(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations provide for the continued implementation of Commission Directive 96/5/EC on processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children, as amended by Commission Directives 1998/36/EC, 1999/39/EC and 2003/13/EC. These Regulations, which revoke and replace the Processed Cereal-based Foods and Baby Foods for Infants and Young Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1997, as amended –

(a)

exempt from their application any baby food which is a milk intended for young children (regulation 3);

(b)

prohibit the sale of processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children unless they comply with the manufacturing and compositional requirements in regulations 5 to 7 and the labelling requirements in regulation 8 (regulation 4);

(c)

specify the enforcement authority (regulation 9);

(d)

create an offence and prescribe a penalty; the offence provision now relates only to a contravention of the restrictions on sale in regulation 4 (regulation 10);

(e)

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 11);

(f)

apply certain provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (regulation 12); and

(g)

contain a revocation provision (regulation 13).

In implementation of Directive 2003/13/EC these Regulations prohibit the sale of processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children if those foods contain pesticide residues above certain levels. Different levels are set depending on the pesticide in question (regulation 7 and Schedules 6 and 7). In implementation of the final sentence of Article 6(2) of Directive 96/5/EC as substituted by Directive 1999/39/EC, provision is made as to analytical methods (regulation 7(5)).