Title, commencement, extent and interpretation

1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 1st April 1996.

(2) These Regulations shall not extend to Northern Ireland.

(3) In these Regulations "the principal Regulations" means the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 1992(4).

Amendment of the principal Regulations

2. The principal Regulations shall be amended as follows-

(a)in regulation 2(1)-

(i)after the definition of "the 1987 Regulations", there shall be inserted the following definition-

• ""additive" means a substance, other than one which directly influences the formation of polymers including the catalytic system, which is-

  (a)

  incorporated into a plastic material or article to achieve a technical effect in the finished product and is intended to be present in the finished product; or

  (b)

  used to provide a suitable medium in which polymerization occurs including emulsifiers, surfactants and buffering agents;"; and

(ii)after the definition of "food" there shall be inserted the following definition-

""good technical quality" means good technical quality as regards the purity criteria;";

(b)after regulation 13 there shall be inserted the following regulations-

"Use, sale and importation until 1st April 1998

14. Until 1st April 1998 a plastic material or article which has been manufactured using one or more of the monomers identified by PM/REF No., CAS No. and name respectively in columns 1, 2, 3 of Section E of Part I of Schedule 1-

(a)may be used in the course of a business in connection with the storage, preparation, packaging, sale or serving of food for human consumption,

(b)may be sold for the purpose of its being used in connection with the storage, preparation, packaging, sale or serving of food for human consumption, or

(c)may be imported for the purpose of its being used in connection with the storage, preparation, packaging, sale or serving of food for human consumption,

provided that such monomer is of good technical quality.

Additives

15.-(1) Subject to the following paragraphs of this regulation, no person shall use in the manufacture of plastic materials or articles any additive identified by PM/REF No., CAS No. (if any) and name respectively in columns 1, 2, 3 of Part I of Schedule 3 which is not of good technical quality.

(2) Paragraph (1) of this regulation shall not be taken to prohibit the presence in any plastic material or article of any substance which is a mixture of additives of good technical quality identified in Part I of Schedule 3.

(3) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations, where it is alleged that the commission of the offence is due to the manufacture of a plastic material or article with any additive identified in Part I of Schedule 3 which is not of good technical quality, it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that each such additive is present in the finished plastic material or article as an impurity, a reaction intermediate or a decomposition product.";

(c)in the column headed "Item" in Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 for Item number and letter "66A" and "91A" there shall be substituted, respectively, "66B" and "91B";

(d)the Item number and letter, PM/REF No., CAS No., name and restriction (if any) for each monomer identified in Schedule 1 to these Regulations shall be inserted in Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 at the place corresponding to the number and letter specified for that monomer in the column headed "Item" in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

(e)in Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1, opposite and corresponding to Item 57, for the entry in column 1 (PM/REF No.) there shall be substituted the entry "14411" and in column 3 (Name) the words "(food grade quality)" shall be deleted;

(f)in column 4 (Restrictions) of Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1-

(i)opposite and corresponding to Item 166, there shall be inserted the following entry "see `Rosin'"; and

(ii)in the entry opposite and corresponding to Item 180, for "0.05" there shall be substituted "5";

(g)in Section B of Part 1 of Schedule 1 the entries in columns 1 (PM/REF No.), 2 (CAS No.), 3 (Name) and 4 (Restrictions) (if any) opposite and corresponding to Items 11, 60, 83, 102 and 161 respectively, shall be deleted;

(h)the contents of Schedule 2 to these Regulations shall be inserted after Section D of Part 1 of Schedule 1; and

(i)the contents of Schedule 3 to these Regulations shall be inserted after Schedule 2.

Regulation 2(d)

SCHEDULE 1

Regulation 2(h)

SCHEDULE 2

"SECTION EMonomers authorised until 1st April 1998

Regulation 2(i)

SCHEDULE 3

"SCHEDULE 3

PART IADDITIVES

PART IISUPPLEMENTARY

1. In regulation 15 and Part I of this Schedule-

(a)the PM/REF No. of any additive is its EEC packaging material reference number;

(b)the CAS No. of any additive is its CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) Registry Number, and

(c)the name of any additive is its chemical name,

and to the extent that there is any inconsistency between the CAS No. and the name, the name shall take precedence over the CAS No.

2. If an additive appearing in Part I of this Schedule as an individual compound also falls within a generic term which appears therein, the restriction (if any) applying to that additive shall be that indicated for the individual compound and the entry applying to the generic term shall be treated as varied to such extent (if any) as is necessary therefor.

3. If a substance-

(a)identified in Part I of this Schedule is an acid, a phenol or an alcohol and has salts (including double salts) of one or more of the following names (that is to say salts (including double salts) of aluminium, ammonium, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium or zinc), then any such salts (including double salts) shall be treated as included in the specification of that substance; and

(b)is identified in Part I of this Schedule as an acid salt and has salt of one or more of the following names (that is to say, salts of aluminium, ammonium, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium or zinc), then the free acid corresponding to that substance is not treated as included in the specification of that substance."

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations 1992 (S.I. 1992/3145) ("the principal Regulations") and implement Commission Directive 95/3/EEC (OJ No. L41, 23.2.95, p.44), amending Commission Directive 90/128/EEC (OJ No. L75, 21.3.90, p.19, to be read with the corrigendum in OJ No. L349, 13.12.90, p.26) relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs.

The Regulations-

(a)add definitions of the terms "additive" and "good technical quality" in the principal Regulations (regulation 2(a));

(b)permit the use, sale or importation of plastic materials and articles manufactured using one or more of the monomers in Section E as inserted in Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations by these Regulations, until 1 April 1998 (regulation 2(b) and (h));

(c)prohibit use in the manufacture of plastic materials or articles of specified additives unless they are of good technical quality (regulation 2(b) and (i));

(d)amend the Item number and letter for two monomers in Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (regulation 2(c));

(e)add specified monomers with restrictions as appropriate to those listed in Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (monomers authorised without time limit) (regulation 2(d) and (e));

(f)amend the restrictions at items 166 and 180 respectively (Rosin gum and 5-Sulphoisophthalic acid, monosodium salt) in Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (regulation 2(f)); and

(g)delete one monomer from Section A of Part 1 of Schedule 1 (monomers authorised without time limit), and delete five monomers from Section B (monomers authorised up to the end of 1996) of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (regulation 2(e) and (g)).

A copy of the Compliance Cost Assessment in relation to these Regulations has been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament and further copies can be obtained from Food Contaminants Division B of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Ergon House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.