Council Directive 82/711/EEC of 18 October 1982 laying down the basic rules necessary for testing migration of the constituents of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs

COUNCIL  DIRECTIVE
of 18 October 1982
laying down the basic rules necessary for testing migration of the constituents of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs
(82/711/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 76/893/EEC of 23 November 1976 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,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas Article 2 of Directive 76/893/EEC laid down inter alia that materials and articles must not transfer their constituents to foodstuffs in quantities which could endanger human health or bring about an unacceptable change in the composition of the foodstuffs;
Whereas in order to achieve this objective in the case of plastic materials the suitable instrument is a specific directive within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 76/893/EEC, the general rules of which shall also be applicable to the case in question;
Whereas, given the complexity of the problem, the Directive should initially be limited to fixing the basic rules for verification of constituent migration; whereas further directives, to be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 10 of Directive 76/893/EEC, will establish the methods of analysis necessary for the verification of such migration;
Whereas this Directive does not affect all aspects of plastic materials and articles; whereas it is therefore necessary to authorize the Member States, on the one hand, not to impose the labelling particulars laid down in Article 7 of Directive 76/893/EEC in accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5 of that Article and, on the other hand, to prohibit the marketing of materials and articles which, although conforming with the standards laid down by that Directive, do not comply with national provisions regarding other possible standards referred to in Article 3 or in the absence of these, with Article 2 of the Directive in question;
Whereas, in view of the analytical difficulties connected with the determination of the migration levels in food products, conventional tests should be chosen (liquids capable of simulating the attack on foodstuffs and standard test conditions) in order to reproduce, as far as possible, the migration phenomena which may occur in contact between the article and the foodstuff;
Whereas if such tests subsequently prove not to reflect reality Member States should be authorized to amend them provisionally, pending a Community decision;
Whereas, in the current state of analytical techniques, it is not possible to determine all the conditions under which conventional migration tests should be performed on materials and articles consisting of two or more layers, one or more of which does not consist entirely of plastics; whereas a decision on the application of this Directive to such materials and articles should therefore be taken at a later date;
Whereas the adaptation of this Directive to technical progress is an implementing measure; whereas, in order to simplify and accelerate the procedure, this should be the responsibility of the Commission;
Whereas in all cases in which the Council confers on the Commission authority to implement the provisions relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs, a procedure should be laid down establishing close cooperation between Member States and the Commission within the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs set up under Decision 69/414/EEC (1),