Directive 1989/109 - Approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs - Main contents

official title

Avis juridique important

|

Council Directive 89/109/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs

Official Journal L 040 , 11/02/1989 P. 0038 - 0044

Finnish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 17 P. 0207

Swedish special edition: Chapter 13 Volume 17 P. 0207

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE

of 21 December 1988

on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs

(89/109/EEC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article l00a thereof,

Having regard to the Proposal from the Commission,

In cooperation with the European Parliament (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Whereas Council Directive 76/893/EEC of 23 November 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs (3), as last amended by the act of Accession of Spain and Portugal (4), has been substantially amended on a number of occasions; whereas on making the new amendments to the said Directive, the opportunity should be taken to consolidate the provisions of the existing relevant texts with a view to ensuring legal clarity;

Whereas Directive 76/893/EEC was adopted on the grounds that the differences that existed at that time between the national laws relating to the aforesaid materials and articles impeded the free movement thereof, could create unequal conditions of competition and could thereby directly affect the establishment or functioning of the common market;

Whereas those laws had to be approximated if free movement was to be achieved for the aforesaid materials and articles, taking account primarily of human health requirements but also, within the limits required for the protection of health, of economic and technological needs;

Whereas the chosen method was to lay down, in the first place, in a framework directive, general principles on the basis of which legal differences between certain groups of materials and articles had been and could subsequently be

eliminated by means of specific directives; whereas this method has proved itself and should therefore be retained;

Whereas covering or coating substances, all or part of which form part of foodstuffs, could not be considered to be simply in contact with these foodstuffs: whereas, in that case, account had to be taken of possible direct consumption by consumers; whereas the rules laid down in this Directive are therefore inappropriate in such circumstances;

Whereas the principle underlying this Directive should be that any material or article intended to come into contact or which is intentionally in contact either directly or indirectly with foodstuffs, must be sufficiently stable not to transfer substances to the foodstuffs in quantities which could endanger human health or bring about an unacceptable change in the composition of the foodstuffs or a deterioration in the organoleptic properties thereof;

Whereas, in order to achieve this objective, it may prove necessary to lay down various types of limitations, alone or in combination; whereas it is appropriate to retain in specific directives those limitations which are most appropriate to the desired objective, having regard to the technological characteristics peculiar to each group of materials and articles;

Whereas, in order to allow the informed use of the materials and articles, appropriate labelling should be provided for; whereas the methods used for such labelling may vary according to the user;

Whereas this Directive does not apply to the labelling of products which, by reason of their behaviour in the presence of foodstuffs, must not be designed to come into contact or be in contact with...

This text has been adopted from EUR-Lex.

This page is also available in a full version containing de geconsolideerde versie, the legal context, de Europese rechtsgrond, other dossiers related to the dossier at hand and finally the related cases of the European Court of Justice.