Belgium bans BPA in Childcare Food Contact Products

Nov. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- In February 2012, SGS informed you that the Belgium Senate approved a proposal to prohibit the use of BPA in the manufacture of certain childcare articles[1].

On 24 September 2012, the Belgium Official Journal published a new Act to prohibit BPA in food contact containers for children up to the age of 3[2].  The new law was passed by parliament on 4 September 2012 and amended the Law of 24 January 1977 on the protection of health from food and other products.  The effective date of the new law is 1 January 2013.  

Belgium is the fourth member state in the EU to institute some form of ban on BPA in specific products for young children; joining Austria, Denmark and France.  Highlights of the new law and a comparison on the restriction of BPA for the EU, Austria, Denmark and France are summarized below.

European Union
Regulation (EU) 10/2011 on food contact plastics
- Equal to or less than 0.6 mg/kg (migration)
- Effective date: 31 December 2012

Regulation (EU) 321/2011 on polycarbonate infant feeding bottles for children up to the age of 1
- BPA prohibited
- Effective since: June 2011

Austria
Food Safety and Consumer Protection Act, LMSVG, on pacifiers and teethers
- BPA prohibited
- Effective since: January 2012

Denmark
Danish Veterinary and Food Administration on food contact materials for children up to the age of 3
- BPA prohibited
- Effective since: 2010

Belgium
Act of 4 Sept 2012 on food contact materials for children up to the age of 3
- BPA prohibited
- Effective date: 1 January 2013

France
Act 2010-729 on baby bottles
- BPA prohibited
- Effective since: 2010

Throughout the SGS global network of laboratories, SGS is able to provide a range of services (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Toys-and-Juvenile-Products/Juvenile-Products-and-Childcare-Articles/Testing/Food-Contact-Tests.aspx), including analytical testing and consultancy for BPA for Belgium and international markets.

Resources:

[1] SafeGuardNo. 023/12, “EU - Belgian Senate Approves Ban on BPA in Certain Food Contact Products” (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-02312-belgium-bpa-ban-in-food-contact-products-a4-en-12.pdf)
[2] MoniteurBelge – BelgischStaatsblad, 24 Sept 2012 (http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/summary.pl)

Please do not hesitate to contact the SGS experts for further information.

Contact details:

SGS Consumer Testing Services
HingWo Tsang
Senior Technical Services Manager
SGS Hong Kong Ltd.
5-8/F, 28/F, Metropole Square, 2 On Yiu Street, SiuLek Yuen
Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China

t: +852 2774 7420
Email: cts.media@sgs.com
Website: http://www.sgs.com/pages/consumer-testing/sgs-consumer-goods-and-retail.aspx

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