The Federal Public Service of Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment of Belgium has approved a Royal Decree on metal and alloy food contact materials and articles on Feb 17,2021. The decree shall be effective immediately.
Scope
The decree shall apply to food contact materials and articles which are wholly or partly made of metals and/or alloys, whether or not covered with surface coating.
General requirements
Metal and alloy food contact articles shall comply with the following regulations:
Specific requirements
1. Specific migration requirements
Table 1: Specific migration limits applicable to metals and alloy components
Symbol | Name | Specific migration limit (mg/kg food) |
Al | Aluminium | 5 |
Sb | Antimony | 0.04 |
Ag | Silver | 0.08 |
Cr | Chromium | 0.250 |
Co | Cobalt | 0.02 |
Cu | Copper | 4 |
Sn* | Tin | 100 |
Fe | Iron | 40 |
Mg | Magnesium | (no requirement) |
Mn | Manganese | 1.8 |
Mo | Molybdenum | 0.12 |
Ni | Nickel | 0.14 |
Ti | Titanium | (no requirement) |
V | Vanadium | 0.01 |
Zn | Zinc | 5 |
* Except for cases covered by Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs
Table 2: Specific migration limits applicable to metals in the form of contaminants and
Symbol | Name | Specific migration limit (mg/kg food) |
As | Arsenic | 0.002 |
Ba | Barium | 1.2 |
Be | Beryllium | 0.01 |
Cd | Cadmium | 0.005 |
Li | Lithium | 0.048 |
Hg | Mercury | 0.003 |
Pb | Lead | 0.010 |
Tl | Thallium | 0.0001 |
2. Nanomaterials
Substances in the form of nanoparticles shall require a specific evaluation of their properties, the intended use and the extent of exposure in case of release into food.
3. Declaration of conformity
Products shall be accompanied by a declaration of conformity, containing the information listed in Chapter 2 of the Annex to the Decree [Note: Declaration for unfinished materials shall provide information in points (a), (b), (c) and (e) at least]:
If there is no change in the raw materials, processing methods, manufacturing process, etc., a declaration of conformity remains valid for a period of 5 years maximum.
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