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Annual ReportEuPIA, the European Printing Ink Association, working under the umbrella of CEPE, represents and protects the common interest of the European printing ink business and promotes the image of the industry in the public. EuPIA provides a forum for discussion and decision-making regarding issues of specific interest to the printing ink industry. EuPIA members also participate in CEPE working groups dealing with issues of general interest to the wider CEPE membership.

decreasing path, were still showing a negative growth rate in the fourth quarter. The key driver for publication, advertising expenditure in newspa-pers and magazines, was expected to go down by 16% in 2009 according to Zenith Optimedia. The first quarter of 2010 consolidated the turnaround initiated by mid 2009, with liquid inks growing at 9% in the period and publication inks presenting the first positive growth rate since Q4 2007 (+3%). However, total volumes were still down by 6% and values by 7% on an annualized basis. The road ahead appears unclear yet. The speed and sustainability of the reco-very in the economy will vary across countries. The EU Commission expects that the EU will end 2010 posting a growth of 1%, which will accelerate

to 1.7% in 2011. Russia and Turkey are expected to grow more than 4% in 2011. According to Zenith Optimedia, advertising expenditure will decrease by 3% in 2010, delaying the retrieval until 2011. On the positive side, ex-ternal demand, which represents 7% of the total ink sales generated from Europe, is expected to remain solid, mainly driven by growth in emerging markets. All in all, the ink industry still has to face significant challenges in order to sustain the recovery and ensure a re-turn to a balanced growth path.

7th EuPIA Annual Conference: New record participation

The 7th EuPIA Annual Conference took place on 11th and 12th March, this time

Economic situation

The ink consumption in Europe ended 2009 presenting a reduction of 10% in weight and 12% in value. This perfor-mance, however, was uneven among publication and packaging inks. While liquid inks showed a decrease of 5% in the year, publication inks (news inks, heatset and publication gravure) went down by 13% - both in weight. Packaging inks, which are closely cor-related to the evolution of the eco-nomy, were heavily impacted by the recession in the first two quarters of the year, started to turnaround in the third quarter and presented a positive and healthy growth rate in the fourth quarter, mirroring the evolution of the European economy. Publication inks, on the other hand, even though at a

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in the historic Belgian city of Ghent. EuPIA’s conferences are targeted at decision-makers within its member companies and associations. 72 such figures took up EuPIA’s invitation to Ghent. This number represents a re-cord participation, proof that EuPIA is choosing the right themes for its con-ferences.The conference would not have been complete without a detailed analysis of the economic state of the printing ink industry. Taking centre stage, how-ever, were the sector’s themes for the future: “Sustainable Development” and “Working together in the food pa-ckaging supply chain”. Both topics are of growing significance in the strate-gic plans of member companies.The meaning of Sustainable Deve-lopment from the viewpoints of the chemical, paper and food industries was illustrated by companies from each sector. These insights were sub-sequently explored in more depth in a highly stimulating panel discussion.Close co-operation between all com-panies in the supply chain is essential to ensure that food packaging meets all of the requirements of food legis-lation. This hot topic was addressed in the second part of the conference: representatives of the food indus-try, packaging manufacturers and the printing ink industry presented the measures being taken – at either company or association level - in their

spheres of responsibility. They also however gave clear signals on how they perceive the exchange of relevant information along the supply chain. This series of presentations concluded with a contribution from the EU Com-mission representative responsible for food contact materials, who reminded the conference of the applicable legal framework and discussed options for possible future regulation.The clear message from the ensuing panel discussion was that good pro-gress has already been made on co-operation, but the ultimate goal has not yet been achieved and further efforts are needed.Participants rated the conference a high-calibre event which will live long in their memories.

Announcement of the 8th EuPIA Annual Conference

The next Annual Conference will be held on 31st March/1st April 2011 in Vienna (Austria).

New EuPIA Chairman: Dirk Aulbert

During the Annual Conference chan-ges in the EuPIA management were announced: Dirk Aulbert (Flint) was appointed EuPIA’s new Chairman. He succeeds Herbert Forker (Siegwerk), who had been head of EuPIA for the

last two years. Thomas Hensel (Huber-group) is EuPIA’s new Vice-Chairman.

