On September 3, 2020, EU Regulation 2020/1245 entered into force, introducing substantial amendments to EU Regulation 2011/10 concerning specific rules for plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food (FCMs).
The provision specifies that plastic materials and articles complying with EU Regulation 2011/10 in the version applicable before the entry into force of this regulation and first placed on the market before March 23, 2021, may continue to be marketed until September 23, 2022, and until stocks are exhausted.
The amendments concern Annexes I, II, IV, and V of the previous 2011 Regulation, establishing a list of substances that may be used in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles and—in Annex II—introducing further restrictions applicable to plastic materials and articles:
- addition of new metals to the list in Annex II: Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury, and Antimony, and four lanthanides (Lanthanum, Europium, Gadolinium, and Terbium); the sum of these lanthanides must not exceed the specific migration limit (SML) of 0.05 mg/kg as a sum;
- for primary aromatic amines listed in Annex XVII, Appendix 8, entry 43 of Regulation (EC) No. 2006/1907, the detection limit has been lowered to 0.002 mg/kg;
- for non-listed primary aromatic amines, the sum as specific migration must not exceed 0.01 mg/kg;
- new test condition for overall migration (OM0) for contact with food at low temperatures, at room temperature, and for a short duration (≤ 30 minutes);
- new approach for assessing compliance for articles intended for repeated use (the specific migration in the second test must not exceed the level observed in the first test, and the specific migration in the third test must not exceed the level observed in the second, as already established for overall migration);
- new provisions for conducting migration tests on food equipment and machinery as a whole.
Tierre Group has already implemented the processes and procedures to carry out all the new analyses introduced by EU Reg. 2020/1245, not only to remain in compliance with current provisions but also to pursue its environmental policy and satisfy all stakeholders—customers and consumers—by ensuring compliant products with the highest performance in terms of food safety.