--- title: How Will GB 4806‑10‑2025 Affect Printing Inks? lang: en source: https://mindsprt.dev/en/knowledge/china-gb-4806-10-2025-food-contact-ink/ --- # How Will GB 4806‑10‑2025 Affect Printing Inks? *Industry Insights · 4 min read · 2026-09-10* > Explains China's new food-contact standard, effective September 2, 2026, and highlights key changes to formulations, testing, and supply-chain documentation, helping Taiwanese printers and brands put compliance into practice quickly during the transition period **Quick answer:** The new standard restricts ink migration levels and ingredients. Taiwanese printers must review their formulations, strengthen testing, and complete supply-chain declarations before 2026. ## Why Will GB 4806‑10‑2025 Change Ink Formulations? GB 4806‑10‑2025 (full title: National Food Safety Standard for Inks and Coatings Used in Food-Contact Materials and Articles) was published on September 25, 2025. It will take effect on September 2, 2026, replacing the 2016 edition. ・The number of permitted basic raw materials will rise from 105 to 346. This gives formulators more flexibility, but also imposes stricter migration limits. ・BPA's specific migration limit will fall from 0.6 mg/kg to 0.05 mg/kg, cutting the permitted concentration by 92%. ・It sets total migration limits for epoxy derivatives such as BADGE and primary aromatic amines (PAAs), reducing potential carcinogenic risks. ・The standard also harmonizes test conditions for paper laminates and coatings, requiring tests for overall migration, heavy metals, and permanganate consumption to follow a unified method. These changes mean ink manufacturers and printers must reassess formulation materials, adjust their ratios, and state on product labels that they comply with the new standard. ## How Can Small and Medium-Sized Printers Prepare for Compliance During the Transition? The transition period is only one year, and time is tight. The following steps can help prevent compliance issues from costing you the Chinese market. 1. Create a material-code list, compare it with the list of permitted raw materials in GB 4806‑10‑2025, and flag ingredients that already exceed the limits or need to be replaced. 2. Ask raw-material suppliers for the latest test reports and Safety Data Sheets (SDS) to ensure that every batch meets the new limits. 3. Launch migration testing for the full ink range, either in-house or through an outside lab, with close attention to the actual migration levels of BPA, BADGE, and PAAs. 4. Complete a Declaration of Compliance for each product and upload it to customers' quality-management platforms ahead of time. If you lack testing equipment or technical expertise, consult MINDS directly about its formulation review service to quickly obtain formulation recommendations that meet the new standard. At the same time, upload compliance documents and test results to the [Mai Strategy Knowledge Academy consulting team](https://mindsprt.dev) SaaS platform. This enables document traceability and version control, reducing manual errors. ## What Compliance Risks Do Brands Face in the Chinese Market? Even when the ink itself passes, the packaging system as a whole may still be rejected because of errors elsewhere. ・Curing of the packaging transfer layer falls short, leaving the coating density too low and increasing migration risk. ・Adhesives used in downstream post-press processes, such as hot stamping and embossing, have not been tested under GB 4806‑10‑2025, which may cause the finished product to lose its compliance status. ・Supply-chain information gaps prevent the latest raw-material compliance certificates from being provided in time, holding up customer approval. ・The product instructions do not state "Complies with GB 4806‑10‑2025," making it easy for customs and market spot checks to request supplementary documents. When signing contracts with printers, brand owners should explicitly require complete test reports and compliance statements, and add the standard number to product labels to reduce risks caused by information asymmetry. ## Key Takeaways ・GB 4806‑10‑2025 increases the number of permitted raw materials from 105 to 346, while lowering the BPA limit to 0.05 mg/kg. ・Small and medium-sized printers must complete formulation reviews, migration testing, and compliance statements by September 2026. ・Brands selling in the Chinese market still need to monitor end-to-end compliance across coating curing, downstream processing, and document traceability. ## Looking Ahead From formulation changes to test reports, the compliance process as a whole is really a supply-chain information flow that can be digitized. Connecting raw-material certificates, test data, and customer requirements through a SaaS platform can bring document reviews to completion within 24 hours and reduce errors in manual work. In the future, pairing this with a machine-vision inspection system could enable real-time monitoring of coating thickness on the printing line, ensuring that every batch meets the migration limits in GB 4806‑10‑2025 and giving brands a steadier supply-chain foundation in the Chinese market. ## Further Reading ・[The deadline related to the GB 4806‑10‑2025 Standard for China is approaching: How Flint Group Packaging Solutions supports compliance](http://www.flintgrp.com/news-and-events/news/the-deadline-related-to-the-gb-4806-10-2025-standard-for-china-is-approaching-how-flint-group-packaging-solutions-supports-compliance/) ## FAQ ### When will GB 4806‑10‑2025 become mandatory? The official effective date is September 2, 2026, with a one-year transition period. ### If my ink formulation has passed testing under the 2016 edition, do I still need to test it again? Yes. The new standard adds stricter limits for BPA, BADGE, and PAAs, so older test reports may not meet the requirements. ### Can suppliers provide a raw-material list that complies with the new standard? Yes. The best approach is to request the latest SDS and test reports showing compliance with GB 4806‑10‑2025, then compare them against the catalogue of 346 permitted raw materials. ### How can small and medium-sized printers obtain a compliance statement quickly? Complete the formulation review and migration testing first, then fill out the Declaration of Compliance based on the test results. If you lack in-house resources, you can outsource the work to a qualified third-party laboratory or consult MINDS about its compliance services. ### What compliance requirement are brands most likely to overlook before exporting to China? The common blind spots are curing conditions that fail to meet requirements and downstream adhesives that have not been tested under the new standard. Both directly affect the finished product's migration level. --- > HTML version: https://mindsprt.dev/en/knowledge/china-gb-4806-10-2025-food-contact-ink/ > MINDS — 麥思印刷整合有限公司 · https://mindsprt.dev