Industry Guidelines

In this guidance document, FEICA aims to provide clarification on how to risk assess mineral oil hydrocarbons in adhesives and, in case testing is needed, how to perform the test and evaluate the results. A decision tree is also included to allow customers to evaluate an adhesive for its intended application.

This guidance aims to support adhesives producers and their downstream users in making sure that the adhesive in its intended application complies with article 3 of the Framework Regulation 1935/2004.

This guidance paper forms part of a package on migration testing of non-plastic food contact materials developed by several sector associations from the packaging supply chain.

This document outlines the specific guidelines for conformity testing of adhesives as components of food contact materials.

FEICA Use Descriptors under REACH for Adhesives and Sealants (version 3), PDF format.

FEICA Use Descriptors under REACH for Adhesives and Sealants (version 3), Excel format.

The SCEDs concept was initiated in 2012 and the activity has since been integrated into the “Chemical Safety Report/Exposure Scenario 2018 Roadmap” – action 2.5, to assist registrants with the next REACH registration deadline.

In this context the SCEDs facilitate the harmonisation and communication of the conditions of safe use of consumer products along the supply chain. Consequently, they document typical conditions of use expressed in a format that can be fed into the commonly applied exposure assessment tools.

SCEDs are intended to represent realistic assumptions for consumer exposure assessments, provided in the form of ‘factsheets’.

This document contains the four FEICA SCED-factsheets developed so far, that cover the following adhesive and sealant products: universal glues, glues for DIY-use, spray glues, and joint sealants.

Given that SCEDs are meant to cover direct uses of consumer products/articles, an additional SCED to cover glues actively marketed for use by children is under development. Furthermore, a background document, aiming to justify our values, is also under development and will be published on the website as supporting paper.

Guideline for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) of food packaging adhesives in Reference to Regulation (EU) No 2023/2006

This guidance aims to help the adhesives industry, customers and other stakeholders to understand how the Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006 “on good manufacturing practice for materials and articles intended to come into contact with food” (GMP Regulation) can be implemented by the adhesive industry.

This guideline covers general and detailed rules on good manufacturing practice. Originally, the intention of this Regulation was to cover especially those materials which are not yet regulated through EU regulations, e.g. printing inks, paper and adhesives.  However, in reality the Regulation forces all actors in the food contact materials supply chain to make sure that the material or article of concern is processed, controlled and evaluated in such a way, that it is suitable for the intended purpose of food contact. The GMP Regulation can be considered as an implementation regulation to the requirements of Article 3 of the Framework Regulation (No 1935/2004).