COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 92/39/EEC of 14 May 1992 amending Directive 90/128/EEC relating to plastics materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 89/109/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs (1), and in particular Article 3 thereof,
Whereas Commission Directive 90/128/EEC (2) of 23 February 1990, and in particular Article 3 (4), provides for the revision of Annex II and particularly section B;
Whereas, on the basis of the available information, certain substances provisionally admitted at national level may be included in the Community list, while others must be definitively prohibited;
Whereas certain substances provisionally admitted at national level may continue to be permitted for a further specified period since the data requested by the Scientific Committee for Food are not yet available but the required studies are ongoing or are planned;
Whereas other substances have been requested for use following the adoption of the Directive, and the technical data supplied permit their inclusion in the Community list;
Whereas, for certain substances, the restrictions already set out should be amended according to the available information;
Whereas it is necessary to permit the continued use of certain well-defined substances contained in those groups of substances which are not well-defined and are now deleted, pending a decision on their inclusion in the Community list;
Whereas the Scientific Committee for Food has been consulted;
Whereas the measures laid down by this Directive comply with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Directive 90/128/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
1. Article 3 (4) is replaced by the following:
'4. As from 1 January 1997, only those monomers and other starting substances listed in Annex II, Section A, shall be used for the manufacture of plastic materials and articles, subject to the restrictions specified therein. However, the substances listed in Annex II, Section B may be deleted before the abovementioned date if the data requested for inclusion in Section A are not supplied in time to permit their evaluation by the Scientific Committee for Food. Moreover, before 1 January 1996 it may be decided that, in some justified cases, for certain substances listed in Annex II, Section B, this time-limit will be postponed.'
2. Annex II of Directive 90/128/EEC is amended as follows:
(a) Section A:
- the substances appearing in Annex I to this Directive are added;
- the content of the column 'Restrictions' for the substances appearing in Annex II of this Directive is modified as indicated therein.
(b) Section B:
- the substances appearing in Annex III to this Directive are added, as a replacement for those groups of substances which are not well-defined and which are deleted by this Directive;
- the substances appearing in Annex IV to this Directive are deleted;
- the content of the column 'Restrictions' for the substance appearing in Annex V to this Directive is modified as indicated therein.
(c) The substances appearing in Annex VI to this Directive are transferred from Section B to A and are now subject to the restrictions, if any, specified.
(d) Point 8 is hereby amended as follows:
- the following text is inserted after 'NCO = isocyanate moiety;'
'ND = not detectable.
For the purpose of this Directive "not detectable" means that the substance should not be detected by a validated method of analysis which should detect it at the detection limit (DL) specified.
If such a method does not currently exist, an analytical method with appropriate performance characteristics at the detection limit may be used, pending the development of a validated method.'
- the following text is inserted after 'SML = specific migration limit in food or in food stimulant, unless it is specified otherwise.'
'For the purpose of this Directive "SML" means that the specific migration of the substance should be determined by a validated method of analysis at the specified limit. If such a method does not currently exist, an analytical method with appropriate performance characteristics at the specified limit may be used, pending the development of a validated method.'
Article 2
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 31 December 1992. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.
Member States should:
- permit trade in and use of plastic materials and articles complying with this Directive by 31 March 1994;
- prohibit trade in and use of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs and which do not comply with this Directive with effect from 1 April 1995.
2. When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. The procedure for such reference shall be adopted by Member States.
Article 3
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. Done at Brussels, 14 May 1992.