Commission Directive 2002/72/EC2 establishes a list of monomers and other starting substances, which may be used for the manufacture of plastic materials and articles. On the basis of new information related to the risk assessment of such substances, certain monomers provisionally admitted at national level as well as new monomers should be included in the Community list of permitted substances in that Directive.

Directive 2002/72/EC also contains an incomplete list of additives which may be used in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles. That list should be amended so as to include other additives evaluated by the European Food Safety Authority (the Authority).

For certain substances, the restrictions already established at Community level should be amended on the basis of the new information available. In particular for epoxidised soybean oil (ESBO) the Authority recommended to decrease its specific migration limit (SML) for PVC gaskets containing that substance which are used to seal glass jars containing infant formulae and follow-on formulae or containing processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children. In fact the Authority noted that the exposure of infants who regularly eat such foods may exceed the TDI. Therefore the SML for ESBO is decreased for these particular applications from 60 to 30 mg/kg of food or food simulant while it remains unchanged for all other applications.

A transitional period should be provided for in respect of PVC gaskets containing epoxidised soybean oil, used to seal glass jars, which are brought into contact with food before the 19 November 2006.

Directive 2002/72/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Directive are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,