Foodstuffs, substances, mixtures

Order specifying the details relating to the content and the conditions for presenting the information provided for in I and II of Article L. 5232-5 of the Public Health Code

Article 13-II of Law No 2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on combating waste and on the circular economy, known as “AGEC”, provides that any person placing products on the market for consumers containing substances for which the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) classifies the endocrine disrupting properties as verified or suspected must “provide information to the public by electronic means, in an open, easily reusable and exploitable format by an automated processing system, for each of the products concerned, to identify the presence of such substances in those products”. This obligation also applies to certain categories of products with a particular risk of exposure, for substances which endocrine disrupting properties are suspected by ANSES.

The detailed rules for implementing that legislative provision were laid down in Articles R. 5232-19 to R. 5232-22 of the Public Health Code by Decree No 2021-1110 of 23 August 2021 on the provision of information identifying endocrine disruptors in a product (Decree No 2021-1110 of 23 August 2021 on the provision of information identifying endocrine disruptors in a product was the subject of a previous notification 2020/832/F).
The draft Decree which is the subject of this notification shall be made pursuant to that decree.
Article R. 5232-20 of the Public Health Code provides for the publication of three orders, which the French authorities wish to publish simultaneously:
• An order laying down the list of substances with endocrine disrupting properties referred to in I and II of Article L. 5232-5 of the Public Health Code and the categories of products presenting a particular risk of exposure referred to in Article L. 5232-5 of the Public Health Code: an order which was the subject of a previous notification (reference 2021/0680);
• A joint order of the ministers responsible for health and for the environment specifying the details relating to the content and the conditions for presenting the information provided for in I and II of Article L. 5232-5 of the Public Health Code: the subject of this notification
• A joint order of the ministers responsible for health and for the environment to designate the application which can be used as an alternative to the provision of information on the presence of substances of endocrine disrupting properties in a product on a dedicated web page: an order subject to notification at the same time as this notification
This notification concerns the joint order of the ministers responsible for health and for the environment specifying the details concerning the content and the conditions for presenting the information provided for in I and II of Article L. 5232-5 of the Public Health Code.
For certain substances, due to their nutrient character (vitamins, minerals) and their health benefits up to a certain dose (higher safety limits), such as cholecalciferol (vitamin D3), the information on the presence of substances with endocrine disrupting properties will be adapted to indicate that these substances present health benefits according to the precautions for use and dosage specified on the package leaflet or labelling of the product and that in case of doubt the advice of a health professional should be sought. This specific information statement is based in particular on the scientific and technical support note from the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety of 29 September 2022 on the application to cholecalciferol
(vitamin D3) of the provisions relating to substances with endocrine disrupting properties under Law No 2020-105 of 10 February 2020, known as the “AGEC Law”.
The substances concerned by this specific information are mentioned in the tables Aa and Ba annexed to the Order laying down the list of substances with endocrine disrupting properties referred to in I and II of Article L. 5232-5 of the Public Health Code, mentioned in Article R. 5232-19 of the same Code: this Order was the subject of a previous notification (reference 2021/0680). The drafting of this Order, which has not yet been published to date, has been revised following comments from the Commission and the Member States and Hungary’s detailed opinion. It is attached for information purposes to this notification.