Global Food Contact Materials Regulations

This module will look at Chinese regulations that directly impact FCMs and food contact articles. In China national standards have the prefix GB. Before taking a deep dive into the regulations, the webinar will look at how China defines FCMs under the general safety standard GB 4806.1-2016.

An overview of all China’s GB standards affecting FCMs will follow. Among the topics will be the draft standard on food contact adhesives – and the current regulatory status of FCM substances such as bisphenol A (BPA) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), as well as the newly approved food contact additives added to standard GB 9685-2016.

Examples of food contact additives that the Chinese authorities have already approved will also be given.

During this module, you will learn about:

• Chinese standards that apply to the FCMs you are interested in, including plastic resins, plastic articles, small projections on an article, ceramic, glass, paper, paperboard, paints and coatings (or films);
• food contact additives already approved in China by the country's National Health Commission (NHC);
• the restrictions for certain key listed food contact additives or FCM substances with respect to their specific migration limits (SMLs);
• how to carry out a worst-case calculation (WCC) in cases of missing experimental or theoretical (modelling) migration data;
• migration testing conditions to be applied under China’s GB requirements, with case study examples;
• the analytical challenges in identifying non-intentionally added substances (Nias) that migrate into food under intended conditions of use;
• key steps when considering the risk assessment of FCM substances migrating into food;
• the petition steps to gain listing of a new food contact additive in China; and
• how to demonstrate compliance of materials and articles intended for use in food contact applications on the Chinese market, and the importance of place in the supply chain.

Ioan Paraschiv, PhD

Group Leader, Global Food & Food Contact Materials (FFCM) Division, Knoell, Netherlands