UK Offence Report

The Food for Specific Groups (Information and Compositional Requirements) (England) Regulations 2016

UK Statutory Instrument 2016 No. 688 — creates 1 criminal offence.

1offences created
0recorded in force
1revoked
Made
28 June 2016
In force from
20 July 2016
Extent
Not stated
Subject
International sanctions, export control and trade restrictions
Made under
(EC) No. 178/2002, European Communities Act 1972, Food Safety Act 1990, Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008, Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 1972

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 make provision to enforce, in England, Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, on the provisions of food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control and repealing Council Directive 92/52/EEC, Commission Directives 96/8/EC, 1999/21/EC, 2006/125/EC and 2006/141/EC, Directive 2009/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulations (EC) No 41/2009 and (EC) No 953/2009 (OJ No L 181, 29.6.2013, p35). These Regulations make provision for the enforcement of the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and also insert an alternative improvement notice enforcement regime alongside existing domestic criminal sanctions in the Foods Intended for Use in Energy Restricted Diets for Weight Reduction Regulations 1997, the Medical Food (England) Regulations 2000, the Processed Cereal-based Foods and Baby Foods for Infants and Young Children (England) Regulations 2003, the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula (England) Regulations 2007, and the Food for Particular Nutritional Uses (Addition of Substances for Specific Nutritional Purposes) (England) Regulations 2009. Regulation 4 and Schedule 2 provides for the enforcement of requirements specified by Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 by applying certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 (1990 c.16) (“the Act”), with modifications to these Regulations. This includes the application (with modifications) of section 10(1) of the Act, enabling an improvement notice to be served requiring compliance with specified EU requirements of Regulation (EU) No 609/2013. The list of specified EU requirements is contained in column 1 of Schedule 1, as read with the provisions in column 2. The provisions, as applied and modified, make a failure to comply with an improvement notice a criminal offence. Regulation 7 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report within five years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked, or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. Schedule 3 amends statutory instruments concerning this area of regulation, applying the modified provisions of the Act, to enable an improvement notice to be served requiring compliance with relevant regulations. The provisions, as applied and modified in the statutory instruments, make the failure to comply with an improvement notice a criminal offence. Schedule 4 amends Article 2(1)(fb) of the Co-ordination of Regulatory Enforcement (Enforcement Action) Order 2009 to take account of the fact that section 10 of the Act has been applied and modified by these Regulations. This means that serving an improvement notice under s.10 of the Act as applied and modified by these Regulations and the Food for Specific Groups (Information and Compositional Requirements) (Wales) Regulations 2016 is to be regarded as enforcement action for the purposes of Part 2 of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008.

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