Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Made: 11th December 1996

Coming into operation: 29th January 1997

The Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Articles 15(2), 16(1), 25(1)(a) and (3), 26(3), 32 and 47(2) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991[^f00001] and being a designated Department[^f00002] for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[^f00003] in relation to materials and articles in contact with food or drink or intended for such contact, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the said section 2(2) and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, and after consultation in accordance with Article 47(3) of the said Order with such organisations as appear to it to be representative of interests likely to be substantially affected by the Regulations (in so far as the Regulations are made in exercise of the powers conferred by the said Order), hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 and shall come into operation on 29th January 1997.

• (2) In these Regulations “the principal Regulations” means the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993[^f00004].

• (3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[^f00005] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Amendment of the principal Regulations

2

• (1) The principal Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (9).

• (2) In regulation 1(2), in the definition of “the Directive”, for “as amended” there shall be substituted “, (as corrected) and as amended by Commission Directives 92/39/EEC, 93/9/EEC, 95/3/EC and 96/11/EC”[^f00006].

• (3) In regulations 4 (monomers)—

• (a) in paragraph (1)—

• (i) after “the following paragraphs” there shall be inserted “and regulation 13A”,

• (ii) in sub-paragraph (a), for “1st January 1997” there shall be substituted “1st January 2002”, and

• (iii) in sub-paragraph (b), for “31st December 1996” there shall be substituted “31st December 2001”;

• (b) in paragraphs (3), (4), (5) and (6), after “the relevant fraction of” (wherever it occurs) there shall be added “, or section F of,”.

• (4) After regulation 13 there shall be inserted—

(13A) Notwithstanding regulation 4(1), until 1st January 1999 a plastic material or article may be manufactured using one or more of the monomers identified by PM/REF No., CAS No. (if any) and name respectively in columns 1, 2 and 3 of Section F of Part I of Schedule 1, if any such monomer is of good technical quality and is used in accordance with the restrictions (if any) specified in the corresponding entry in column 4 thereof

• (5) The Item number and letter, PM/REF No., CAS No. and name for each monomer identified in Schedule 1 shall be inserted in Section A of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (monomers authorised without time limit) at the place corresponding to the number and letter specified for that monomer in the column headed “Item” in Schedule 1.

• (6) The contents of Schedule 2 shall be substituted for Section B of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations.

• (7) In Section D of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (monomers authorised until 1st April 1996), in Item 16, for “51” and “115” in column 4 (restrictions) there shall be substituted “17” and “58” respectively.

• (8) The contents of Schedule 3 shall be inserted after Section E of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations.

• (9) The Item number and letter, PM/REF No., CAS No. (if any) and name for each additive identified in Schedule 4 shall be inserted in Part I of Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations (additives) at the place corresponding to the number and letter specified for that additive in the column headed “Item” in Schedule 4.

SCHEDULE 1

SCHEDULE 2

SCHEDULE 3

SCHEDULE 4

Signed

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland on 29th January 1996.

W. B. Smith — Assistant Secretary

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations further amend the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993 (“the principal Regulations”) and implement Commission Directive 96/11/EC (O.J. No. L61, 12.3.96, p. 26), amending Directive 90/128/EEC (O.J. No. L75, 21.3.90, p. 19, as read with the corrigendum in O.J. No. L349, 13.12.90, p. 26) relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs.

The Regulations—

• (a) modify the prohibition in regulation 4(1) of the principal Regulations on manufacture of plastic materials and articles before and after specified dates, using monomers other than those specified, by substituting later dates (regulation 2(3)(a)(ii) and (iii));

• (b) permit, until 1st January 1999, the manufacture of plastic materials and articles, using monomers specified in Section F (as inserted by regulation 2(8) and Schedule 3 into Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations) (regulation 2(4));

• (c) add specified monomers to those monomers authorised without time limit specified in Section A of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (regulation 2(5) and Schedule 1);

• (d) substitute for the list of monomers in Section B of Part I of Schedule 1 to the principal Regulations (monomers authorised up to the end of 1996) an amended list, omitting certain monomers previously included, those remaining being authorised up to the end of 2001 (regulation 2(6) and Schedule 2);

• (e) add specified additives to those which are specified in Part I of Schedule 3 to the principal Regulations, and which it is prohibited to use, if they are not of good technical quality, in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles (regulation 2(9) and Schedule 4); and

• (f) make consequential amendments to the principal Regulations (regulation 2(2), (3)(a)(i) and (b), and (7)).

Footnotes

[^f00001]: S.I. 1991/762 (N.I. 7) as amended by S.I. 1996/1633 (N.I. 12). See Article 2(2) for the definitions of “the Department concerned” and “regulations”

[^f00002]: S.I. 1976/2141

[^f00003]: 1972 c. 68

[^f00004]: S.R. 1993 No. 173 as amended by S.R. 1995 No. 107 and S.R. 1996 No. 164

[^f00005]: 1954 c. 33 (N.I.)

[^f00006]: Corrigendum in O.J. L349, 13.12.90, p. 26; amending Directives in O.J. No. L168, 23.6.92, p. 21, O.J. No. L90, 14.3.93, p. 26, O.J. No. L41, 23.2.95, p. 44 and O.J. No. L61, 12.3.96, p. 26