Printing Inks and Varnishes for Food Packaging

Food Packaging must be manufactu-red such that it does not transfer its constituents to the packed foodstuffs in quantities which could endanger human health, cause an unacceptable change in the composition of the food, or inadvertently affect foodstuffs in terms of odour and taste. These gene-ral requirements are laid down in the European Framework Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 on materials and artic-les coming into contact with food.At present, on European level detailed legal provisions exist for packaging material made from plastics; as yet there is no specific legislation for other packaging materials, such as for example paper and board.The GMP Regulation (EC) No. 2023/2006 lays down rules on good manufacturing practice for materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. It specifies that quality assurance and control sys-tems are to be established and im-plemented. As with non-plastic packaging mate-rial, there is not yet any specific EU legislation concerning printing inks and varnishes for food packaging. In the current situation, the rele-

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vant trade associations are required to provide assistance to their mem-ber companies to enable them to contribute their respective share to the legal compliance of the final pa-ckaging.EuPIA issued two core guidance do-cuments for its member companies:

ß EuPIA Guideline on Printing Inks applied to the non-food contact surface of food packaging ma-terials and articles:

EuPIA member companies are com-mitted to follow this guideline, which sets out in full the responsibilities of the ink manufacturers within the pa-ckaging chain. Food packaging inks are formulated and manufactured ta-king into account many individual and varying parameters relating to the substrate, application and end-use. They are designed to minimise the potential transfer of ink components into food, whilst meeting the end use requirements. Although the Guideline already inclu-des a scheme for the careful selection of raw materials, EuPIA had decided additionally to make publicly availab-le a list of all the raw materials used in the manufacture of food packaging inks, with the aim of implementing a

transparent tool for packaging conver-ters and brand owners. At the same time the list is intended to become a reference for competent authorities. The as yet incomplete inventory list is also accessible via www.eupia.org.

ß Good Manufacturing Practices for the Production of Packaging Inks formulated for use on the non-food-contact surfaces of food packaging and articles intended to come into contact with food:

Printing inks intended for use on food packaging are in the scope of the afo-rementioned GMP Regulation. The Eu-PIA GMP details the requirements of the GMP Regulation for the printing ink industry. The Annex to the Regulation intro-duces detailed rules, which relate to processes involving the application of printing inks to the non-food contact side of a material or article. In order to meet the requirements stipulated in the Annex, there needs to be coope-ration between the ink manufacturer and the rest of the supply chain, since the ink manufacturers do not have an independent responsibility. However, those who actually apply the ink or coating are ultimately responsible for compliance with the Annex of the Re-gulation.The documents are available on the EuPIA public website at www.eupia.org

In order to demonstrate to external audiences that they are committed to the principles of protecting food con-sumer safety within the areas under their control, EuPIA member compa-nies were offered the opportunity to sign Compliance Commitments rela-ted to the manufacture and supply of food packaging inks. In November 2009, EuPIA invited the European Commission and Member States to a workshop in order to in-form and discuss EuPIA’s concepts, and to learn about Member States’ in-tentions with regard to controlling and monitoring the safety of printed food packaging. The meeting took place in a very constructive atmosphere and certainly contributed to a mutual un-derstanding.

Swiss Ordinance on Materials and Articles: Provisions for Food Packaging Inks

Switzerland – as the first country in the world – had amended its Ordi-nance on Materials and Articles (SR 817.023.21) with provisions specific to food packaging inks. The core element of the new regulation is a list of “per-mitted substances”, identifying the only substances which may be used in the manufacture of food packaging inks marketed in Switzerland. This list, which has been established with the support of EuPIA, became applicable as from 1st April 2010. The large num-

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ber of substances, though, in addition to the deadline imposed by the entry into force of the Ordinance, did not al-low for the list to be published free of errors, which means that substances were missing from the list or were misclassified. The Swiss authorities have informed all interested parties of this problem in Information Letter No. 153 (http://www.bag.admin.ch/the-men/lebensmittel/04865/04894/in-dex.html?lang=en). The errors will be corrected in the next revision of the Ordinance.Therefore, as of midyear 2010, it is not yet possible to perform a final assess-ment of the workability of the new regulation. Additionally, the Packaging Ink Joint Industry Task Force (PIJITF), comprising trade associations from the food industry, packaging conver-ters and EuPIA, has raised fundamen-tal concerns regarding the commen-surability of some of the provisions.As this piece of legislation is quite complex and can be prone to misin-terpretation, EuPIA provides guidance documents in a dedicated section of its public website.

