The Ministry of Health and Social Protection has published a draft resolution aimed at redefining the regulations on food-contact materials (Resolutions 683, 4142, and 4143 of 2012; 834 and 835 of 2013; and Resolution 862 of 2017) as Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement.

In its Article 1, dedicated to the scope of the regulation, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection is explicit: all of these resolutions “constitute Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)”. The text also stipulates that, from this clarification onward, any reference to the term “technical regulation” contained in those provisions shall be understood as “sanitary and phytosanitary measure.” In other words, it is an act that directs the legal interpretation of the existing regulations, without altering the material scope of the requirements already in force for these materials.

The project adopts the definition contained in Annex A of the SPS Agreement, according to which a sanitary or phytosanitary measure comprises any mandatory provision intended, among other purposes, to protect human or animal health from risks arising from additives, contaminants, toxins, or pathogenic organisms present in food, beverages, or feed, as well as to prevent the spread of pests and diseases. It also notes that SPS measures encompass a wide range of instruments: laws, decrees, regulations, production processes and methods, testing procedures, inspection, certification, quarantine, risk assessment methods, sampling, and packaging and labeling requirements when directly linked to food safety.