Cartons, wrap, cups, baking paper and food-packaging board are food-contact materials. If you make or convert them, or import or sell them, you must meet the food-contact rules in every nation where you place them on the market. The core rules are the same across Great Britain, but each nation has its own 2012 Regulations, its own enforcers and its own penalty scale, and Northern Ireland follows European Union law, not Great Britain law.
This guide covers Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For England, see the Packaging compliance guide and the Place paper products on the market guide, which cover the England Regulations.
Which regime applies to you
- You sell in Scotland: the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Scotland) Regulations 2012. Councils enforce, with Food Standards Scotland (FSS) able to enforce as well.
- You sell in Wales: the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Wales) Regulations 2012. Councils and port health authorities enforce, with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) able to enforce as well.
- You sell in Northern Ireland: the Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012, enforcing the EU rules that apply under the Windsor Framework. District councils enforce, with the FSA able to enforce as well.
- You sell in more than one nation: meet each nation's rules for the products you place on its market. Anything you send to Northern Ireland is subject to the EU rules, including the EU bisphenol ban, even if you make it in Great Britain.
What all three regimes require of a paper or board product
Paper and board have no specific measure of their own in the 2012 Regulations, so the general framework rules apply in all three nations:
- Safety: the material must not transfer constituents to food in quantities that endanger health, change the food unacceptably or spoil its taste, smell or appearance (Article 3(1) of Regulation 1935/2004).
- Marking: "for food contact" or the glass-and-fork symbol (unless the item is obviously for food), your name and address, and marking that allows traceability (Article 15).
- Traceability: systems that identify who you buy from and who you supply (Article 17(2)).
- Good manufacturing practice: a quality control system and documents that you can hand to the authority on request (Articles 4, 6 and 7 of Regulation 2023/2006), including controls that stop printing ink transferring from the printed side to the food side by set-off.
Coatings, laminates and inks add more: a plastic layer must meet the plastics regulation and carry a declaration of compliance, and epoxy and bisphenol A coatings have their own limits.
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
The three regimes side by side
Food-contact materials rules by nation
How the three devolved regimes differ for a paper or board product.
| Point of comparison | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulations | Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Scotland) Regulations 2012 | Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Wales) Regulations 2012 | Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012 |
| Which rules sit underneath | Great Britain assimilated EU law | Great Britain assimilated EU law | EU law, applying under the Windsor Framework |
| Day-to-day enforcer | Each council (food authority) | Each council (food authority) and each port health authority | Each district council |
| Central body that can also enforce | Food Standards Scotland | Food Standards Agency | Food Standards Agency |
| Serious offences, on indictment | Fine, or up to 2 years in prison, or both | Fine, or up to 2 years in prison, or both | Fine, or up to 2 years in prison, or both |
| Serious offences, summary conviction | Fine up to the statutory maximum | A fine (no maximum set in the Regulations) | Fine up to level 5 on the standard scale |
| Obstructing an officer or refusing information | Fine up to level 5 | Fine up to level 4 | Fine up to level 5 |
| Time limit for prosecution | 3 years from the offence or 1 year from discovery, whichever is earlier | 3 years from the offence or 1 year from discovery, whichever is earlier | 3 years from the offence or 1 year from discovery, whichever is earlier |
| New substances for plastics and similar materials | Great Britain lists; apply through the regulated products portal, no fee; Scottish Ministers decide | Great Britain lists; apply through the FSA regulated products portal, no fee | EU authorisation applies |
| Recycled plastics | Great Britain rules | Great Britain rules | EU Regulation 2022/1616 applies; the FSA is the competent authority |
| EU ban on bisphenol A | Does not apply; Great Britain legislation not yet introduced | Does not apply; Great Britain legislation not yet introduced | Applies, since 20 July 2026 for most single-use and general repeat-use materials, 20 January 2028 for certain specified products |
Steps to get compliant
- List what you place on the market and where. For each product, note the nation it is sold in and whether it is plain paper or board, or has a plastic layer, coating, lacquer or ink.
- Check each coating, laminate and ink against its own rules. A plastic layer needs a declaration of compliance and supporting documents. Epoxy coatings and bisphenol A limits apply to lacquers and varnishes. In Northern Ireland, check any bisphenol in your coatings against the EU ban.
- Mark every product or pack. Add "for food contact" or the glass-and-fork symbol, your name and address, and a batch or reference that lets the product be traced.
- Set up traceability. Record who supplies you with board, resins, inks and adhesives and who you supply, so that you can give the council the information on request.
- Write your good manufacturing practice documents. Keep specifications, manufacturing formulae, process records and quality control results. Include the controls that stop ink set-off.
- Prepare a statement of compliance. It is not required by law for plain paper and board, but food businesses are told to ask for one. Where a plastic layer, ceramics or regenerated cellulose film is involved, the written declaration is required.
- Keep records where an officer can ask for them. Council and port health officers can check your documents and take samples. Keep the evidence of the checks you made, because that is what supports a due diligence defence.
If an officer contacts you
Ask which Regulation and which Article they are relying on. Give them the documents they request, because obstructing an officer or failing to give information is an offence in all three nations. If they take a sample for analysis you are given one part of it. If you are prosecuted, you can rely on having taken all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence. If you blame your supplier, you must give written notice naming them at least seven clear days before the hearing.
Legal basis
Primary legislation and key regulations
Official guidance
Food Standards Scotland — Food contact materials (opens in a new tab)
Food Standards Scotland — Food contact materials authorisation guidance (opens in a new tab)
Food Standards Scotland — BPA in food contact materials, current position in GB (opens in a new tab)
Food Standards Agency — Food contact materials regulations (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) (opens in a new tab)
Food Standards Agency — Food contact materials authorisation guidance (opens in a new tab)
Food Standards Agency — BPA in food contact materials, EU rules and UK implications (opens in a new tab)
Business Companion — Food contact materials (Scotland) (opens in a new tab)
Business Companion — Food contact materials (England and Wales) (opens in a new tab)