{
  "type": "problem",
  "slug": "bamboo-melamine",
  "lang": "en",
  "url": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/bamboo-melamine/",
  "markdown": "https://www.conphora.com/solutions/problem/bamboo-melamine.md",
  "title": "We sell bamboo-melamine tableware",
  "description": "Bamboo-melamine cups and plates: why the plant filler is the issue under the plastics rules, formaldehyde and melamine limits, and China import checks.",
  "answer": "Tableware sold as bamboo is often melamine-formaldehyde plastic with plant powder in it. As a plastic it falls under Regulation (EU) No 10/2011, where only substances in the Union list may be used, and under migration limits for melamine and formaldehyde. Imports from China and Hong Kong need a declaration and laboratory report per consignment. Check what the material really is before you sell it.",
  "theme": {
    "id": "chemicals-materials",
    "label": "Chemicals and materials"
  },
  "roles": [
    {
      "id": "importer",
      "label": "Importer"
    },
    {
      "id": "online-seller",
      "label": "Online seller"
    }
  ],
  "regulations": [
    "FCM",
    "PIM"
  ],
  "path": [
    "regulation-library",
    "knowledge-articles"
  ],
  "trigger": "You source cups, plates, lunch boxes or children's tableware marketed as bamboo, natural or eco, or customs asks for a declaration on melamine kitchenware",
  "keep": null,
  "why": [
    {
      "text": "Tableware sold as bamboo is often not a wooden product. When plant powder is bound with a resin such as melamine-formaldehyde, the result is a plastic in the sense of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011: a polymer to which additives or other substances may have been added, capable of functioning as the main structural component of the article (Article 3(2)). Its food contact rules then apply to the whole article.",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The plastics regulation works with a positive list. Only the substances included in the Union list in Annex I may be used in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles (Article 5(1)), with derogations for some production aids, colorants and solvents under national law (Article 6(1) and (2)). A filler that is not on the list therefore cannot be used, however natural it is, unless one of those derogations applies. The Union list in the consolidated text of 14 July 2026 contains no entry for bamboo. The only plant-fibre entry, untreated wood flour and fibres (FCM No 96), was deleted by Regulation (EU) 2023/1442: the European Food Safety Authority could not confirm that wood is inert and found that the safety of plant materials must be assessed case by case (recital 3). Plastics made under the earlier rules and first placed on the market before 1 February 2025 may remain on the market until stocks run out (Article 2(1)). The framework regulation adds that the labelling, advertising and presentation of a food contact material must not mislead consumers (Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 Article 3(2)).",
      "sources": [
        2,
        4,
        1
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The resin itself has limits. The Union list sets a specific migration limit of 2.5 mg/kg food for 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine, melamine (FCM substance 239), and group restriction 15 limits formaldehyde and the substances in its group to 15 mg/kg food, expressed as formaldehyde. The supplier's declaration of compliance must carry the information in Annex IV, including the conditions of use for which compliance was verified (Article 15 and Annex IV), with test evidence behind it (Article 16).",
      "sources": [
        2
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "Imports from China and Hong Kong carry an extra layer. Commission Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 applies to polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware originating in or consigned from those countries (Article 1). The importer submits, for each consignment, a declaration and a laboratory report showing for melamine kitchenware that formaldehyde release does not exceed 15 mg/kg food (Article 3), and notifies the first point of introduction at least two working days before arrival (Article 4). Authorities check the documents of all consignments and test 10 % of them (Article 6), and goods are released for free circulation only on presentation of the completed declaration (Article 8). The Regulation still refers to Directive 2002/72/EC, which Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 repealed; references to that Directive are read as references to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 (its Article 21). Its EUR-Lex page shows no end of validity.",
      "sources": [
        3,
        2
      ]
    }
  ],
  "steps": [
    {
      "name": "Find out what the material is",
      "text": "Ask the supplier for the full material composition: the resin, such as melamine-formaldehyde, and every filler and additive, including bamboo powder or other plant fibres and their share. A product that looks natural can be a plastic, and the plastics rules then apply to all of it."