Recycled Paper and Board as Food Packaging

Increasingly, recycled paper and board is used as food packaging. Depending on the source of the feedstock, un-desirable substances of various points of origin may be found in the recycled

material, which bear a risk of contami-nation of the packed food. As recycled paper and board is made from printed cardboard and graphic waste paper, inevitably printing ink components will be present in the recycled mate-rial, and may come into direct contact with the packed food. If the paper and board had been printed with printing inks supplied by EuPIA members, then the raw materials for the manufacture of these inks would have been selec-ted according to the criteria of the Eu-PIA Exclusion List for Printing Inks and Related Products. However, with very few exceptions, printing inks for gra-phic, general packaging and food pa-ckaging applications are not designed to come into direct contact with food, and therefore, the raw materials used in printing inks do not generally meet food standards.Additionally, paper and board of non-European origin may enter the recyc-ling loop, the composition of which is in no way restricted with regard to the ingredient substances.Under these circumstances, EuPIA has always advised that those pla-cing recycled paper and board on the market for food packaging assess any risks associated with this use. In par-ticular appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that any transfer of substances from the packaging to the foodstuff occurs below acceptab-le levels, compliant with the require-ments of Framework Regulation (EC)

No 1935/2004. Normally, this can only be achieved by applying an effective functional barrier.Recently, mineral oils contained in recycled cardboard packaging were reported to be found in foodstuffs. As recycled paper and board contains a certain proportion of newspaper, mineral oils in newspaper inks were identified as one source of contami-nation. Documentation by the mine-ral oil suppliers demonstrates that the products used by EuPIA members are compliant with the EuPIA Exclusi-on List for Printing Inks and Related Products.By selecting the raw materials accor-ding to the criteria detailed in the Ex-clusion List, it is ensured that there is no risk for the consumer when using a graphic article such as newspapers or magazines.However, printing ink components must not be found in food by what-ever means of transfer above accep-table levels, and therefore, the rules described above apply.

EuPIA Technical Committee

EuPIA also addresses global issues and those related to non-food appli-cations through the activities of ETC (EuPIA Technical Committee) and its associated working groups. ETC has responsibility for the aforementioned EuPIA Exclusion List and publishes re-gular updates of this document.

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In the environmental arena, work has been carried out to model the carbon footprint for a number of printing ink types, and EuPIA participated in a strategic workshop of the European graphic industry value chain on car-bon footprint standardisation. Conse-quently the EuPIA information note on carbon footprint of printing inks has been updated (available on the EuPIA public website), and a brochure on en-vironmental impacts is now planned.Printing inks are widely used in the decoration/printing of toys and their packaging, and the safety of children using the toys is naturally a high pri-ority. The EuPIA Exclusion List is an important tool in meeting these re-sponsibilities. The EuPIA statement/model letter on printing inks for toys has been revised to reflect the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC and is available on the EuPIA Workplace for use by members.While REACH implementation tools are developed in horizontal CEPE working groups for the entire CEPE member-ship, it is in the remit of the EuPIA TC to address ink-specific aspects of the REACH implementation. To this end, in September 2009 EuPIA organized a workshop for all the European pro-fessional organisations representing

downstream industries, and made them familiar with the REACH imple-mentation concepts. EuPIA welcomes any initiative aimed at enhancing the recycling of reco-vered graphic paper into new graphic paper. In this respect, EuPIA supports the “European Declaration on Paper Recycling”, a voluntary cross-industry commitment to a sustainable increase in paper recycling, and continues to be an active member of the European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC). Eu-PIA has co-developed and supports a number of ERPC guidance documents, accessible via the ERPC website at www.paperrecovery.org.

Operational Safety and Risk Assessment (OSRA)

OSRA’s objectives are to support member companies of EuPIA and other sectors of CEPE, in particular SMEs, and customers/printers/appli-cators to operate at the highest pos-sible level of plant and occupational safety. OSRA prepares guidelines and information for ink and coatings ma-nufacturers and for printers or indust-rial coating applicators, which can be of four types:

ß Safety Flashes (immediate urgent information)

One was published in 2009, on risks of opening fumigated freight

containers, which is now being followed up with more extensive guidance.

ß Safety Alerts (circulated in the group, and published thereafter)

Since 2005 40 alerts have so far been issued, with more currently in preparation. Subjects vary but all share points of common lear-ning of value to the whole indus-try. Recent themes have included fire, burns, moving machinery and fork lift trucks.

ß Safety guidelines for ink/coating manufacturers (restricted for use by EuPIA/CEPE members).

Adding to existing guidance on handling of flammable liquids, nit-rocellulose raw materials and UV-EB inks, a new guideline was publis-hed on loading electrically-resistive powders into vessels containing flammable/explosive vapours. Ano-ther on fumigated containers is in preparation as mentioned above.

These documents are all available on the EuPIA extranet (members area of www.eupia.org).

ß General guidelines for customers/users (printers, coaters)

These are available on the CEPE and EuPIA public website. The gui-deline on safe use of cellulose nit-rate printing inks has recently been updated. ß