Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013

Food hygiene inspections and ratings

2 Programme of food hygiene inspections

(1) A food authority must prepare, and keep under review, a programme which sets out—

(a) whether a food business establishment in its area must be inspected, and

(b) if an inspection is required, the frequency of inspections.

(2) A food authority must inspect food business establishments in its area in accordance with the programme.

(3) When preparing and reviewing the programme a food authority must have regard to matters specified by the FSA and approved by the Welsh Ministers.

(4) The matters specified by the FSA must include an assessment of the levels of risk to public health—

(a) associated with the type of food handled by an establishment,

(b) associated with the method of handling the food, and

(c) arising from the record of compliance with food hygiene law at the establishment.

(5) In this Act—

• a “food authority” (“awdurdod bwyd”) means the county council or county borough council of the area in Wales in which the establishment is located (or a port health authority in the circumstances prescribed by section 5(3) of the Food Safety Act 1990);

• a “food business establishment” (“sefydliad busnes bwyd”) is any unit of a business registered with a food authority by virtue of Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 or approved by a food authority under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 (or registered or approved under equivalent alternative provisions for registering or approving food business establishments), which—

  (a)

  supplies food direct to consumers, or

  (b)

  supplies food to another business;

• an “operator” (“gweithredwr”) of a food business establishment means a person concerned with the management of the establishment.

(6) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations—

(a) amend the definition of a food business establishment, including to expand the category of establishment that may be inspected;

(b) amend the definition of a food authority (for example, to include other bodies).

3 Food hygiene ratings

(1) Where a food business establishment has been inspected in accordance with section 2, a food authority must assess the food hygiene standards of the establishment and produce a rating (a “food hygiene rating”) for that establishment scored against criteria set out by the FSA (the “rating criteria”).

(2) The Welsh Ministers may by regulations provide for a food hygiene rating to be based on an assessment of the food hygiene standards of an establishment carried out prior to the commencement of this Act.

(3) Within 14 days of an inspection, a food authority must send to the operator of the establishment—

(a) written notification of its food hygiene rating;

(b) a written statement of the reasons for the rating;

(c) a food hygiene rating sticker in a form prescribed;

(d) such other information as may be prescribed.

(4) A food hygiene rating ceases to be valid in the following cases—

(a) when an operator of an establishment has received notification of a new food hygiene rating and—

(i) the period of 21 days for an appeal against the new food hygiene rating has expired, or

(ii) if an appeal has been made, the appeal has been determined and the operator has received notification of the outcome;

(b) when there has been a transfer of ownership of an establishment or an establishment has ceased trading.

(5) The Welsh Ministers may prescribe that certain categories of establishment may be exempt from rating.

4 Rating criteria

(1) The rating criteria must include a system to score a food business establishment’s hygiene standards.

(2) The scoring system must include provisions based on an establishment’s—

(a) food handling practices (including temperature control);

(b) physical environment (including its layout, cleanliness and condition);

(c) management;

(d) control procedures.