GMP - Good Manufacturing Practice -  is an internationally acknowledged term to identify   control and management of all those processes referred to fabrication, quality control and tests on food, pharmaceutical and medical products.

Since years GMP is mentioned in the packaging industry and the concept of keeping the process under control was well known to everybody already; however, as from August 1st, 2008, following up the E.U. regulation No. 2023/2006, new and definite rules have will be  introduced for all those companies operating in the food packaging industry.

According to the definition given by the legislator, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) are “the aspects of assurance of quality to make sure materials and objects are constantly fabricated and controlled, with the aim of ensuring their conformity to the rules applied to them and to such quality standards adequate to the use they are destined to, without constituting any risk for the human health or modify in an unacceptable way the composition of food products or provoke a deterioration of their organoleptic characteristics.

Through this new provision, the European Commission has intended to guarantee uniformity among those industrial sectors that have elaborated the GMP and those, instead, that did not follow it so far, by defining mandatory rules for all sectors and all processing stages for the fabrication of materials and objects (production, conversion, distribution, however excluding the production of the initial substances).

As a matter of fact, the new rules emphasize general and specific regulations for the good fabrication practices to be fulfilled when handling materials and object destined to coming into contact with food products. 

Therefore, all producers, converters, distributors of containers, packages, tools and machinery have the duty and obligation to apply the GMP to their products, thus guaranteeing the quality standards necessary to operate in the food industry.