FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tracy Cullen
(202) 974-5282
Email: tcullen@socplas.org

SPI LEADS INDUSTRY FIGHT TO RESTORE FUNDING FOR FOOD CONTACT NOTIFICATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 3, 2006) – The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) is reconvening the Food Packaging Industry Coalition to obtain the necessary funding to continue the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Food Contact Notification (FCN) program in 2007. SPI’s Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee will lead Coalition efforts.

SPI reconvened members of the long-standing Food Packaging Industry Coalition in response to the Food and Drug Administration’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2007, which eliminated the FCN program and redirected those funds to avian flu prevention, bioterrorism and other programs deemed higher priority.

During the upcoming congressional budget appropriations process, this Coalition of allied associations, Fortune 500 corporations and small businesses will ask their representatives in Congress to restore the $6M needed to fund FDA’s Food Contact Notification Program.

“In this mid-term election year, the loss of this program would present an impediment to new job creation as well as stifle America’s ability to innovate and compete in the global marketplace,” says Susan Howe, executive director of SPI’s Food Drug and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee.

“Elimination of the FCN program will be detrimental to manufacturers seeking clearances for new food-contact materials to be introduced in the U.S. marketplace and in other countries,” Howe says.

Enacted in 2000, the FCN Program was developed cooperatively by FDA, Congress and industry. It allows efficient introduction of new packaging materials into the market, while fully protecting public health. FCNs are used to provide safety assurances to customers for the use of products in other areas, such as products used in toys, consumer products, medical devices, drug packaging, etc. The FCN Program also allows U.S. manufacturers to develop new products that better protect food and improve its shelf life. The ability to bring new materials to market in a faster time frame results in government efficiency along with a stronger economy and job creation.

FCNs become effective within 120 days of filing, unless FDA considers the submission incomplete or objects to the notification. If the program is eliminated, Howe points out that new food-contact substances and new uses of food-contact substances that do not qualify for an exemption from review will need to be cleared through the food additive petition process, which can take up to five years.

“If the industry were forced to rely solely on petitions, the delay would severely impact the innovation of new and safer food packaging materials,” explains Howe. “In addition, manufacturers and suppliers would lose the proprietary advantage of the FCN program because petitions result in regulations that may be relied on by any company.”

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Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw materials suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.3 million workers and provides nearly $345 billion in annual shipments.

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