The Food Safety (Information and Compositional Requirements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Food Safety (Information and Compositional Requirements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 and come into operation on 20th July 2016.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the EU Regulation” means Regulation (EU) No 609/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council, on food intended for infants and young children, food for special medical purposes, and total diet replacement for weight control and repealing Council Directive 92/52/EEC, Commission Directives 96/8/EC, 1999/21/EC, 2006/125/EC and 2006/141/EC, Directive 2009/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulations (EC) No 41/2009 and (EC) No 953/2009;

“the Order” means the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991; and

“specified EU requirement” means any provision of the EU Regulation specified in column 1 of Schedule 1.

(2) Any reference to Article 2(2) or to a specified EU requirement is a reference to that provision as amended from time to time.

(3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(1) applies to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly

Enforcement

3.  It is the duty of each district council within its district to enforce these Regulations.

Offence and penalty

4.  A person who fails to comply with Article 9(2) of the EU Regulation (substances in dangerous quantities) as read with Articles 1(1) and 4(1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Application of provisions of the Order

5.—(1) Articles 9(1) and (2) of the Order (improvement notices) apply, with the modification (in the case of Article 9(1)) specified in Part 1 of Schedule 2, for the purposes of enabling an improvement notice to be served on a person requiring that person to comply with a specified EU requirement and making the failure to comply with an improvement notice an offence.

(2) Article 33 of the Order (powers of entry) applies, with the modifications (in the case of Article 33(1)) specified in Part 1 of Schedule 2, for the purposes of enabling an authorised officer—

(a) to exercise a power of entry to ascertain whether there is, or has been, any contravention of a specified EU requirement;

(b) to exercise a power of entry to ascertain whether there is any evidence of any contravention of a specified EU requirement; and

(c) when exercising a power of entry under the provisions of Article 33 as applied by this paragraph, to exercise the powers in paragraphs (6) and (7) relating to records.

(3) Article 37 (appeals) and Article 38 (appeals against improvement notices) of the Order apply, with the modifications specified in Part 1 of Schedule 2, for the purpose of enabling a decision to serve a notice referred to in paragraph (1) to be appealed.

(4) The provisions of the Order specified in column 1 of the table in Part 2 of Schedule 2 apply, with the modifications specified in column 2 of that Part.

(5) Paragraphs (1) to (4) are without prejudice to the application of the Order to these Regulations for purposes other than those specified in those paragraphs.

(6) In this regulation “authorised officer” has the same meaning as in Article 2(2)(a) of the Order.

Amendments to Statutory Rules

6.  Schedule 3 has effect.

Revocation

7.  The following Regulations are revoked—

(a) the Notification of Marketing of Food for Particular Nutritional Uses Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007(2);

(b) Regulations 26 and 27 of the Infant Formula and Follow on Formula Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007(3); and

(c) The Food for Particular Nutritional Uses (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010(4).

Sealed with the official seal of the Department of Health on 27th June 2016.

Julie Thompson

A senior officer of the Department of Health