1. These Regulations may be cited as the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) Regulations 2007, apply in relation to England only and come into force —
(a) for the purposes of regulations 5, 7 and 14(3), on 1st August 2008; and
(b) for all other purposes, on 29th October 2007.
2.—(1) In these Regulations —
“the Act” means the Food Safety Act 1990;
“the 2006 Regulations” means the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (No.2) Regulations 2006(5);
“Directive 2002/72/EC” means Commission Directive 2002/72/EC relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs(6);
“Directive 2007/42/EC” means Commission Directive 2007/42/EC relating to materials and articles made of regenerated cellulose film intended to come into contact with foodstuffs(7);
“Regulation 1935/2004” means Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food and repealing Directives 80/590/EEC and 89/109/EEC(8);
“Regulation 2023/2006” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2023/2006 on good manufacturing practice for materials and articles intended to come into contact with food(9);
“authorised officer” means any person, whether or not an officer of the authority having responsibility for execution and enforcement under regulation 14, who is authorised by that authority in writing to act in matters arising under these Regulations;
“food authority” does not include the appropriate Treasurer referred to in section 5(1)(c) of the Act (which deals with the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple) nor a port health authority;
“import” means import in the course of a business from a place other than a Member State;
“plastics” means those materials and articles to which Directive 2002/72/EC applies;
“port health authority” means —
in relation to the London port health district (within the meaning given to that phrase for the purposes of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984(10) by section 7(1) of that Act), the Common council of the City of London; and
in relation to any port health district constituted by order under section 2(3) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, a port health authority for that district constituted by order under section 2(4) of that Act;
“preparation” includes manufacture and any form of treatment or process, and “prepare” shall be construed accordingly;
“regenerated cellulose film” means a thin sheet material obtained from refined cellulose derived from unrecycled wood or cotton, with or without the addition of suitable substances, either in the mass or on one or both surfaces, but does not include synthetic casings of regenerated cellulose;
“sell” includes offer or expose for sale or have in possession for sale, and “sale” and “sold” shall be construed accordingly.
(2) Except in regulations 5 and 7, any reference in these Regulations to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article bearing that number in Regulation 1935/2004.
(3) Expressions used in these Regulations and in Regulation 1935/2004 or Regulation 2023/2006 bear the same meaning in these Regulations as they bear in those Regulations.
(4) Any reference to Regulation 2023/2006 or to an Annex of Directive 2002/72/EC or of Directive 2007/42/EC is a reference to that Regulation or that Annex as amended from time to time.
3. The provisions of these Regulations do not apply to those materials and articles specified in sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Article 1(3).
4. Subject to the provisions of Article 27 (transitional arrangements), any person who contravenes any of the following provisions of Regulation 1935/2004 is guilty of an offence —
(a) Article 3 (general requirements);
(b) Article 4 (special requirements for active and intelligent materials and articles);
(c) Article 11(4) and (5) (provisions relating to Community authorisation);
(d) Article 15(1), (2), (3), (4), (7) and (8) (labelling);
(e) Article 16(1) (declaration of compliance);
(f) Article 17(2) (traceability).
5. Any person who fails to comply with the requirements of Article 4 (conformity with good manufacturing practice) of Regulation 2023/2006 is guilty of an offence.
6. The following bodies are designated as the competent authorities for the purposes of the provisions of Regulation 1935/2004 as specified below —
(a) in respect of Articles 9 and 13, the Food Standards Agency;
(b) in respect of Articles 16(1) and 17(2), the Food Standards Agency and the authority having responsibility for enforcement pursuant to regulation 14(1).
7. The competent authority for the purposes of Article 6(2) and 7(3) of Regulation 2023/2006 is each food authority in its area.
8.—(1) Materials and articles which are manufactured with vinyl chloride polymers or copolymers —
(a) must not contain vinyl chloride monomer in a quantity exceeding 1 milligram per kilogram of the material or article as measured by the method of analysis specified in regulation 9(1); and
(b) must be manufactured in such a way that they do not transfer to foods with which they are in contact any quantity of vinyl chloride exceeding 0.01 milligrams of vinyl chloride per kilogram of food as measured by the method of analysis specified in regulation 9(2).
(2) No person may —
(a) sell;
(b) import; or
(c) use in the course of a business in connection with the storage, preparation, packaging, selling or serving of food,
any such material or article that does not comply with paragraph (1).
9.—(1) The method used in analysing any sample for the purpose of establishing the quantity of vinyl chloride monomer present in the material or article in order to determine whether it complies with regulation 8(1)(a) shall be the method specified in the Annex to Commission Directive 80/766/EEC (which lays down the Community method of analysis for the official control of the vinyl chloride monomer level in materials and articles which are intended to come into contact with foodstuffs)(11).
(2) The method used in analysing any food for the purpose of establishing the quantity of vinyl chloride present in the food in order to determine whether a material or article which is or has been in contact with the food complies with regulation 8(1)(b) shall be the method specified in the Annex to Commission Directive 81/432/EEC (which lays down the Community method of analysis for the official control of vinyl chloride released by materials and articles into foodstuffs)(12).
S.I. 2006/2687. Back [5]
OJ No. L220, 15.8.2002, p.18. This Directive was corrected by a corrigendum (OJ No. L39, 13.2.2003, p.1), and has been amended as at the date these Regulations were made by Commission Directives 2004/1/EC (OJ No. L7, 13.1.2004, p.45), 2004/19/EC (OJ No. L71, 10.3.2004, p.8), 2005/79/EC (OJ No. L302, 19.11.2005, p.35) and Commission Directive 2007/19/EC (OJ No.L97, 12.4.2007, p.50). Back [6]
OJ No. L172, 30.6.2007, p.71. This Directive repealed and consolidated without further amendment Commission Directive 93/10/EEC as last amended by Commission Directive 2004/14/EC. Back [7]
OJ No. L338, 13.11.2004, p.4. Back [8]
OJ No. L384, 29.12.2006, p.75. Back [9]
1984 c.22. Back [10]
OJ No. L213, 16.8.80, p.42. Back [11]
OJ No. L167, 24.6.81, p.6. Back [12]