18 Materials intended to come into contact
with food
| (25073)
15113/03
COM(03) 689
| Draft Regulation on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food
|
| Legal base | Article 95 EC; co-decision; QMV
|
| Department | Food Standards Agency
|
| Basis of consideration | SEM of 14 May 2004
|
| Previous Committee Report | HC 42-iii (2003-04), para 14 (17 December 2003)
|
| To be discussed in Council | No longer applicable
|
| Committee's assessment | Legally and politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Cleared (decision reported on 17 December 2003)
|
Background
18.1 Council Directive 89/109/EEC[46]
establishes that, as a general principle, the migration of materials
which come into contact with food should be kept to a minimum
and not endanger human health, and that it should not affect the
composition, smell or taste of the food in question. The Directive
also provides for the establishment of "positive" lists
of substances which may be used in the manufacture of food contact
materials, identifies the groups of materials and articles to
be regulated by implementing measures, and sets out the procedures
and criteria to be followed in drafting and adopting such measures.
18.2 According to the Commission, a number of new
issues — such as the emergence of "active" packaging
(designed to interact with the food in order to maintain or improve
its condition during storage and so prolong its shelf life) and
packaging involving "intelligent" materials (which provide
information about the condition of the food) — had arisen
since that Directive was adopted. It therefore sought to take
these into account in this proposal, which it put forward in November
2003. In our Report of 17 December 2003, we noted that the UK
supported the proposal, which it believed should improve the clarity
and extent of control of chemical migration from packaging to
food, help to overcome the ambiguities which can arise from the
transposition of detailed rules by each Member State; and deal
with emerging technologies in a balanced manner. In view of this,
and the fact that the proposal did not appear to give rise to
any issues of principle or of practical difficulty for the UK,
we cleared it.
Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum
18.3 We have now received a supplementary Explanatory
Memorandum of 14 May from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of
State for Health at the Department of Health (Miss Melanie Johnson),
drawing our attention to a number of amendments made to the original
proposal as a result of the co-decision procedure. She says that
these changes, which are supported by the UK, improve the clarity
of the proposal, and that, following its adoption by the European
Parliament, the amended proposal now awaits adoption by the Council
as an "A point" (without discussion).
18.4 However, the Minister also says:
"The UK has formally registered with the Council
its view that the (EC) Article 95 Treaty base for the proposal
is wrong and should involve (EC) Article 308. Two cases are being
brought to the European Court to challenge the Treaty base where
central administrative systems are being put in place by Commission
proposals. This is not one of those two cases, but, along with
other proposals currently being negotiated, it contains a similar
proposal to that which is the subject of the UK's legal challenge.
The current legal base requires adoption of the proposal by a
qualified majority vote; the UK's assertion that Article 308 should
be the legal base requires unanimity."
Conclusion
18.5 The Minister did not express any reservation
about the legal base in the Explanatory Memorandum and initial
Regulatory Impact Assessment which she sent us on 8 December 2003,
and we find it strange that the point should have emerged only
at this very late stage. Having said that, we do not think it
(or the amendments made as part of the deal reached between the
Council and European Parliament) need affect our earlier clearance
of the proposal, and we are therefore simply drawing the current
position to the attention of the House.
46 OJ No. L 40, 11.2.89, p.38. Back
|
