Digest Reports from Foodchain ID Regulatory Trends

The guidelines focus on improving waste collection, diverting plastic from landfills, increasing recycling rates, and reducing the use of single-use plastics (SUPs). The policy sets out objectives to reduce plastic waste, lower greenhouse gas emissions, limit the use of single-use plastics (SUPs), and promote circularity within the plastic value chain. The NPPWM, launched in 2021, aims to address the growing issue of plastic consumption and waste management capacity in Nigeria. These guidelines, developed between March 2023 and November 2024, are designed to help state and local governments manage plastic waste more effectively and align with international commitments on environmental protection. Recognising the critical role of state and local governments, the new guidelines provide a framework for addressing key areas such as waste collection, recycling, and the reduction of SUPs.

To reduce packaging waste, enhance sustainability and to mitigate the environmental impact of packaging, the European Commission proposed a new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation in 2022. The Regulation entered into force on 11 February 2025, replacing the Packaging Directive (Directive 94/62/EC). In 2021, the average European generated 189 kg of packaging waste. The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment oversees the implementation of the Regulation. The packaging industry is one of the main users of raw materials in the EU, accounting for 40% of plastic and 50% of paper use.

Applicability to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. Several provisions of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 fall outside the scope of the Windsor Framework. While this Notice seeks to assist authorities and operators, only the Court of Justice of the European Union is competent to authoritatively interpret Union law. On 1 February 2020, the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union. The Withdrawal Agreement (2) was concluded between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, on the one part, and the United Kingdom, on the other part. Application of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and Directive (EU) 2019/904, and repealing Directive 94/62/EC to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. This guidance notice is intended to facilitate the application of Regulation (EU) 2025/40 of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste (1), to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland.

The current Proposition 65 list is available on-line below, as a pdf or Excel download or through WestLaw. What types of chemicals are on the Proposition 65 list? The Excel document also includes the listing mechanism for each chemical listing and the safe harbor level, if one has been adopted. The list contains a wide range of naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals that are listed for cancer or reproductive harm, or both. Listed chemicals may also be used in manufacturing and construction, or they may be byproducts of chemical processes, such as motor vehicle exhaust.

In the Federal Register of March 22, 2024 (89 FR 20306), FDA issued a final rule to amend its regulations at § 170.105 (21 CFR 170.105) to provide additional reasons, other than safety, that may form the basis to determine that an FCN is no longer effective. One reason we may determine that an FCN is no longer effective is when the manufacturer or supplier has ceased or will cease the production, supply, or use of the food contact substance for its intended use authorized by the FCN (referred to as "abandonment").

Revision of the Specifications and Standards for Foods, Food Additives, etc. The government of Japan will revise the Specifications and Standards for Apparatus, Under Article 18, Paragraph (1) of the Food Sanitation Act (Act No.233 of 1947), the Prime Minister may establish specifications for apparatus, or containers and packaging (hereinafter referred to as the “ACP”) or the raw materials thereof to be served for the purpose of sale or to be used for business, or may establish the standards for the production methods thereof, by hearing the opinions of the Food Safety Standards Council.

In case the Authority receives several applications regarding the same hazardous bisphenol or hazardous bisphenol derivative, the Authority may publish a single opinion concerning that hazardous bisphenol or hazardous bisphenol derivative. 3. In case of authorisation, the hazardous bisphenol or hazardous bisphenol derivative shall be included in Annex II to this Regulation accordingly. 4. Reporting obligations concerning alternative substances to BPA, hazardous bisphenols and hazardous bisphenol derivatives laid down in Annex II 1. All business operators responsible for placing intermediate food contact materials as well as final food contact articles on the market should, therefore, have the declaration of compliance in their possession. The EURL for food contact materials shall consult the national reference laboratories and relevant stakeholders to identify possible methods for the purpose of paragraph 2.

That approach will improve the separate collection of packaging waste, leading to higher quality
recycling of packaging waste, and is intended to introduce a level of harmonisation of the packaging
waste collection systems on the internal market. As a general rule, the actual measurement of the
weight of packaging waste to be counted as recycled should be at the point where packaging waste
enters the recycling operation. As the generation of commercial and industrial packaging waste is not
related to household consumption, the waste prevention targets per capita cannot apply as such to
commercial and industrial packaging waste.

Decree 34/2025: MERCOSUR GMC/RES No 22/24 Technical Regulation on the Positive List of Additives for the Production of Plastic Materials and Polymeric Coatings intended to come into contact with Food is incorporated into the national legal system (Spanish)

Bisphenol S (BPS) Added to the Proposition 65 List for Reproductive Toxicity Effective January 3, 2025, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has added the male reproductive toxicity endpoint to the listing of bisphenol S (BPS) on the Proposition 65 list for reproductive toxicity. BPS was first placed on the Proposition 65 list for reproductive toxicity, based on the female reproductive endpoint, on December 29, 2023. Effective December 29, 2023, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has added bisphenol S (BPS) to the Proposition 65 list as a reproductive toxicant (female reproductive endpoint). The warning requirement for significant exposure to BPS for the male reproductive toxicity endpoint will take effect on January 3, 2026. On March 4, 2022, OEHHA started a data call-in process to solicit information on BPS from the public.