MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

CM Documents

CM(2019)137

13 août 2019[1]

1353rd meeting, 11 September 2019 6 Social cohesion   6.2 European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare (EDQM)[2] b. Committee for Food Contact Materials and Articles (Partial Agreement) (CD-P-MCA) Abridged report of the 3rd meeting (Strasbourg, 28-29 May 2019) Item to be considered by the GR-SOC at its meeting on 5 September 2019

 

 

Opening of the meeting and adoption of the agenda

1.         The Committee for Food Contact Materials and Articles (Partial Agreement) (CD-P-MCA) held its 3^rd meeting in Strasbourg on 28-29 May 2019 with Ms Katharina Adler (Germany) in the Chair.

2.         The agenda of the meeting is contained in Appendix 1. The full report of the meeting including the list of participants is available from the EDQM.

Items for information by the Committee of Ministers

3.         Delegates from the following 17 Council of Europe member States (out of the 27 that have appointed representatives to the CD-P-MCA) participated in the plenary meeting: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy (remote participation), Netherlands, Norway (remote participation), Republic of Moldova, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland (“members” according to the terms of reference). The Food and Drug Administration of Taiwan as well as a representative of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) also attended the meeting (as “participants”). Apologies were noted for delegates from Luxembourg and Montenegro, as well as for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

4.         The Committee confirmed the renewal of the terms of office of the Chair and the Vice-Chair (Ms Bianca Van de Ven, Netherlands).

5.         The Committee took note of the progress made in evaluating the legislative framework for food contact materials (FCM) in the European Union (EU). Completion of evaluation is foreseen in 2020. On the occasion of the next meeting of the working group on food contact materials of the toxicological safety section of the EU standing committee on plants, animals, food and feed (SC-PAFF), the EC will set up focus groups composed of member States’ representatives. These groups will share national views concerning non-harmonised legislation for FCM at the meetings organised under the aegis of the EC.

Common criteria for materials and articles – towards an FCM resolution

6.         The Committee revisited the basic provisions of the draft resolution on FCM. This resolution laid down the requirements that were applicable to a wide range of FCM for which no specific regulations existed at the level of the EU. To anticipate likely changes in EU regulations for FCM and to preserve complementarity between the Council of Europe resolution and relevant EU provisions, further amendments will be introduced by the rapporteur.

Compliance work

7.         The Committee took note of comments to the draft guidance for business operators and control authorities outlining the information required to demonstrate compliance of FCM with the applicable regulations. The guidance will supplement the resolution.

Paper and board

8.         Technical guidelines on specific materials intended for food contact will supplement this resolution. The draft technical guideline on paper and board, elaborated by a dedicated working group was submitted to the Committee for comments.

Coatings and varnishes

9.         Six delegations of the CD-P-MCA were involved in the EFSA Taskforce on coatings and varnishes, aimed at a detailed review of national recommendations and regulations concerning these materials and the elaboration of recommendations for the safety evaluation of coating substances. This work was supported by the EDQM. The Committee took note of the issues encountered by the Taskforce and the need to reflect the outcome of this work in the corresponding draft guidelines of the Council of Europe.

Metals and alloys

10.       The Committee took note of the sections edited by national experts in six member States for the 2^nd edition of the technical guidelines accompanying Resolution CM/Res(2013)9 on metals and alloys used in FCM.

Enamels

11.       The Committee took note of the data on the quality of enamelled FCM and regulatory information submitted by member States. Test methods and criteria for compliance among the member States were noted and the need for harmonisation was emphasised.

Printing inks

12.       The Committee took note of the progress made by a dedicated ad hoc working group for the peer-review of two test methods for the analysis of printing.

Appendix 1

Agenda

1.         Welcome and opening of the meeting

2.         Declaration of interests/confidentiality

3.         Adoption of the agenda

4.         CD-P-MCA work programme

5.         Renewal of the chair and vice-chair

6.         General items and external relations

7.         Standard setting activities – work in progress

            7.1       Common criteria for materials and articles – towards an FCM resolution

            7.2       Compliance work

            7.3       Paper and board

            7.4       Coatings and varnishes

            7.5       Metals and alloys

            7.6       Enamels

            7.7       Printing inks

            7.8       Resins for ion exchange and adsorption

8.         Standard setting activities – work not started or suspended

9.         Any other business

9.1       German-Swiss collaboration on printing inks

9.2       Improving transparency of national risk assessment – proposals by Germany

10.       Date of the next meeting

-           4^th plenary session of the CD-P-MCA: Strasbourg, 4-5 December 2019