FCM JEGs Minutes 5th April 2023

Advisory Committee on Food Contact Materials Joint Expert Group (FCM JEG)

Meeting of the Committee at 10:00 on 5^th April 2023 in Clive House, London,  and virtual via Microsoft Teams

Contents                                                                                                              

Welcome and Announcements

1.             The Chair welcomed FCM JEG Members and other attendees.

Interests

2.             The Chair reminded those attending the meeting to declare any commercial or other interests they might have in any of the agenda items. Dr. Emma Bradley declared a personal specific interest in the subject in Item 8 (Draft opinion on the assessment of a can coating) as she was directly involved with the tests conducted at FERA and assisted the company in putting the dossier together for the Dutch assessment. Emma was therefore unable to be present for this item.

Item 1: Apologies for absence

3.             Apologies were received from Claire Potter and Sabrina Thomas of the Secretariat.

Item 2: Matters arising

4.             The Secretariat updated FCMJEG Members on current and upcoming dossiers. 

5.             Following the call for evidence on ocean-bound plastic and discussion of the responses received, the FSA sent requests for further information to the respondents, on behalf of the FCMJEG. Three out of the four respondents have agreed to provide further information, with timelines of mid-April.

Item 3: Minutes of the last meeting

6.             Members discussed the minutes of the February 2023 meeting.

7.             Members found that the minutes were a useful reminder of previous discussions. However, Members noted that the current version of the public minutes was too comprehensive and detailed. While Members agreed that it was important for the public to be able to follow the discussions and considerations of the FCMJEG, they also agreed that the current minutes would benefit from shortening. This change in approach would allow the minutes to transparently reflect the considerations of the JEG while ensuring the main points would not be lost in detail not relevant to the overall conclusions on the presented information.

Item 4: Additional information on a recycling process (RP53) -

Postponed from the 9^th of February 2023 meeting

8.             No conflicts of interest were declared by the FCMJEG.

9.             The FCMJEG Members reviewed the additional information provided by the Applicant for RP53 (in response to an RFI letter dated 27^th of October 2021) on the 13^th of December 2022.   

10.          Following the review of the additional information provided by the Applicant, the FCMJEG Members required additional data and clarification prior to preparing their draft safety assessment for this application. The Secretariat will draft the RFI requesting certification/additional supporting documentation. The Applicant’s response will be considered via correspondence with the FCMJEG Members or in the next available meeting.

Item 5: - Additional information on a recycling process (RP1415) Postponed from 9^th of February 2023 meeting 

11.          No conflicts of interest were declared by the FCMJEG.

12.          . The FCMJEG Members reviewed the additional information provided by the Applicant for RP1415 (in response to an RFI letter dated 26^th of October 2021) on the 9^th of November 2022. 

Existing Use / Authorisation / Validation

13.          The FCMJEG agreed that the provided clarification of the acronym and units was satisfactory.

Quality Assurance System

14.          The FCMJEG requested evidence of the supporting documentation on how it is ensured that the critical steps are operated under conditions at least as severe as those in the challenge test. The provided documents demonstrated that the parameters are controlled and monitored on a regular basis and therefore were deemed satisfactory by the FCMJEG. 

15.          The FCMJEG requested the values of the residual contaminant concentration in the recycled product (Cres) and modelled contaminant concentration in PET (Cmod) for decontamination efficiency. In addition, the methodology (i.e., how and which challenge test data) on how these values were calculated is also requested.

16.           The Applicant was asked to provide the statement of compliance and AA standard certification as these documents were not found in their response.

17.          Overall, the Members were content with the additional information. However, Following the review of the additional information provided by the Applicant, several data gaps were highlighted and clarification points from the Applicant were requested. 

Item 7: Any Other Business (AOB)

18.          AOB was moved in order to allow Dr. Emma Bradley to be excused for the final item on the agenda, due to a personal, specific interest.

Sending Regulated Products samples to National Reference Laboratory, FERA

19.          Policy colleagues informed members of the proposal to receive and store samples of regulated products from applicants to the National Reference Laboratory, (NRL), FERA. A short paper was produced setting out the terms to seek the views of the JEG.

20.          Members' views were sought on potential uses of the submitted samples

Members agreed that it was a good idea to have a sample stored in a reference laboratory, providing that samples were stable under suitable storage conditions. Members agreed that a safety data sheet should be submitted with the samples.

21.          Policy agreed that set criteria would have to be set leading up to the potential release of samples.

Assigning dossiers to Members

22.          The JEG were asked if they agreed with the proposal to assign dossiers to specific Members. Members agreed with the plan to assign specific Members to dossiers going forward.

Update on potential site visit

23.          Members were also updated on the potential site visit to a polypropylene recycling plant, which is under the novel technologies category. A visit has provisionally been set as 4^th July 2023.

Item 8: Draft opinion on the assessment of a can coating (Reserved)

24.          This item was presented as a reserved item.

25.          Members discussed the draft risk assessment on TMBPF-DGE provided to the FCM JEG.

26.          Overall, Members agreed that the assessment reflected the discussions and conclusions of the FCMJEG accurately. However, Members asked for the second draft of the assessment to be circulated once the comments had been addressed. This second draft version will then be discussed at the May COT meeting.

27.          The minutes of this item will be published at a later date.

Date of next meeting  

28.          The FCMJEG was informed that the next meeting would take place on the 24^th of May 2023 via MS Teams.