Detailed information on MOCA certification

The reason for this in-depth overview of MOCA certification is to share the valuable experience our company has gained in this area. We have designed and established a dedicated department for the production of plastic products intended for food contact (within the MOCA scope and certification).

Recently, Italian legislation introduced a decree imposing specific restrictions on all operators involved in the production of such items. It requires registration with the Health Authority and enforces a strict sanctioning system for any detected non-compliance.

Improvement measures related to certification

Based on these requirements, it has therefore become essential to further improve our production practices—improvements that our company has already been developing for years in the molding of food contact items. This is necessary to be fully compliant with the declaration of suitability for food contact plastics and the related MOCA certification.

At first glance, one might think that producing items intended for food contact simply involves drafting the relevant food safety certificates (issued based on analyses conducted by specialized laboratories on the finished product), which indicate the possible presence of substances potentially harmful to human health.

This is not correct! Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) actually identify a series of requirements, of which I will mention only a few here:

Separate sourcing routes for raw materials;

Separate storage areas for molded products ready for shipment;

Identification of all products used in the production area (such as greases, disinfectant solvents, etc.), each accompanied by a technical data sheet, safety data sheet, and suitability certificate for food contact production.

Pasinplast and the MOCA certification

At Pasinplast, we have designed and established a dedicated production department specifically for manufacturing items intended for food contact. This decision was necessary to easily monitor all the various stages of the production process.

The presses producing MOCA-compliant items have been physically separated from those molding other technical products, in order to eliminate any possibility of material contamination or cross-contamination.

Our experience so far has also taught us that the essential step to ensure the optimal functioning of our project was to share with our staff the importance of what we were doing. This enabled the entire Pasinplast team to work naturally within the MOCA certification department, following technical procedures with absolute ease.

The GMP Manual

Experiences like these have helped us grow! The GMP manual we have drafted is not a one-off publication disconnected from our daily routine, but rather a summary of the way we work!

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the people who made all this possible: first and foremost my employees, but also the external consultants who fully understood Pasinplast’s production reality, helping it grow even further!

Moreno Pasin
Owner