Title, commencement and interpretation

1.-(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Miscellaneous Food Additives (Amendment) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st July 1997.

(2) In these Regulations "the principal Regulations" means the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 1995(2).

Amendment of the principal Regulations

2. The principal Regulations shall be amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 11 below.

3. In regulation 2(1) (interpretation)-

(a)in the definition of "Directive 95/2/EC" there shall be inserted at the end the words ", as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 96/85/EC(3)";

(b)after that definition there shall be inserted the following definition-

""Directive 96/77/EC" means Commission Directive 96/77/EC(4) laying down specific purity criteria on food additives other than colours and sweeteners;";

(c)there shall be substituted for the definition of "purity criteria" the following definition-

• ""purity criteria", in relation to a miscellaneous additive, means-

  (a)

  in the case of a miscellaneous additive for which purity criteria are set out in the Annex to Directive 96/77/EC, those purity criteria;

  (b)

  in any other case, the purity criteria (if any) specified or referred to in Schedule 5;".

4. In regulation 4 (use of miscellaneous additives in or on compound foods) there shall be substituted for paragraph (1) the following paragraph-

"(1) Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) below, where a permitted miscellaneous additive is present in or on a compound food and that compound food contains, as an ingredient, a food in or on which that miscellaneous additive was or could have been used without contravening any of the provisions of paragraphs (2) to (5) or (7) of regulation 3, that miscellaneous additive shall for the purposes of those paragraphs be deemed to have been used in or on that compound food without contravening any of the provisions of those paragraphs.".

5. In regulation 8 (defence in relation to exports) there shall be substituted in paragraph (b) for the words "and Directive 95/2/EC" the words ", Directive 95/2/EC and Directive 96/77/EC".

6. In regulation 9 (application of various provisions of the Act) there shall be inserted after paragraph (g) the following paragraph-

"(gA)section 35(1) to (3) (punishment of offences) in so far as it relates to offences under section 33(1) and (2);".

7. In regulation 11 (transitional provision and exemptions)-

(a)there shall be inserted after paragraph (1) the following paragraph-

"(1A) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations in respect of any food additive or food, it shall be a defence to prove that-

(a)the food additive or food concerned was put on the market or labelled before 1st July 1997, and

(b)the matter constituting the offence would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations if the amendments made by regulations 3(b) and (c), 5 and 11 of the Miscellaneous Food Additives (Amendment) Regulations 1997 had not been made when the food additive or, as the case may be, the food was put on the market or labelled.";

(b)there shall be substituted for paragraph (2) the following paragraph-

"(2) These Regulations shall not apply in respect of any food additive or, as the case may be, food which is brought into Great Britain having been lawfully put on the market or labelled in another member State before 25th March 1997.";

(c)in paragraph 3(a) the words "on or after 25th March 1997" shall be omitted;

(d)in paragraph (4) there shall be substituted for the words "paragraphs (2) and (3) above" the words "paragraph (3) above".

8. In Schedule 1 (miscellaneous additives generally permitted for use in foods not referred to in Schedule 6, 7 or 8) there shall be inserted after the entry relating to E 407 Carrageenan the following entry-

9. In Schedule 2 (conditionally permitted preservatives and antioxidants) in Part C (other preservatives), there shall be inserted in column 1 (EC No. and name) immediately above the entry "E 235 Natamycin" a horizontal line.

10. In Schedule 3 (other permitted miscellaneous additives)-

(a)in column 1 (EC No.) the entry "E 451" shall be realigned with the word "Triphosphates" in column 2 (name);

(b)in the entries relating to E 420, E 421, E 953, E 965, E 966 and E 967 there shall be inserted between column 3 (food) and column 4 (maximum level) a dividing line;

(c)at the end there shall be substituted for the entries relating to propane, butane and iso-butane the following entries-

11. In Schedule 5 (purity criteria) the entries relating to the miscellaneous additives listed in the Schedule to these Regulations shall be omitted.

Amendment of the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations 1977 and the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Scotland) Regulations 1977

12. In the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations 1977(6) and the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Scotland) Regulations 1977(7) there shall be substituted in the proviso to regulation 11(1) (permitted additional ingredients in fruit juice, concentrated fruit juice, dried fruit juice and fruit nectar) for sub-paragraph (a) the following sub-paragraph-

"(a)any such food may contain any permitted miscellaneous additive, so however that no fruit juice shall contain both added sugar and added acid;".

Regulation 11

SCHEDULEMISCELLANEOUS ADDITIVES FOR WHICH SPECIFIC PURITY CRITERIA SPECIFIED OR REFERRED TO IN SCHEDULE 5 TO THE PRINCIPAL REGULATIONS ARE OMITTED

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply to Great Britain, amend the Miscellaneous Food Additives Regulations 1995 ("the principal Regulations").

These Regulations-

(a)implement European Parliament and Council Directive 96/85/EC amending Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners, by adding processed eucheuma seaweed to the list of miscellaneous additives generally permitted for use in foods not referred to in Schedule 6, 7 or 8 to the principal Regulations (regulations 3(a) and 8);

(b)implement Commission Directive 96/77/EC laying down specific purity criteria on food additives other than colours and sweeteners (regulations 3(b) and (c), 7(a) and 11 and Schedule) and make a consequential amendment (regulation 5);

(c)clarify the provisions in the principal Regulations relating to the use of miscellaneous additives in or on compound foods (regulation 4);

(d)add to the list of permitted uses for propane, butane and iso-butane on a temporary basis in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 89/107/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning food additives authorised for use in foodstuffs intended for human consumption (regulation 10(c));

(e)make a few corrections to the principal Regulations to reflect provisions in Directive 95/2/EC, notably relating to using up old stocks of products from other Member States (regulations 7(b) to (d), 9 and 10(a) and (b));

(f)apply specified provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of the principal Regulations (regulation 6);

(g)make a correction to the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations 1977 and the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Scotland) Regulations 1977, as amended, to reflect Article 4(3) of Council Directive 93/77/EEC relating to fruit juices and certain similar products (OJ No. L244, 30.9.93, p. 23) (regulation 12).