Document 65yOEMjxJ6rNEkDgb8Y5m35g

- Ref. Ares(2021)4869840- 30/07/2021 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERALFORINTERNAL MARKET, INDUSTRY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP ANDSMES Ecosystems I: Chemicals, food, retail DIRECTORATE-GENERALFORENVIR.ONMENT Circular Economy and Green Growth The Dit'edors Bmssels GROW.F.1grow f.1(2021) 4823852 ---- Health and Enviromnent Alliance Subject: Civil society findings of widespread presence of harmful chemicals PFAS widespread in food packaging and request for a meeting Dear- Thank you for your message of 2 June 2021 addressed to Executive Vice-President Timme1mans, and Commissioners Kyriakides, Sinkevicius, Breton regarding the civil society findings of widespread presence of PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in food contact aiticles. They have asked us to reply on their behalf. Let us also thank you for suggesting a meeting to present the findings. Commissioners' teams may come back to you on this. On 14 October 2020 the Commission adopted the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) towaids a toxic-free Enviromnent1 . PFAS, explicitly mentioned in the CSS, require special attention, conside1ing the laige number of cases of contamination of soil and water, including &inking water, in the EU. The Commission has proposed a comprehensive set of actions to addiess the use of and contamination with PFAS2. These actions aim to ensure in paiticular that the use ofPFAS is phased out in the EU, unless it is proven essential for society. One impo1tant action is a REACH3 restriction on all non essential uses of PFAS that a group of four Member States (DE, DK, NL, SE) and No1way aie prepaiing with a potential entry into EU chemicals legislation in 2025. This restriction intends to cover also food contact materials (FCMs) and the results of your study will be considered. 1 COM (2 020) 667 final, 14.10.2020 2 SWD (2020) 249 final, 14.10.2020 3 OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.l Commission europeenne/Europese Commissie 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIE - Tel. +32 22991111 eOmfafiicle: BREY.Direct phone (32-2: j Food safety is of paramount importance for the Commission. Present EU legislation requires that FCMs, including food packaging, must not transfer their constituents to food in amounts that can endanger human health. Nevertheless, following its evaluation of the FCM legislation, the Commission is aware that the absence of specific EU rules, particularly for certain materials such as coatings and paper and board, has led to legal uncertainty and challenges for Member States, who are responsible for enforcement. Therefore, and as announced in the Farm to Fork Strategy, the Commission has committed to a major revision of the FCM legislation in order to provide long-term solutions. One of the objectives of the revision is to prohibit the most harmful substances including PFAS, in line with the CSS and to ensure coherence with the REACH legislation. In this respect, the Commission will take any further action necessary to protect consumers in addition to proposed REACH restriction. The Commission also asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to assess the risk of the occurrence of PFAS in food. As this has now resulted in a new recommended tolerable weekly intake4, the Commission has committed to taking action to introduce maximum levels for PFAS in food, which is also outlined in the CSS. Although the EFSA opinion did not identify FCM as a major source of exposure, the Commission will continue to monitor the situation, including following up its 2019 Recommendation5 to Member States to monitor several substances in FCM, including PFAS. Yours sincerely, (e-sign) Kristin Schreiber DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (e-sign) Kestutis Sadauskas DG Environment 4 https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/news/pfas-food-efsa-assesses-risks-and-sets-tolerable-intake 5 Commission Recommendation (EU) 2019/794 of 15 May 2019 on a coordinated control plan with a view to establishing the prevalence of certain substances migrating from materials and articles intended to come into contact with food, OJ L 129, 17.5.2019 2