Communiqué on Materials and Articles that are in Contact With the Foodstuffs and Contain Vinyl Chloride Monomer

Authorization Law: Turkish Food Codex

The Official Gazette: 06.02.2002-24663

Communication No : 2002/5

Objective

Article 1- The objective of this Communiqué; is to determine the presence of vinyl chloride monomers and possible migration from materials and articles that are in contact with the foodstuffs which are prepared from vinyl chloride polymers or copolymers.

Scope

Article 2- This Communiqué covers the materials and articles that are in contact with the foods and prepared from vinyl chloride polymers or copolymers.

Legal basis

Article 3- This Communiqué has been prepared in accordance with the “Turkish Food Codex Regulation” published in Official Gazette dated 16/11/1997, reiterated No. 23172.

Basic Rules

Article 4- The rules related with the materials and articles covered in this Communiqué are as follows:

- Amount of vinyl chloride monomer contained in materials and articles should not exceed 1 mg/kg in the final product.

- Any vinyl chloride that can be determined by methods proper to the criteria given in ANNEX, should not pass to the foodstuffs from materials and articles in contact with the foods.

Sampling and Methods of Analysis

Article 5- The rules in chapter “Sampling and Analysis Methods” of Turkish Food Codex Regulation should be obeyed during sampling from the production line and storage room of the materials and articles covered in this chapter. Samples should be analyzed according to the internationally adopted methods.

Compliance with European Union

Article 6- This Communiqué has been prepared within the framework of compliance with European Union having regard to the Commission Directive No.78/142/EEC for “Materials and articles which contain vinyl chloride monomer and are intended to come into contact with foodstuffs”.

Registration and Inspection

Article 7- The establishments which manufacture and sell the materials and articles covered in this Communiqué are obliged to obey the provisions of this Communiqué during registration and authorization, importation, control and inspection. The establishments that do not obey these provisions are subject to legal procedure according to the Decree Law No 560, dated 24/6/1995, on Production, Consumption and Inspection of Foodstuffs.

Inspection

Article 8- The implementation of the provisions of this Communiqué are inspected by the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, according to the provisions of the Decree Law No: 560.

Provisional Article-1 Presently active establishments, manufacturing the materials and articles covered in this Communiqué, are obliged to obey the provisions of this Communiqué within 1 year after the publication of this Communiqué. The production facilities that do not make the necessary arrangements during this period are not allowed to operate. At the end of above-mentioned periods, legal procedure is applied, according to the provisions of the Decree Law No. 560, to these manufacturing facilities and the establishments selling the products that do not comply with the provisions of this Communiqué.

Enforcement

Article 9- This Communiqué enters into force on the date of publication.

Execution

Article 10- The provisions of this Communiqué are executed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Minister of Health.

ANNEX

Criteria Applied to the Method of Determining Vinyl Chloride Levels in Materials and Articles and Vinyl Chloride Passing From The Materials and Articles

1) Determining vinyl chloride levels in materials and articles and vinyl chloride levels passing from the materials and articles is performed by “headspace” method using gas chromatography.

2) For the determination of the vinyl chloride passing into the foodstuff from the materials and articles, the determining limit should be 0.01 mg/kg.

3) In principle, the vinyl chloride passing into the food material from the materials and articles are determined in the foodstuff. In cases where it is impossible to determine in some foodstuffs by technical reasons, determining with similar foods is allowed for these foodstuffs.