    },
    {
      "name": "Check every ingredient against the Union list",
      "text": "Only substances in the Union list in Annex I of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 may be used to make plastic food contact materials. Check each filler and additive by name and FCM substance number. The Union list as consolidated on 14 July 2026 has no entry for bamboo, and the entry for untreated wood flour and fibres was deleted in 2023.",
      "item": "regulation-library"
    },
    {
      "name": "Check melamine and formaldehyde migration",
      "text": "The Union list sets a specific migration limit of 2.5 mg/kg food for melamine (FCM substance 239) and a group limit of 15 mg/kg food, expressed as formaldehyde, for formaldehyde and related substances. Ask for migration tests under hot conditions, which is how such tableware is used.",
      "item": "knowledge-articles"
    },
    {
      "name": "Prepare the import documents from China and Hong Kong",
      "text": "For melamine and polyamide plastic kitchenware from China or Hong Kong, give the competent authority a declaration and a laboratory report for each consignment, and notify the first point of introduction at least two working days before arrival. Without the declaration, customs will not release the goods."
    },
    {
      "name": "Remove claims you cannot back",
      "text": "Labelling, advertising and presentation of food contact materials must not mislead consumers. Words such as natural, biodegradable or plastic-free on a melamine product need evidence before you use them."
    }
  ],
  "documents": [
    {
      "name": "Full material composition and declaration of compliance",
      "from": "The supplier",
      "ground": "Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 Articles 5(1) and 15, Annex IV"
    },
    {
      "name": "Migration test reports for melamine and formaldehyde",
      "from": "A laboratory",
      "ground": "Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 Annex I (FCM 239; group restriction 15)"
    },
    {
      "name": "Per-consignment import declaration and laboratory report",
      "from": "The importer, with a laboratory",
      "ground": "Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 Article 3"
    }
  ],
  "risks": [
    {
      "title": "No release for free circulation without the declaration",
      "text": "Release for free circulation of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong is subject to presenting the completed declaration to customs (Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 Article 8).",
      "source": 3
    },
    {
      "title": "Laboratory checks on a share of consignments",
      "text": "The authority at the first point of introduction carries out documentary checks on all consignments and identity and physical checks, including laboratory analysis, on 10 % of them; non-compliance is reported through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 Article 6).",
      "source": 3
    },
    {
      "title": "Unlisted substances may not be used",
      "text": "Only the substances included in the Union list set out in Annex I may be used in the manufacture of plastic materials and articles (Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 Article 5(1)).",
      "source": 2
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Is bamboo tableware a plastic?",
      "a": "If it is made with a resin such as melamine-formaldehyde, it is. A plastic is a polymer to which additives or other substances may have been added, capable of functioning as the main structural component (Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 Article 3(2))."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the import declaration have to show?",
      "a": "For melamine kitchenware, a laboratory report showing that the items do not release formaldehyde into food or food simulants above 15 mg/kg food, together with the declaration in the model annexed to the Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 Article 3(1) to (3))."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does this apply to products from other countries?",
      "a": "The per-consignment import conditions apply to polyamide and melamine kitchenware originating in or consigned from China and Hong Kong (Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 Article 1). The plastics rules of Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 apply whatever the origin."
    },
    {
      "q": "Can we call the product natural or eco-friendly?",
      "a": "Labelling, advertising and presentation of a food contact material must not mislead consumers (Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 Article 3(2)). A melamine product presented as natural may mislead; treat such words as claims you must be able to support."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 on materials and articles intended to come into contact with food (consolidated text of 27 March 2021)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02004R1935-20210327",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Regulation (EU) No 10/2011 on plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with food (consolidated text of 14 July 2026)",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011R0010-20260714",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Commission Regulation (EU) No 284/2011 on import of polyamide and melamine plastic kitchenware from China and Hong Kong",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32011R0284",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    },
    {
      "title": "Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1442 amending Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 10/2011",
      "publisher": "EUR-Lex",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32023R1442",
      "accessed": "2026-10-04"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "plastic-food-contact",
    "food-contact-product",
    "customs-stopped-goods",
    "green-claim",
    "product-on-safety-gate"
  ],
  "reviewer": "Conphora compliance team",
  "reviewedAt": "2026-10-04",
  "notice": "General information, not legal advice."
}