FSA Consultation, 16 May 2005

ENFORCEMENT - Revision of Code of Practice on food law enforcement for England previously issued under Section 40 of the Food Safety Act 1990

The FSA are seeking views and comments on proposals to replace the current Code of Practice for England issued under Section 40 of the Food Safety Act, and the associated Practice Guidance, in order to reflect the requirements of new EU Food Law and proposed supporting legislation in England , applicable from 1 January 2006 . Responses are requested by: 8 August 2005

[Note: Updated drafts of the Code and Practice Guidance can be found using the links below. ]

Consultation details

Section 40 of the Food Safety Act 1990 permits Ministers to issue Codes of Practice to enforcement authorities concerning the execution and enforcement of food law. Such Codes set out instructions and criteria to which such food authorities must have regard when engaged in the enforcement of food law and are intended to achieve even standards of enforcement.

There is currently one Code made under the Food Safety Act 1990 and a separate Practice Guidance document. As Food Authorities must have regard to this statutory Code when engaged in the enforcement of food law, it is necessary to update the current Code and Practice Guidance to take account of new EU food law and proposed supporting legislation in England , applicable from 1 January 2006 .

These legislative changes mean that, in order to cover the range of legislation, the legal basis of the new Code will be Section 40 of the Food Safety Act 1990 which permits, and Regulation 24 of the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2005 and Regulation 6 of the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations 2005 which, as drafted, would permit, Ministers to issue Codes of Practice.

As was stated in the consultation on the current Code and Practice Guidance, our legal advice is that there should be a clear division between what food authorities must do in enforcing food law and which must be included in the statutory code, and other advice which can be published as practice guidance. It is therefore proposed that, as now, there will be a single Code and a separate Practice Guidance document.

The most significant changes to the Code and Practice Guidance stem from the legislative changes described above, although comments received on the current Code and Practice Guidance since their publication in Autumn 2004 have also been taken into account and reflected as appropriate.

The legislation referred to above is, specifically:

EU Food Law

• Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs
• Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 laying down specific rules for food of animal origin.
• Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption,

and the following Regulation concerning official controls:

• Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules.

These above Regulations complement and are in addition to the overarching EU General Food Law Regulation, viz.

• Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety.

Proposed Supporting Legislation ( England )

• The [draft] Food Hygiene ( England ) Regulations 2005
• The [draft] Official Feed and Food Controls ( England ) Regulations 2005

Similar consultations are to take place in Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland in due course.

The consultation documents can be obtained from these links:

• Draft Food Law Code of Practice PDF format 432 KB
• Draft Food law practice guidance PDF format 1.1MB