CEPI, the Confederation of European Paper Industries, and CITPA, the Confederation of Paper and Board Converters in Europe, have published the first revision of their Industry Guideline for the compliance of paper and board materials and articles for food contact.
In the absence of a specific measure for paper and board, the purpose of the Industry Guideline – offered as voluntary guidance for operators in the industry – is to enable manufacturers of paper and board materials and articles intended for food contact to demonstrate compliance with the Framework Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004.
First published in 2010, the Guideline was conceived by CEPI/CITPA with the expectation of “relatively frequent revisions”, in accordance with developments in the sector. The specific aspects covered in the first revision are:
- The publication of the new CEPI Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
- The coming into force of Commission Regulation on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, (EC) No 10/2011
- The update of the German Recommendation on paper and board for food contact (BfR Rec. XXXVI)
- The concerns over the presence of mineral oil hydrocarbons in food
“The paper and board industry has envisaged its Guideline as a moving document which needs to be updated,” says John Swift, chair of the Cross Industry Group responsible for drafting the Industry Guideline.
“This is the challenge we have adopted within the industry, supplying safe products and demonstrating compliance with relevant legislation.”
The Cross Industry Group was also responsible for the first revision, and the Group will continue its monitoring activity of the sector and the collection of inputs to be taken into account for further revisions.
In 2010, the Industry Guideline was implemented by paper manufacturing companies representing around 50% of the European production of packaging grades, and 20 major converting companies covering a “large share” of the European paper-based packaging production.
Many other papermakers and converters are said also to be in the process of adopting it in their operations.
