FSA Consultation Letter, 26 October 2005

OFFICIAL CONTROL - Proposed Amendments to the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations 2005

The Food Standards Agency is seeking your views on some proposed amendments to the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations 2005. Responses are requested by: 13 December 2005

Consultation details

These minor changes are needed to reflect the adoption of a number of new Commission regulations made under the EU food hygiene and EU official control legislation, and the possible adoption of Commission Decisions providing guidance on the audit of competent authorities and the preparation of national control plans.

They also reflect the making of the Food Hygiene (England) (No 2) Regulations 2005, the Feeding Stuffs (England) Regulations 2005 and the Feed (Hygiene and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005.

Parallel measures are being taken forward in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and these will be subject to separate consultation.

We are also proposing to make some amendments to the definition of 'feed' and 'relevant feed law' that are used in the regulations and your views on these are also welcome.

The updated regulations must apply from 1 January 2006.

These regulations were made on 21 September 2005.

These apply the feed and food elements of EU Regulation 882/2004 on official controls and were subject to full public consultation from 31 March to 30 June 2005.

Details of this consultation and a summary of the responses received are available here

New Community legislation

A number of Commission Regulations have recently been adopted at EU level that contain implementing and transitional provisions for some of the measures included in the new EU food hygiene legislation 3, 4, 5 and, to a lesser extent, EU Regulation 882/2004.

A list of the Commission Regulations is given at the link below.

The Agency launched a consultation on application of these measures at national level on 20 September 2005.

This consultation highlights that, as a consequence of the adoption of these Commission Regulations, it is necessary to refer to them in the definitions of Community legislation that are used in the Official Feed and Food Controls ( England) Regulations 2005.

The European Commission is also proposing to adopt guidelines for Member States on meeting the requirements in EU Regulation 882/2004 for auditing of those authorities that undertake enforcement checks and for preparing the national control plans.

The two sets of guidelines are expected to be adopted in the form of Commission decisions.

If this is the case, it will as a consequence, be necessary to refer to these in the definitions of Community legislation that are used in the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations 2005.

We are also planning to launch a consultation on the national control plan guidelines during November 2005.

New national legislation

Other national legislation that is referred to in the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations is imminently to be updated or superseded.

These legislative developments need to be reflected in the SI.

Other amendments

The definition of 'feed' for the purposes of Part 3 of the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations, which is concerned with controls of imported feed and food of non-animal origin from outside the Community, derives from the EU General Food Law Regulation (178/2002)6, where the term can include feed additives.

There is, however, a small group of feed additives that are regulated by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and not the Agency. The current Official Control Regulations do not exclude these additives from their scope such that there will be a small overlap with legislation for which the VMD is responsible and this needs to be corrected.

The schedule of legal provisions that come within the definition of 'relevant feed law' needs to be amended to take account of recent changes in domestic feed legislation and to reflect the full extent of the feed legislation for which the Agency has responsibility.

Your views are also sought on the following proposed changes to the Official Feed and Food Controls ( England) Regulations 2005 which will be consolidated by making the Official Feed and Food Controls ( England) (No 2) Regulations 2005.

• To make consequential changes to the definitions of Community legislation included in Schedule 1 to reflect the adoption of the Commission Regulations listed as an attachment below.
• If necessary, to make consequential changes to the definitions of Community legislation included in Schedule 1 to reflect the adoption of the Commission Decisions detailed in Appendix 1.
• To update the references to the Food Hygiene ( England) Regulations 2005 as the No 2 Hygiene Regulations will be made at the same time.
• To ensure that the designation of food authorities as competent authorities for the purposes of Article 31 of EU Regulation 882/2004 (which relates to registration of food business establishments) extends to primary producers. This is needed for consistency with a proposed change in the No 2 Hygiene Regulations reflecting the fact that decisions have yet to be taken on who will be responsible for enforcement of the food hygiene requirements at primary production level - it is proposed that this responsibility may be exercised by either the Agency or by a food authority (the No 2 Food Hygiene Regulations are currently subject to public consultation).
• To make a consequential amendment to the Feed (Hygiene and Enforcement) ( England) Regulations 2005 so that the reference in these Regulations to the Official Feed and Food Controls ( England) Regulations is to the consolidated version.
• To update Schedule 2 on the definition of 'relevant feed law' to reflect the making of the Feeding Stuffs ( England) Regulations 2005 and the Feed (Hygiene and Enforcement) Regulations 2005 and to add the Feed (Corn Gluten Feed and Brewers Grains) (Emergency Controls) ( England) Regulations 20057 to the list of feed legislation. With regard to the latter, there is a possibility that these Regulations will have been revoked before the new Official Control Regulations are made (there is to be consideration at EU level of the continued need for the Community measure that these Regulations enact). If this is the case, they will not appear in Schedule 2 and will not form a part of 'relevant feed law'.
• To clarify that the provisions of Part 3 of the Regulations do not extend to the feed additives that are regulated by the VMD by excluding them from the definition of 'feed' used for the purposes of the provisions on import controls. The additives to be excluded are coccidiostats and histomonostats and certain zootechnical additives or any premixtures of these additives (i.e. those included at Article 6(1)(e) of or paragraph 4(d) of Annex 1 of EU Regulation 1831/20038 on additives for use in animal nutrition).

APPENDIX 1 - COMMISSION REGULATIONS AND POSSIBLE COMMISSION DECISIONS

Commission Regulations

Note - Most of these Regulations have not yet been published in the Official Journal but copies of the text are available from the FSA website at: http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/regulation/europeleg/eufoodhygieneleg/#h_5

• Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1688/2005 implementing Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards special guarantees concerning salmonella for consignments to Finland and Sweden of certain meat and eggs. OJ No. L271, 15.10.2005, p.17.
• Commission Regulation (EC) No. [ ]/ 2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs
• Commission Regulation (EC) No. [ ]/ 2005 laying down implementing measures for certain products under Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004, for the organisation of official controls under Regulations (EC) Nos. 854/2004 and 882/2004, derogating from Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 and amending Regulations (EC) Nos. 853/2004 and 854/2004
• Commission Regulation (EC) No. [ ]/2005 laying down transitional arrangements for the implementation of Regulations (EC) No. 853/2004, (EC) Nos. 854/2004 and 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Regulations (EC) Nos. 853/2004 and 854/2004.

Possible Commission Decisions

Note - it is not yet certain if these guidelines will be published as Decisions. If they are not, the amendments will not be necessary.

• Commission Decision 2005/ /EC on guidelines laying down criteria for the conduct of audits under Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls to verify compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules.
• Commission Decision 2005/ /EC setting out the guidelines to assist Member States in preparing the single integrated multi-annual national control plan further to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules.