Joan Baughan

Partner

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Areas of Work

Food Safety & Life Sciences, Food and Feed Safety, Compliance, and Contact Materials, Life Sciences, Consumer Law and Litigation

Overview

Joan Baughan is chair of Steptoe's Global Chemical, Environmental and Life Sciences practice group and heads up Steptoe's Global Food Contact practice. She has been practicing food and drug law, focusing on US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and comparable international regulation of food contact materials, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices, for over 30 years. She has a scientific background in microbiology and medical technology, and has substantial experience with the regulation of food contact materials in the United States, the EU and EU member states, Canada, China, Japan, MERCOSUR, and other jurisdictions around the globe.

With this experience, Joan is uniquely equipped to assist clients with ensuring that their products meet applicable regulatory requirements in a number of ways. She frequently advises on and assists clients with preparation of regulatory filings, she provides legal opinion letters on the regulatory status of products, performs compliance audits and GMP audits, advises on Proposition 65 warning requirements and other product labeling requirements, advises on recalls, and presents training courses for clients.

Joan is a frequent speaker at international conferences on various FDA and related regulatory topics, and is a published author and well-known writer in the food and drug law community.

District of Columbia
Massachusetts

J.D., Catholic University of America, 1991, Catholic University Law Review, Managing Editor
B.S.M.T., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1985
B.S., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1984

Speaking Engagements

"EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation," Steptoe LLP/JCII Webinar, January 28, 2025
"FDA Update," Smithers Plastics & Paper in Contact with Foodstuffs, December 10, 2024
"Overview of Regulations on Recycled Plastics used in Contact with Food in Various Jurisdictions Around the Globe," AMI Plastics Recycling Asia, March 7, 2024
"The State of PFAS Regulation in the USA," Smithers Plastics & Paper in Contact with Foodstuffs, December 12, 2023
"PFAS in Food Packaging – Navigating the Legislative Landscape," Smithers Food Contact Conference 2023, September 27, 2023
"Food Contact Materials in the US," Steptoe EU Chemicals & Sustainability Conference, June 19, 2023
"Introduction to US Food Contact Regulations," Steptoe Food Contact Conference, April 25, 2023
"Regulation of Polyolefins Used in Contact with Food in the USA and in the EU," SPE International Polyolefins Conference, March 7, 2023
"Outlook on PFAS in 2023," National Restaurant Association, January 20, 2023
"New Challenges to Submission of Dossiers on Food Contact Plastics: The EU Transparency Regulation Meets the EFSA E-Submission Food Chain Platform," PLASTICS Industry Association, Food, Drug & Cosmetic Packaging Materials Fall Conference, November 17, 2022
"Conditions and Definitions: Current State of PFAs Regulation Throughout the USA," CMT's PFAs & Food Contact Packaging USA Virtual Event, April 14, 2022
"Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) Assessments in the USA," Plastics & Paper in Contact with Foodstuffs Conference, December 14, 2021
"FDA's Guidance on Recycled Plastics for Food Packaging: The Need for an Update," Food, Drug and Cosmetic Packaging Materials Committee Winter Webinar, Plastics Industry Association, March 11, 2021
"FDA Legal Requirements for Recycled Plastics in Food Packaging," Consumer Brands Association Webinar, December 9, 2020
"What to Look for and What to Provide in a US FDA Food-Contact Compliance Statement," Plastics & Paper in Contact with Foodstuffs Virtual Conference, December 1, 2020
"Comparison of US FDA and EFSA with regards to food contact materials packaging," 2nd Recycled Packaging for Food Contact Conference, September 29-30, 2020
"Regulatory Compliance & Mitigating Contamination Risks from Recycled Food Grade Packaging,” Recycled Packaging for Food Contact Webinar, August 28, 2020
"Update on China's Regulation of Food Contact Materials and Drug Packaging Materials," Global Food Contact 2020 Virtual Conference, July 16, 2020
"Mutual Recognition as a Path to FCM Compliance," Plastics & Paper in Contact With Foodstuffs Conference, December 3, 2019
Food Contact Conference 2019, Bethesda, MD, October 16-18, 2019
"Understanding Food Additive Regulatory Clearances," Keller and Heckman Annual Food Packaging Seminar, Crystal City, Arlington, October 10, 2018
"Interpreting FDA Regulations," The ltalian Packaging lnstitute Annual Conference, September 26, 2018
"Nanotechnology in Food Packaging: Regulations in the United States, Canada, and the European Union," lnternational Association far Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, July 7, 2018
"Overview of USA, Canada, EU, and UK Drug Packaging Regulations," PLASTICS Industry Association Annual Meeting, June 11, 2018
"Customer Assurance in the United States," Global Food Contact (Pira) Conference, Bethesda, MD, May 10, 2018
"Managing Declarations of Compliance/Customer Assurance in Various Jurisdictions," Keller and Heckman Annual Food Packaging Conference, Brussels, Belgium, March 7, 2018
"China Update on Food-Contact Regulations," Keller and Heckman Annual Food Packaging Conference, Brussels, Belgium, March 7, 2018
"US Developments Relating to GRAS Status," Keller and Heckman Annual Food Packaging Conference, Brussels, Belgium, March 7, 2018
"Establishing a Suitable FDA Status for a Food-Contact Material," Keller and Heckman Annual Food Packaging Conference, Brussels, Belgium, March 6, 2018