September 2, 2010

Establishment of the Tentative Positive List of Chemical Substances in Paper andPaperboard Products for Food Contact Use
The Japan Paper Association (JPA) announces that it will establish its voluntary
positive list of chemicals in paper and paperboard products for food contact use, in orderto ensure higher level of food safety, in response to increasing public awareness ofharmful chemical substances and international movement toward control of thesubstances.
Background
JPA established its “Voluntary Standard of Paper and Paperboard Intended for the Use
for Food Contact” in May 2007 in order to strengthen Health risk management of paper
and paperboard products used for food contact containers and packages, which obliges
its member companies to follow the voluntary standards in addition to the standards set
by Food Sanitation Act. The Voluntary Standard includes the limit for elution of heavy
metal substances and “the negative list”, the list of chemical substances shall not be
used in manufacturing paper and paperboard products for food contacts.
Furthermore, JPA developed the information retrieval system for chemical substances“JPA-ChemiNet” which is an open database among registered members. Through theChemiNet, JPA has implemented risk management of chemicals with updating theNegative List when related regulations are revised. Also, JPA has periodically
implemented sampling check on boxboard, a paper grade produced mainly fromrecovered paper, for monitoring if chemicals contamination meets the standard.
Change in ChemiNet system with establishment of the Positive List1) Existing system
Registered members can check if a specific chemical substance is included in the
Negative List through the ChemiNet. However, the ChemiNet has a problem thatchemical suppliers cannot check if their products are used in the manufacturing ofpaper and paperboard products for food contacts.

2) New system
Tentative positive list will include all the chemicals used in manufacturing paper
and paperboard for food contacts. However, some chemicals may be unlisted on thepositive list established in the U.S and Europe, and may not have undergone risk
assessment. In that context, the tentative list is not disclosed in principle until
discussion with relevant government ministries and agencies is finished.
Procedure of registering chemical substances for the tentative positive list is thefollowing:
1. Paper manufacturers shall notify chemical suppliers of the products used for
manufacturing paper and paperboard for food contacts.
2. If chemical suppliers are members of the ChemiNet, they shall register thecomposition of the products for the Positive List.
3. If the chemical suppliers are nonmembers of the ChemiNet, they shall notify
paper manufacturers of the composition of the products, and manufacturers
shall register them for the List. In case that the suppliers refuse to disclose thecomposition of the products, the products cannot be registered for the List.
If manufacturers would like to continue to use the chemical products cannot beregistered, they have to ensure the safety of the products through risk assessment.
New system will be completed at the end of 2010.