Food Supplements Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations implement Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements.

The Regulations concern the sale (as defined in regulation 2(1)) of food supplements which are sold as food and presented as such (regulation 3). A food supplement is defined as a food sold in dose form whose purpose is to supplement the normal diet and which is a concentrated source of a vitamin or mineral or other substance with a nutritional or physiological effect, alone or in combination (regulation 2(1)).

With effect from 1st August 2005 the Regulations –

(a) prohibit the sale of a food supplement to the ultimate consumer unless it is prepacked (regulations 4 and 2(2)),

(b) prohibit the sale of a food supplement in the manufacture of which a vitamin or mineral has been used, unless certain compositional requirements are met, subject to a transitional provision (regulation 5 and the Schedules),

(c) prohibit the sale of a food supplement which is ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or a catering establishment unless certain requirements as to labelling, presentation and advertising of the product are met (regulations 6 and 7).

For the purposes of the transitional provision in regulation 5(3), dossiers may be submitted by interested parties to the Food Standards Agency for onward transmission to the European Commission. Dossiers may be submitted to any of the Agency’s offices, which are situated at –

• Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH;

• 10C Clarendon Road, Belfast BT1 3BG;

• St Magnus House, 6th Floor, 25 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6NJ;

• 1st Floor, Southgate House, Wood Street, Cardiff CF10 1EW.

Article 6(2) of the Directive (labelling, presentation and advertising must not attribute to food supplements the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or refer to such properties) is already implemented in the Food Labelling Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (regulation 40(1) and Schedule 6, Part I, paragraph 2).

The Regulations make provision as to responsibility for enforcement (regulation 8); create offences and penalties (regulation 9), and apply certain provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (regulation 11). The Regulations provide a defence in relation to exports, in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of Council Directive 89/397/EEC (O.J. No. L186, 30.6.89, p. 23) on the official control of foodstuffs (regulation 10).