Pesticides; Food Packaging Treated with a Pesticide
This rule excepts from the definitions of "pesticide chemical" and "pesticide chemical residue" under FFDCA section 201(q), food packaging (e.g. paper and paperboard, coatings, adhesives, and polymers) that is treated with a pesticide as defined in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) section 2(u). As a result, such ingredients in food packaging treated with a pesticide are exempt from regulation under FFDCA section 408 as pesticide chemical residues. Further, a food that bears or contains such ingredients are not subject to enforcement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under section 402(a)(2) (B) of the FFDCA since the ingredients are not pesticide chemical residues. Instead, such ingredients are subject to regulation by the FDA as food additives under FFDCA section 409. FDA generally regulates such food additives in food packaging as food contact substances under FFDCA, section 409(h). This rule expands the scope of the provision in 40 CFR 180.4 which currently applies only to food packaging impregnated with an insect repellent - one type of pesticide. This rule, as with the rule it amends, only applies to the food packaging materials themselves; it does not otherwise limit EPA's FFDCA jurisdiction over pesticides or limit FDA's jurisdiction over substances subject to FDA regulation as food additives. EPA, in consultation with FDA, believes this rule will eliminate the duplicative FFDCA jurisdiction and economize Federal government resources while continuing to protect human health and the environment. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA still regulates the food packaging as an inert ingredient of the pesticide product and still regulates the pesticide active ingredient in the treated food packaging under both FIFRA and the FFDCA.