The National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China notified the World Trade Organization of the draft general safety standards for food contact materials and supplies. The solicitation of opinions on this standard will end on July 21, 2015.
General safety standards apply to all food contact materials and articles in the Chinese market, in addition to corresponding food safety standards. It specifies the basic requirements and compliance principles for food contact materials and articles, including regulations on test methods, declarations of conformity, traceability and product labeling.
The third part of the standard basic requirements emphasizes that the substances used in food contact materials and articles should meet safe use standards and must not endanger human health. In addition, food contact substances cannot cause changes in the composition, structure or properties of food. The standard also requires that food packaging material manufacturers should conduct a NIAS safety assessment.
Part 2 of the standard introduced new definitions, which were not clearly stipulated before the Chinese Food Packaging Regulations. For example, the standard defines "unintentionally added substances" (NiAs) and "multi-layer materials/articles," as well as the total migration limit (OML) and the specific migration limit (SML). These definitions are largely consistent with the EU 10/2011 regulations, also known as "plastics regulations".
For companies with related businesses, please know in advance and be prepared!
