Potential Changes of GB Standards for Food Contact Materials

In November 2020, the "2020 Food Contact Material Safety Forum" was held in Beijing, which discussed the legislation program and potential regulatory changes for food contact materials. In this article, ChemLinked will introduce the schedule plan and the potential regulatory changes to the GB standards of food contact plastic and rubber. This article is written based on the forum, when the official GB standards/drafts are published, the official documents shall prevail.

1. The Schedule Plan

The schedule plan of formulating and amending FCM standards so far is listed below.

New standards in progress

Amendments in progress

Bamboo and wood product (exposure draft published)
Bonding agent (a draft has been released, but the authorities are further studying on the positive list, a new exposure draft may be published in 2021 for public comments.)
Printing ink (exposure draft published)
Cellulose material (exposure draft unpublished)
Starch-based plastic (will be incorporated into the amendment of GB 4806.7 for plastic materials and articles in contact with foodstuffs)

Composite materials and articles (exposure draft published)
Metal (exposure draft published)
Paper and paperboard (exposure draft published)
Plastic (exposure draft unpublished)
Paints and coating (exposure draft unpublished)
Rubber (exposure draft unpublished)
Silicone rubber (exposure draft unpublished)
General principles of migration test (the exposure draft is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2021)

2. Proposed Revision to Plastic Standard

According to Dr. Chen Rongfang, the revision to GB standards for food contact plastic materials involves application scope, technical requirements, labeling requirements, and etc. This project was initiated in 2018 and the draft is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2021.

2.1 Application scope and definitions

"Starch-based plastic" will be included into the application scope of GB 4806.7 Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Foodstuffs and the definition of starch-based plastic will be added accordingly. The definition of resin will be expanded form "chemically modified natural macromolecular substance" to "chemically modified natural or synthetic macromolecular substance".