PlasticsEurope said the motion passed by the lower house of the French Parliament last week was “neither proportionate nor based on science”. It warned the move would trigger needless consumer fears and investment uncertainty in the plastics and food packaging sectors.
The body was responding to the resolution by the Senate in France that urged for a halt in the commercial use of BPA in baby bottles. In a proposal passed on 24 March, Senators said that the production, importation, export and placing on the market of the chemical for use in baby bottles be suspended until the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) had delivered its verdict on the substance. The Senators also called for an evaluation by January 2011 of the avenues of human exposure to the chemical in the wake of the publication of the food safety watchdog’s findings.
The conclusion from the French Senate will now be sent to the National Assembly, the country’s upper Parliamentary house, for consideration. BPA is a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate bottles and in epoxy resin food can linings.
Damage to industry and consumer confidence
In February, AFSSA questioned the validity of studies linking bisphenol A (BPA) to human health problems but said the research did flag up “warning signs” that warranted extra analysis. It said that it would be working with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and international health agencies to determine “the significance for human health of these warning signs, as well as to inform consumers and to enable public authorities to take appropriate action”.
PlasticsEurope said that while the Senate proposal had no “legal implications for the current commercialisation of BPA-based polycarbonate baby bottles in France”, it cautioned that it could still be damaging both to consumer and commercial confidence.
The association’s Polycarbonate/Bisphenol A (PC/BPA) said it was “deeply concerned that the proposal by the French Senate will unnecessarily spread anxiety among consumers and, at the same time, create needless business and investment uncertainty”.
It said the Senate request had been made “in contradiction to the existing French, European and global regulatory assessments of BPA” and was “not based on scientific evidence, and furthermore ignores both the questions about the safety of available substitutes as well as the ongoing BPA evaluation and assessment activities of the responsible French, European and global safety agencies”.
"An approach grounded in science rather than politics is the only one that can provide consumers with the reassurance that the products they buy are safe," added group spokeswoman Jasmin Bird.