French companies can now produce BPA-based products for export after the French Constitutional Council ruled the law was unconstitutional. The ruling by the country’s highest constitutional authority stated that the French law of December 24, 2012, which suspends the use of BPA, “unjustifiably restricts trade”.

At the same time, it upheld an existing restriction within France on BPA-based material used in contact with food, ruling that the remainder of the law was not unconstitutional. However, the authority conceded it did not have the competence to assess the law’s scientific merits.

Because of the split ruling, and the fact that the council did not assess the compatibility of the French law with existing EU regulations, trade organization PlasticsEurope will continue legal proceedings both with the French Council of State and at European level. It filed a case with the French authority in June this year, and argues that the law should be removed in its entirety.

“Given that the French court has repealed the ban on exports from France, and yet maintained the ban within France, necessitates immediate action at European level to resolve this very arbitrary situation,” said Jasmin Bird from PlasticsEurope’s PC/BPA-group. “The fact remains that leading independent scientific authorities worldwide such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have concluded that BPA-based food contact materials pose no risk to consumers.”