Belgium has published a royal decree on varnishes and coatings, which will come into force on 1 January 2017.

The summary of the regulation is as follows:

• The migration limit on varnishes (except on metal) into food cannot exceed 10mg/dm2;
• A generic limit of 60mg/kg is set where a specific migration limit is unavailable;
• Permitted food contact varnishes and coatings are listed;
• It adopts analysis methods for food contact varnishes and coatings from Regulation (EU) 10/2011 with the same requirements on food simulants, test temperatures and durations.

In line with EU Regulation on plastic FCMs, marketed coatings and varnishes must be accompanied by a compliance statement including experimental data or theoretical calculation of their specific migration level.

It deserves special notice that Belgium is the first country to enact a law specifically for food contact varnishes and coatings. In the current EU regulatory framework, only four FCMS, namely, plastic (including recycled plastic), ceramics, regenerated cellulose and active and intelligent materials, have been regulated at EU level.

Big moves of the EU FCMs regulations this year:

In August 2016, EU released Regulation (EU) 2016/1416 to amend Regulation (EU) 10/2011 on plastic FCMs as regards specific migration limits of heavy metals, union list of authorised substances, test methods for overall and specific migration.

In March 2016, EU proposed to reduce the migration limit for BPA in plastic food contact materials to 0,05 mg/kg and to expand the scope of this new limit to varnished or coated food contact materials and articles.

Please visit the websites linked below is you are interested in more details for the above two reports. C&K Testing is aways keeping track of the latest information on EU FCMs.

|Further Information:

EU amends food contact plastic materials and articles regulation

EU intends to strengthen BPA restriction in food contact materials and articles

|Our Services: Food Contact Materials