UK Offence Report

The Imported Food Regulations 1997 (revoked)

UK Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 2537 — creates 1 criminal offence.

1offences created
0recorded in force
0revoked
Made
23 October 1997
In force from
17 November 1997
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted sales
Made under
Food Safety Act 1990

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations contain measures relating to the control of certain types of food imported into Great Britain which are not in free circulation within the European Community. They replace the general provisions of the Imported Food Regulations 1984 and the Imported Food (Scotland) Regulations 1985 with a new set of provisions, which apply to the whole of Great Britain, for all food other than specified exempt products of animal origin. The Regulations also contain amendments to the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 which implement Commission Directive 96/3/EC which grants a derogation from certain provisions of Council Directive 93/43/EEC on the hygiene of foodstuffs (OJ No. L 175, 19.7.93, p.1). Regulation 2 is an interpretation provision. Regulation 3 explains the scope of the Regulations. The Regulations apply to all imported food other than exempt products of animal origin—a term which is defined with reference to the list of exempt products in Schedule 1 to the Regulations—if that food is not in free circulation within the European Community or was not in free circulation in the European Community when it first arrived in the British Islands. Regulation 3(3) explains who may be considered an importer for the purposes of these Regulations. Regulation 4 contains the prohibition on importation of food which comes within the scope of these Regulations and fails to comply with food safety requirements or is unsound or unwholesome. Regulation 5 stipulates which authorities are to enforce these Regulations, and includes provisions relating to deferred examinations. Regulation 6 deals with the procedures relating to examination of imported food which comes within the scope of these Regulations. It includes a requirement that the importer must provide all such facilities as the authorised officer of the food authority may reasonably require (regulation 6(1)), and a detention notice procedure where the authorised officer considers that he should procure a sample of the importer’s food (regulation 6(2) to (6)). Regulation 7(1) to (4) contains a notice procedure for allowing the re-export of food which appears to fail to comply with regulation 4 or for enabling the food authority to permit the import of such food for purposes other than human consumption. Alternatively, the food authority may seek to have such food destroyed in accordance with established Food Safety Act 1990 procedures (regulation 7(5) and (6)). Regulation 8 deals with offences and penalties, and regulation 9 deals with the application, in some cases with modifications, of certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990. Regulation 10 and Schedule 2 cover amendments to the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995. These amendments implement a corrigendum (OJ No. L 208, 5.9.95, p. 20) to paragraph 2(2) of Chapter IV of the Annex to Council Directive 93/43/EEC on the hygiene of foodstuffs. As indicated above, Commission Directive 96/3/EC, which contains derogations from paragraph 2(2) of Chapter IV of the Annex to Council Directive 93/43/EEC is also implemented by virtue of these Regulations. The derogations relate to the transportation in sea-going vessels of liquid oils and fats, and the implemented provisions of Commission Directive 96/3/EC also contain new documentary requirements which have to be met by the captains of such vessels. Regulation 11 is a revocations provision. The provisions revoked are listed in that regulation.

Offences created by this instrument

What Parliament said about it

Hansard was searched for this instrument by name and returned nothing. That is the ordinary outcome: an instrument laid under the negative procedure is usually never debated, and becomes law without a word said about it in either House.

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

Check the source