(1)

Commission Directive 2002/72/EC (2) lays down specific provisions relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs, including compositional requirements, and restrictions and specifications for substances that may be used therein.

(2)

Several notifications and alerts have been received by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed pursuant to Article 50 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) concerning food contact materials imported into the Union from the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter ‘China’) and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter ‘Hong Kong’), releasing into food or food simulant amounts of chemicals that are not in compliance with the Union legislation.

(3)

These notifications and alerts primarily concern polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware that does not comply with the requirements concerning the release of primary aromatic amines and formaldehyde into food as laid down in Part A of Annex V and Section A of Annex II to Directive 2002/72/EC respectively.

(4)

Primary aromatic amines (hereinafter ‘PAA’) are a family of compounds, some of which are carcinogenic, while others of these compounds are suspected carcinogens. PAA may arise in materials intended for food contact as a result of the presence of impurities or breakdown products.

(5)

Polyamide kitchenware originating in or consigned from China and Hong Kong has been reported to release high level of PAA into food.

(6)

Directive 2002/72/EC authorises the use of formaldehyde in the manufacture of plastics, provided that these plastics do not release into food more than 15 mg/kg of formaldehyde (specific migration limit (SML) expressed as total formaldehyde and hexamethylenetetramine).

(7)

Melamine kitchenware originating in or consigned from China and Hong Kong has been reported to release into food levels of formaldehyde that are higher than those authorised.

(8)

In the past few years, in order to increase knowledge of the requirements set out in Union legislation concerning food contact materials imported into the Union, the Commission has taken several initiatives, including training sessions for Chinese control authorities and the industry concerned.

(9)

Despite those initiatives, the missions of the Food and Veterinary Office to China and Hong Kong in 2009 identified serious deficiencies in the official control system regarding plastic food contact materials intended for importation into the Union and large quantities of controlled polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from China and Hong Kong still do not fulfil the requirements of Union legislation.

(10)

Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) lays down specific provisions relating to the materials and articles intended to come into contact directly or indirectly with food, including certain general and specific requirements that these materials and articles should fulfil. Pursuant to Article 24 thereof, Member States shall carry out official controls in order to enforce compliance with that Regulation in accordance with the relevant provisions of Union law relating to official food and feed controls. Those provisions are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 882/2004.

(11)

More specifically, Article 48(1) of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 provides that in so far as Union legislation does not lay down the conditions and detailed procedures to be respected when importing goods from third countries, they may, if necessary, be laid down by the Commission.

(12)

Article 48(2) of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 provides for the possibility to impose specific import conditions on particular products coming from certain third countries, taking into account the risks associated with these products.

(13)

In order to minimise the health risks that may arise from polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from China or Hong Kong, each consignment of such products should be accompanied by appropriate documentation, including analytical results showing that it meets the requirements concerning the release of PAA and formaldehyde respectively, as laid down in Directive 2002/72/EC.

(14)

In order to ensure a more efficient organisation of the controls of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from China or Hong Kong, the importers or their representatives should give prior notification of the arrival and of the nature of the consignments. Likewise, Member States should have the possibility to designate specific first points of introduction through which consignments of these articles may enter the Union. This information should be publicly available.

(15)

In order to ensure a degree of uniformity at the Union level with regard to the controls of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from China or Hong Kong, the procedure for the official controls, as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, should be defined in this Regulation. These controls should include documentary, identity and physical checks.

(16)

In the event of non-compliance being identified during the physical checks, Member States should immediately inform the Commission through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed.

(17)

Member States should have the possibility, in specific cases, to authorise the onward transportation of consignments of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from China or Hong Kong from the first point of introduction, provided arrangements are made with the competent authority at the point of destination to ensure the traceability of the consignments pending the results of the physical checks, in order to allow the competent authority to deal with the process of importing such consignments effectively and efficiently.

(18)

The release into free circulation of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from China or Hong Kong should take place only once all the checks have been completed and the results are known. For that purpose the result of the controls should be made available to the customs authorities before the goods can be released for free circulation.

(19)

A procedure for recording the information obtained from these controls should be established. This information should be submitted regularly to the Commission.

(20)

The provisions of this Regulation should be periodically reviewed, taking into account the information received from the Member States.

(21)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(a)

‘plastic kitchenware’ means plastic materials as described in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 1 of Directive 2002/72/EC and falling within CN code ex 3924 10 00;

(b)

‘consignment’ means a quantity of polyamide or melamine plastic kitchenware, covered by the same document(s), conveyed by the same means of transport and coming from the same third country;

(c)

‘competent authorities’ means the competent authorities of the Member States designated in accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004;

(d)

‘first point of introduction’ means the point of entry of a consignment into the Union;

(e)

‘documentary check’ means the checking of the documents referred to in Article 3 of this Regulation;

(f)

‘identity check’ means a visual inspection to ensure that the documents accompanying the consignment tally with the contents of the consignment;

(g)

‘physical check’ means the sampling for analysis and laboratory testing and any other check necessary to verify compliance with the requirements concerning the release of PAA and formaldehyde laid down in Directive 2002/72/EC.