply with restrictions and specifications for phthalates Ref. No 74560; 74640; 74880; 75100; 75105 laid down in Directive 2002/72/EC as amended by this Directive from 1 June 2008; (d) without prejudice to point (b) and (c), prohibit the manufacture and importation into the Community of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food which do not comply with Directive 2002/72/EC as amended by this Directive from 1 April 2009.

2 Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.