Keller and Heckman Partner Devon Hill Quoted in Food Contact World

In the article, “FCM industry dodges bullet of Dodd-Frank conflict minerals obligations,” Food Contact World points out that trade associations affiliated with the food packaging industry are asking the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to confirm that food-contact materials are exempt from provisions of a U.S. law designed to stop the global trade in conflict minerals, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and Consumer Protection Act.

The has given verbal assurances to attorneys representing food-contact material manufacturer trade groups that chemical compounds of the four metals subject to the law (tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold) are not covered by the implementing regulations, explains Food Contact World in the article. This would include catalysts, stabilizers, and polymerization aids used in food-contact materials. The trade groups have asked the SEC to put this interpretation into writing.

The article points out that Keller and Heckman Partner Devon Hill, writing on behalf of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, the Flexible Packaging Association, and the Society of the Plastics Industry, explained to the SEC, “There will be many companies in addition to those members of the industry associations – whether they are in the supply chain right now or enter the market place sometime in the coming years – who will require confirmation regarding the SEC’s approach.”