Commission Directive 97/48/EC of 29 July 1997 amending for the second time Council Directive 82/711/EEC laying down the basic rules necessary for testing migration of the constituents of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance)

COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 97/48/EC of 29 July 1997 amending for the second time Council Directive 82/711/EEC laying down the basic rules necessary for testing migration of the constituents of plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 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 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 (2), as amended by Directive 93/8/EEC (3), does not specify the migration tests to be carried out in cases where the fatty food simulants are inappropriate;
Whereas the application of the test using the fatty food simulants is time consuming and difficult to conduct and therefore alternative tests in some specified conditions should be permitted;
Whereas it is not clear whether Directive 82/711/EEC authorizes the use of plastic materials and articles which are not intended to come into contact with foodstuffs of all types but which are intended to come into contact with more than one single foodstuff or more than one specific group of foodstuffs; whereas this use may be authorized without posing any problem to health provided an appropriate indication informs the consumer or the retailer of the type(s) of foodstuff(s) with which it may or may not come into contact;
Whereas the indication of an excessive number of foodstuffs types which could be in contact with some plastic materials and articles may not be easy to understand and therefore these materials and articles should be submitted to all the food simulants or test media provided by this Directive to protect the consumer;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Foodstuffs,