Commission issues food contact guidance
The European Commission has issued a regulation insisting packaging companies ensure that from August 2008 they follow effective quality assurance and quality control systems where their materials touch food. The legislation insists packaging companies document these good practices, although stops short of stipulating their exact form. It says systems must be appropriate, taking account of a company's scale, personnel and equipment, and must “not be an excessive burden on the business.” See:http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:384:0075:01:EN:HTML for details. Meanwhile, APEAL - the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging - has developed its own voluntary good practice guidelines: Visit: www.apeal.org/file.asp?filetype=doc/04/008/001/4._apeal_steel_gmp_final_9-01-07.pdf
EBRD boosts Bosnian packaging industry
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is pumping €11m into a war-damaged paper factory in Maglaj, Bosnia & Herzegovina, to modernise the plant and increase production, notably of cardboard and paper for making large sacks. Yildirim Aktürk, president of Turkish-controlled Natron-Hayat, said the loan, plus €54m from Finland's Nordea and Austria's BACA, would “help us to become competitive and a leading player in the sack paper market in the Balkans and Turkey”. The EBRD loan will upgrade existing equipment, rebuilding and restarting the pulp plant and a machine for making sack paper, bringing production to full capacity.
EU Ministers make organic labelling progress
The European Union (EU) Council of Ministers has made significant progress on approving an EU-wide system for labelling organic foodstuffs, which should involve an “EU organic” label for certified packaged products. Ministers said they could accept the proposals from the European Commission, but only if “organic” products do not contain GMOs (except by unavoidable accidental contamination) and that all ingredients of a composite “organic” product shall indeed be organic. The EU's new German presidency said it wanted to secure final agreement by July this year. One outstanding issue will be whether the system can be applied to mass catering.
