2004 No.2601

FOOD, ENGLAND

The Miscellaneous Food Additives (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 16(1) (a), 17(1), 26(1) and (3) and 48(1) of, and paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to, the Food Safety Act 19901 and now vested in him2 and having had regard in accordance with section 48 (4A) of that Act to relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency, and after consultation both as required by Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety3 and in accordance with section 48(4) and (4B) of that Act, makes the following Regulations:

Title, commencement and application1

These Regulations—

a

may be cited as the Miscellaneous Food Additives (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004;

b

shall come into force on 29th October 2004;

c

shall apply in relation to England only.

Amendment of the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 1995

2

The Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 19954 shall be amended in accordance with regulations 3 and 4 below.

3

In paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation), in the definition of “Directive 96/77/EC”5 for the words “and Commission Directive 2002/82/EC” there shall be substituted the following words —

4

In regulation 11, after paragraph (1D), there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

1E

In any proceedings for an offence in contravention of regulation 3(1) where it is alleged that a food additive failed to satisfy the purity criteria for that additive, it shall be a defence for the accused to show either—

a

that the food additive concerned is E431-E436, or polyethylene glycol 6000 and the food additive or food concerned was put on the market or labelled before 1st November 2004; or

b

that the food additive concerned is E407, E407a, E1517 or E1519 and the food additive or food concerned was put on the market or labelled before 1st April 2005;

and that that matter constituting the offence would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations if the amendments made to them by regulation 3 of the Miscellaneous Food Additives (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004 had not been in force when that matter occurred.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health

Melanie JohnsonParliamentary Under Secretary of State,Department of Health

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply to England, implement Commission Directive 2003/95/EC9 and Commission Directive 2004/45/EC10, both of which amend Commission Directive 96/77/EC11 laying down specific purity criteria on food additives other than colours and sweeteners. Directive 96/77/EC was implemented by amendment12 to the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 199513.

In particular these Regulations provide for purity criteria as outlined in the Annexes to Commission Directives 2003/95/EC and 2004/45/EC in relation to the following additives:

E251 Sodium Nitrate

E431 Polyoxyethylene (40) Stearate

E432 Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Monolaurate (Polysorbate 20)

E433 Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Monooleate (Polysorbate 80)

E434 Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Monopalmitate (Polysorbate 40)

E435 Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Monostearate (Polysorbate 60)

E436 Polyoxyethylene Sorbitan Tristearate (Polysorbate 65)

E459 Beta-Cyclodextrin

Polyethylene Glycol 6000

E407 Carrageenan

E407a Processed Eucheuma seaweed

E907 Hydrogenated Poly-1-decene

E1517 Glyceryl Diacetate

E1519 Benzyl Alcohol

A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared in respect of these Regulations as the instrument will have no effect on the costs of business. A transposition note setting out how the main elements of Directives 2003/95/EC and 2003/45/EC are transposed into domestic law has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from the Novel Foods Additives and Supplements Division of the Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH.