Global Legislation for Food Packaging Materials (RIJK:LEGISLATION FOOD O-BK) || Food Packaging Legislation in South and Central America

✍ Scribed by Rijk, Rinus; Veraart, Rob

• Publisher: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: German
• Weight: 195 KB
• Edition: 1
• Category: Article
• ISBN: 3527319123
• DOI: 10.1002/9783527630059.ch15

✦ Synopsis

MERCOSUR

The creation of the common market bore the need to harmonize national legislations of the member states, including the rules and regulations related to packaging materials intended to come in contact with foodstuffs. The process of harmonizing laws and regulations was initiated in March 1992, coordinated by the Grupo Mercado Comun (GMC) (Common Market Group), the executive organ of the MERCOSUR.

The GMC has among its functions to coordinate and to guide the activities of the subgroups and to give legal force to the recommendations of these subgroups by approving them as GMC resolutions, which are the harmonized supranational MERCOSUR laws valid in the territory of all the member states.

Harmonization of the national legislation governing food contact packaging materials was discussed within the Food Committee of the Sub-workgroup 3 (SGT-3) -MERCOSUR Technical Regulations and Conformity Evaluation.

Prior to the formation of the common market, Brazil and Argentina had their own national rules and regulations in place regarding the use of materials intended to come in contact with foodstuffs in the form of resolutions and regulations based on the positive list principle, which means that only the substances and compounds listed may be used in formulating packaging materials within the limits set for overall migration and overall composition. In 1992, at the beginning of the harmonization process, the decision was taken that the legislation common to the four member states should follow the same model. At that time, the first MERCOSUR Resolution related to packaging materials -Resolution GMC 03/92 -General Criteria and Classification of Packaging