On 29 April 2020 the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) presented a new draft of the 21st ordinance amending the German Consumer Goods Ordinance.

On 29 April 2020 the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) presented a new draft of the 21st ordinance amending the German Consumer Goods Ordinance. This draft is very similar to the draft that was submitting in 2016. The main part of the regulation is the positive list of substances that may be used for the production of printing inks for food contact materials and articles. Under this regulation, new substances will be able to be added to the list in accordance with the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) guideline for the safety assessment of substances in printing inks for the manufacture of food contact materials and articles. There have been concerns from industry that this guideline is currently only in draft form and would be difficult for industry to implement. The German Paint and Printing Ink Association (VdL) have produced an information note around this draft regulation and provides further details. 

The PIP has been engaging in discussions with the VdL and European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA) regarding this draft regulation. Alongside this individual PIP members are requesting that photoinitiator substance dossiers that have been submitted through the Swiss Ordinance are made available to the BfR. This will ensure that the maximum number of commercially available photoinitiators are included in the BfR’s next actions.