PlasticsEurope (Brussels / Belgium; www.plasticseurope.org), the industry association representing European plastics producers, has won a remarkable victory in its fight against France’s ban on manufacturing and exporting packaging containing bisphenol A (BPA), which was passed in the final instance in December 2012 and took effect in January 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 15.10.2012, 22.11.2012 and 08.12.2014. The producers’ grouping is still unhappy with some aspects of the French legislation, however, and plans to continue its fight.

Hearing a legal challenge brought by PlasticsEurope, the French constitutional court ruled on 18 September that the export ban unjustifiably restricts trade with other EU countries. It did not rule on BPA restrictions applicable only in France as it said it did not have the scientific background to assess the possible health effects of the chemical; nor did it address the question of whether the French legislation is in conflict with the EU’s laws.

In June of this year, the plastics producers’ grouping filed a complaint with the French government regarding the country’s BPA restrictions, basing its arguments for an overturn on an opinion by the risk assessment arm of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA; www.efsa.europa.eu), which said packaging containing BPA posed no direct threat to consumers of any age group – see Plasteurope.com of 23.01.2015. Pointing out that EFSA’s conclusions diverge from those published earlier by the French health authority ANSES (Maisons-Alfont; www.anses.fr), PlasticsEurope said the French opinion did not take account of newer research based on a broader scientific database.

While pleased with the French court’s decision, PlasticsEurope plans to continue pursuing its case against laws restricting the use of BPA in France itself. “Given that the French court has repealed the ban on exports from France, and yet maintained the ban within France, necessitates immediate action at European level to resolve this very arbitrary situation,” said Jasmin Bird of the polycarbonate/BPA working group. She did not reveal whether the association plans to directly challenge the laws of other EU member states restricting BPA. However, in March 2013, PlasticsEurope asked the European Commission to initiate formal infringement proceedings against France. A decision is still out.