Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority Issues Information Notice to Trade
Chinese National Standards for Food Contact Materials
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) recently issued an Information Notice to exporters in relation to technical requirements for Irish companies trading with China in an evolving third country regulatory environment.
China has updated several key mandatory national standards for food contact materials under the GB 4806 series - GB 4806 is the name/number given by the Chinese authorities to this series of Chinese national standards for food contact materials.
These revised standards have already entered into force, and compliance is now mandatory. All food contact materials and articles placed on the Chinese market must now comply with these updated requirements.
The GB 4806 updates introduce revisions and technical changes, replacing multiple standards from the earlier GB 4806-2016 series. Alongside these revisions, several entirely new standards have been introduced to address emerging categories of materials, including adhesives, inks, and composite products used in food contact applications.
The SFPA would encourage all Irish exporters to China to liaise with their importers in China to ensure their current compliance against the updated GB 4806 series
Queries regarding this Information Notice may be addressed to: SFPATradeandAudit@sfpa.ie
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Further Information
About the SFPA
The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) is the independent statutory body responsible for the regulation of the sea-fisheries and the sea-food production sectors. It promotes compliance with the EU Common Fisheries Policy, sea-fisheries law and food safety law relating to fish and fish products, verifies compliance and, where necessary, enforces it. Its mandate covers all fishing vessels operating within Ireland’s 200-mile limit, over 2,000 Irish registered fishing vessels wherever they operate, and all seafood produced in Ireland’s seafood processing companies. The SFPA operates through a network of regional port offices situated at Ireland’s main fishery harbours. For further information visit: www.sfpa.ie