The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2017

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/1867 (W. 274)) (“the principal Regulations”).

The amendments—

(a) implement the amended monitoring requirements for spring water and bottled drinking water provided for by Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 amending Annexes II and III to Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption (OJ No L 260, 7.10.2015, p 6). The amendments remove the requirement for food authorities to conduct check and audit monitoring of spring water and bottled drinking water (regulations 8 and 14);

(b) provide that natural mineral water and spring water that has been subjected to fluoride removal treatment or ozone-enriched air treatment in a non-EEA State may be sold in Wales. The water may only be sold if those treatments have been authorised by the responsible authority in that non-EEA State and the Food Standards Agency or responsible authority in another part of the UK or EEA has determined that the procedure for authorising the treatment in that State is equivalent to the requirements under Articles 1 to 3 of Regulation (EU) 115/2010 (regulations 3, 9 and 10);

(c) clarify that natural mineral water and spring water extracted otherwise than in Wales may only be sold in Wales if it complies with the requirements as described in the principal Regulations in relation to exploitation (in the case of natural mineral water), treatments and additions, and bottling and labelling requirements (regulations 4 and 7);

(d) clarify that the rules on treatments and additions do not prevent spring water from being used in the manufacture of soft drinks (regulation 5);

(e) prohibit the advertising of spring water in a way that is liable to cause the water to be confused with a natural mineral water, and prohibiting the use of “mineral water”, “dŵr mwynol”, or its equivalent in any other language, in the advertising of spring water (regulation 6);

(f) correct two errors in the Welsh language text of the principal Regulations (regulations 11 and 12(b));

(g) correct various other errors in the principal Regulations (regulations 12(a) and 13); and

(h) clarify that the exemption period from monitoring for certain radiological substances lasts 5 years (regulation 15).

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations.