Launched in partnership with SPI’s Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee (FDCPMC) the association is inviting participants from other industry sectors to upgrade and refine the document on an ongoing basis.
Regulatory requirements in the US & EU
Kyra Mumbauer, senior director, Global Regulatory Affairs, SPI, told FoodProductionDaily, Project Passport’s Guideline for Risk Communication for the Global Food Contact Supply Chain provides a declaration of compliance template and instructions for its completion that regulatory affairs professionals can use, free of charge.
“The instructions explain the regulatory requirements in the US and the EU and provide example phrases that may be used to articulate the regulatory status of food contact products in these jurisdictions,” she said.
“The US and EU were chosen as the focus for the first version of the guidelinebecause they have in place regulatory systems for food contact materials that are the basis for others across the world. Products that comply with regulations in the US and EU can be legally marketed in many other jurisdictions.”
The document was developed by plastics industry stakeholders including producers of resins and additives, packaging manufacturers and brand owners to create a recognizable system for companies in the food packaging supply chain.
Mumbauer said it took more than three years of work by the FDCPMC to create ‘a more efficient way of communicating risk information about food packaging raw materials, components and articles’.
Asia and South America
“Project Passport plans over time to invite industry representatives from across the globe to refine and expand the Guideline, to develop supplemental guidance on specific emerging regulatory issues such as disclosure of allergens, and to consider building declaration of compliance templates for jurisdictions across Asia and South America,” she added.
“For participants in Project Passport who developed the Guideline it has helped them to understand compliance communication and clarified discrepancies as to what companies downstream truly need from their suppliers to be assured that inputs are compliant.”
The current edition of Project Passport’s Guideline for Risk Communication for the Global Food Contact Supply Chain consists of three separate components, offering packaging suppliers a tool to communicate the safety of their products to companies and consumers.
Food processors face inquisitive questions of not only food ingredients but packaging
It includes; An Example “Food Contact Declaration of Compliance” Form - a generic form which can be adapted to different products; Instructions – basic explanations and sample customer assurance statements and Quick Guides – a series of topical guides on select topics to provide added clarity on the instructions.
James Huang, director, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Bemis Company and chairman of the FDCPMC said food processors face questions from consumers that are increasingly inquisitive of not only the food ingredients but also the packaging.
“Supporting the assurance of safe packaging is a complex web of information exchanges across the food contact supply chain, with lengthy questionnaires traveling from brand owners via packaging converters through material manufacturers to commodity producers, and back,” he added.