Review of Changes in UK Food and Feed Legislation April 2006 – March 2007 (April 2008)
Author: Michael Walker
Date Published:
31 December 2007
Reference Number: ---
This is the second of three reviews to be undertaken as part of the project RF1 in the Government Chemist 2005-2008 programme. It covers changes in UK food and agricultural legislation that have taken place during the period April 2006 to March 2007 and are important to stakeholders especially those that relate to chemical measurement and the role of the Government Chemist.
The first report [Review of Changes in UK Food and Feed Legislation April 2005 - March 2006] (to which readers should refer) provided some background to the legislation to show why, as well as how, it has changed and to provide an insight into the reasons for the existence of statutes in the areas covered.
For this report it has been decided to group legislation into five categories. The first three reflect the three primary objectives of food law while regulatory issues and animal feed and fertilisers make up the remaining two. Thus the structure and content of the report are as follows:
- Food Safety, including contaminants and additives.
- Consumer Choice and Prevention of Fraud – including composition and general labelling;
- Health and Nutrition – including nutrition labelling, nutrients and supplements;
- Regulation – dealing with regulatory activities and overarching provisions;
- Feedingstuffs and Fertilisers – dealing with animal feed and fertilisers.
In each case, the English regulations are cited primarily however where equivalent regulations have been made at the same time for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the main text includes such references. European measures are also cited as appropriate although where they have been transposed into UK law they are referenced in the UK regulations and are not cited separately. Potentially temporary and local measures such as prohibition legislation for shellfish harvesting areas have not been recorded but are archived in the Government Chemist source data for the report.
For any specific legislation this document should be read with the actual measure and any view, information or advice given should not be taken as an authoritative statement or interpretation of the law, as this is a matter for the courts.
The sources of information used have been The UK Daily List, The Association of Public Analysts website, APA Legislation Index , Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) and European legislative information database, Eur-Lex, Extensive use has been made of the explanatory notes that accompany each set of regulations.