Anna Soubry MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London SW1A 2NS
25th January 2013
Dear Anna,
Re: Baby bottles procured for use in hospitals
As you are no doubt aware, the French legislature voted last month (13th December 2012) in favour of the suspension of the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in packaging intended to come into contact with food.
This ban will take effect from January 2013 for products aimed at infants and young children (under 3) and from January 2015 for other products.
The aim is to protect citizens, particularly those at highest risk (e.g pregnant women and unborn children), from the harmful effects of the endocrine disrupting chemical, BPA.
The French legislation extends the law introduced in 2010, which suspended the marketing of baby bottles containing BPA.
Moreover, it amends France’s ‘Public Health Code’, as French legislators found that baby bottles procured for use in hospitals were covered by the health code but not covered by the legislation banning BPA.
So it seems that despite the ban on BPA in baby bottles introduced across the EU in 2011, some baby bottles used in clinical environments in France could still contain BPA.
There is some concern that such an anomaly could also exist under UK legislation.
I would therefore be grateful if you could tell me whether it is possible for baby bottles that are procured for hospitals and other medical institutions (NHS or otherwise) as “medical devices”, to fall under medical devices legislation and therefore somehow be excluded from the UK and EU legislation which implements European Commission Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 and which bans the use of BPA in baby bottles?
In order to clarify that no such loophole can exist in UK law, please would you confirm that baby bottles used in hospitals or other clinical environments, procured as medical devices (including those used with breast pumps), are covered under The Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion
Read the ministerial response here
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