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Five East African countries release draft standards for food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials

Time：

2025-10-28

Five East African countries have released a draft of the "Specification for Food Contact Paper and Paperboard Packaging Materials", aimed at specifying the requirements, sampling, and testing methods for food contact paper and paperboard packaging materials.

On October 1, 2025, the five East African countries (Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya) issued the draft Specification for Paper and Cardboard Packaging Materials in Contact with Food (CDEAS 930: 2025) through the WTO notification. The review period will end on November 30, 2025. This standard aims to specify the requirements, sampling, and testing methods for food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials.

Draft content

（1） Definition

Food contact packaging materials refer to various paper and cardboard materials and their products expected to come into contact with food, including wax paper, pulp molded products, and food processing and cooking paper.

（2） General requirements

1. Food contact packaging materials: should be made from virgin pulp, mixed pulp, or recycled pulp; Machine polishing; And it is harmless to human health.

If the material is supplied after heat sealing and printing, there should be no color bleeding during printing. The printing surface of paper should not come into contact with food.

3. Food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials should be packaged in sheet or roll form.

（3） Specific requirements

1. Inherent odor of packaging materials: When tested according to ISO 13302, food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials should have no odor.

2. Quantitative determination of paper and cardboard: When tested according to ISO 536, the quantitative determination of paper or cardboard should be within a tolerance range of ± 5% of the nominal value.

3. Size: The size of the sheet (length and width) should be within the tolerance range of ± 0.5% or 3mm specified in the marking (whichever is smaller); For paper and cardboard supplied in rolls, the width and diameter of the rolls should comply with the declaration, and when tested according to Appendix A, the diameter should be within a tolerance range of ± 6 mm.

4. Microbial requirements: Under the testing method of ISO 8784-1, the maximum total bacterial count is 300 cfu/g.

（4） Limit values for heavy metals and organic pollutants

When food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials are tested according to the testing methods specified in the table below, they should comply with the heavy metal and organic pollutant limits specified in the table.

Sserial Number	Pollutant	Limit (mg/kg)	Test Method
1	Cadmium (Cd)	2	EAS 880
2	Chromium (Cr)	2	EAS 933
3	Lead (Pb)	3	ISO 13914
4	Mercury (Hg)	2	EAS 880
5	Pentachlorophenol (PCP)	0.15	EAS 880
6	Polychlorinated biphenyls	2	EAS 933
7	formaldehyde	<10	EAS 933
8	Dioxins/Furans	<1×10^-6	ISO 13914

（5） Packaging

Food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials should be packaged with appropriate materials to prevent contamination and damage during handling, storage, and transportation.

（6） Tags

1. Food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials should be clearly and persistently labeled with batch numbers or codes, as well as trademarks or manufacturer names.

2. The large packaging of food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials should clearly and persistently indicate the following specific label requirements: manufacturer or supplier name or trademark, or both; Text description: "Made from virgin pulp, mixed pulp, or recycled pulp"; Production year and month; Quantitative measurement of paper or cardboard; The size of paper or cardboard sheets or rolls (in millimeters); Country of origin or country of manufacture.

Compliance recommendations

Relevant export enterprises should pay timely attention to the notification information of the East African Community on food contact paper and cardboard packaging materials, carefully study the general requirements, specific requirements, and limits for heavy metals and organic pollutants in the draft, actively communicate with importers, and ensure that exported products comply with the latest standards and regulations to avoid unnecessary trade disputes.

Jiayu Testing, as a professional third-party testing and certification service organization, has qualifications such as CMA, CNAS, CPSC, and has obtained laboratory accreditation from multiple authoritative certification agencies at home and abroad. It has a professional testing technology team, equipped with advanced instruments and equipment, proficient in various regulatory standards, and specializes in providing FCM food contact material testing services for various food contact materials (such as plastics, coatings, metals, silicone, glass ceramic enamel, bamboo, paper, and cardboard) in the United States, China, the European Union and its member states (France, Italy, Germany, etc.), Japan, South Korea and other countries to ensure that your products meet the regulatory requirements of various countries. Welcome to contact us at 400-9269-886!