Zagreb - The ruling majority and the opposition on Friday welcomed changes to the Law on Materials and Objects that Come in Direct Contact with Food, which improves public health protection standards, and warned of the presence of microplastics in the soil, air and water, as well as the counterfeiting of packaging.
Ministry of Health State Secretary Marija Bubaš said that the amendments defined in greater detail the obligations of entities that perform plastic recycling activities regarding the entry of the procedure in the EU Register in order to align it with EU law.
The amended law regulates in greater detail obligations and rights of legal and physical persons involved in production, import of materials and distribution of objects that come into contact with food.
Also, the law prescribes in more detail the performance of controls by sanitary inspectors and their rights and duties during inspections, and determines the competent bodies in order to improve procedures related to administrative and misdemeanor measures.
During the discussion, lawmakers welcomed the bill, warning that today plastic is ubiquitous and it takes 400 years to decompose in the environment. They also warned that for the sake of profit, producers often deceive customers with false information on food declarations, and thus more and more people are being deceived about meat, honey, oil, milk and cheese.