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DE 
From Markus van Appeldorn
You have to let the name of some EU regulations melt in your mouth - like this one, for example: Food Contact Materials and Articles Regulation. If you, dear reader, are now wondering what "food contact materials and articles" could be - well, the answer is quite simple: absolutely everything that is intended to come into contact with food in the kitchen and household. Pots, cups, plates, cutlery, whisks and salt shakers - simply everything. And an amendment to this regulation is likely to drive everyone between Löbau and Zittau - and throughout Germany - into bureaucratic madnesswho deal in such utensils - for example Anke Kothe, owner of a household goods store on Hauptstraße in Neugersdorf.
This regulation, which has been in force for 20 years, is basically a sensible thing. Put simply, it stipulates that no items may be placed on the market that could stain food, affect its taste or even release harmful substances into it. The only problem is that manufacturers or importers were previously responsible for ensuring this. With effect from July 1, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food has extended this regulation. This means that anyone who "places such articles on the market" - in other words, trades in them - must report this to the competent veterinary office. And with what kind of such objects.
More and more bureaucracy
"I haven't heard anything about it yet and I think our purchasing association will inform us," says Anke Kothe. The amendment to the regulation also gives existing stores like hers until the end of October. Nevertheless: "It's all just nonsense," she says. She sells thousands of different utensils in her store. The legal obligation to notify does not apply to every single item, but to a total of 17 material groups: such as metals, glass, wood, cardboard/paper, ceramics, textiles, silicones and other plastics. If a business has several branches, this notification obligation applies to each one separately and also to online trading. Exceptions? None! Penalty for non-disclosure: up to 50,000 euros. And what may sound even more threatening for many retailers: a competitor or warning association that discovers an infringement can issue a warning letter for a fee.
Now, this individual regulation may not be a huge deal - but there is always one new regulation after another. And each of these new regulations costs Anke Kothe and other retailers at least time - time that they cannot devote to their customers or that they have to spend additionally after closing time. Time that doesn't earn her any business. And some regulations are also associated with additional costs. Kothe is thinking of the Packaging Act, for example. "I have to pay an annual fee to the Green Dot for the bags in which I pack my customers' goods, because this packaging will eventually be disposed of," she says. She may be able to recoup these costs from the customer - for example through a bag price. But that doesn't make any customers happy, who may have previously seen it as a service.
Anke Kothe has given up hope that there could be less bureaucracy at some point. "There is so much that we no longer understand. Reducing bureaucracy means, for example: I no longer have to keep invoices for ten years, but only for nine," she says - and the laughter sticks in her throat.
"Bureaucracy without added value"
Zittau entrepreneur Thomas Krusekopf (also a CDU candidate for the state parliament) can only shake his head at this new regulation. He also trades to a small extent in "food supplies" on an internet platform. "This regulation is a classic example of bureaucrats not thinking from the end, from the impact, and not talking to those affected," he says. The amendment to the regulation is "bureaucracy without added value", which would only keep those affected from working.
"Anything that prevents added value and requires unproductive effort is superfluous," he says and sees no point in this regulation: "Why does the district office need information that I sell cups and plates?" he asks.
This is exactly what the SZ wanted to know from the Federal Ministry. It stated: "For effective monitoring of food contact materials and articles and compliance with EU legal requirements, it is essential that the competent authorities gain knowledge of the companies concerned." Food business operators have been subject to a registration obligation for many years, but "food contact materials and articles companies" have not been until now. However, EU law now stipulates that competent authorities should "draw up and keep up to date a list of operators within the scope of the Regulation", it continues. The member states are responsible for this. "This has been done with the relevant amendment to the Consumer Goods Regulation", the ministry said.
As the federal states are responsible for the monitoring of food contact materials and articles in Germany, these notifications must be made to the local authorities so that they have the relevant information on the establishments to be monitored. It is not a publicly accessible register, but a "working tool" for monitoring food contact materials and articles. Thomas Krusekopf is adamant: "A register that nobody needs."
