German Legislation on printing inks. The ordinance will cover inks applied both in non-food contact and in food contact surface. Hence the positive list of substances will be adjusted, since inks for food contact surface were not initially included. The required Declaration of Compliance will follow the European Union Guidance with a requirement of declaring all the substances that might migrate. Definition of ink is still under interpretation and most probable date of measure application is the third quarter of 2015. Swiss Ordinance on Packaging Inks. On the 1st of April, 4th edition of Annex 6 to the Swiss Ink Ordinance has been published and came into force. At the moment, there is activity in the process of approval for a number of substances which are either in list A, aiming in the adjustment (increase) of their migration limit, or in list B, aiming to be moved in list A.
German Legislation on Mineral Oils. There is a second draft of German proposed Ordinance, published in May. It covers only recycled fiber based packaging in direct contact with food and it regulates only Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MOAH) for which it requires no migration. Definition of MOAH and detection limit is still missing.
French Legislation on BPA. At the moment, use of Bisphenol A is banned for products aimed for infants (under 3 years old) and from 2015 there will be a total ban. From the middle of 2014, labeling provisions will be applied, with defined warnings for pregnant women, breast feeding women and children under three years old. These warnings shall be included in the accompanying documentation of the packaging.