BAILII [Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]

United Kingdom Statutory Instruments


You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Statutory Instruments >> The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2003 No. 1478
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/legis/num_reg/2003/20031478.html

[New search] [Help]



STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS


2003 No. 1478

FOOD, ENGLAND

The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2003

  Made 5th June 2003 
  Laid before Parliament 6th June 2003 
  Coming into force 30th June 2003 

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 16(1)(a), (e) and (f), 17(2), 26(1)(a) and (3) and 48(1) of the Food Safety Act 1990[1], and now vested in him[2], having had regard, in accordance with section 48(4A) of that Act, to relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency, and after consultation 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 safety[3], and in accordance with section 48(4) and (4B) of that Act, makes the following Regulations:

Title, commencement and extent
     1. These Regulations may be cited as the Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2003, shall come into force on 30th June 2003 and shall extend to England only.

Interpretation
    
2.  - (1) In these Regulations - 

    (2) Other expressions used in these Regulations and in the Commission Regulation have the same meaning as in the Commission Regulation.

Offences and penalties
     3.  - (1) Subject to regulations 9 and 10, a person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale if - 

    (2) For the purposes of this regulation - 

Enforcement
    
4.  - (1) Subject to paragraph (2), it shall be the duty of each port health authority to execute and enforce these Regulations within its district.

    (2) In relation to any place which is not situated in the district of a port health authority, these Regulations shall be executed and enforced by the food authority for the area in which that place is situated.

Modification of section 29 of the Food Safety Act 1990 (procurement of samples) and analysis of samples
    
5.  - (1) In its application to the taking of a sample of any food specified in sections 1 to 5 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation, section 29 of the Act shall be modified so as to require the power to take samples under subsection (b) and (d) of that section to be exercised in accordance with the methods of taking samples described or referred to - 

    (2) The requirement is that, in the case of lettuce of the kind specified in point 1.3 or 1.4 of Section 1 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation, the minimum number of units required for each laboratory sample shall be ten.

    (3) Where, pursuant to section 29(b) or (d) of the Act as modified by paragraph (1), an authorised officer has taken a sample of any food of a description to which sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph applies, and he has submitted that sample to be analysed pursuant to section 30(1)(a) of the Act the person who analyses the sample shall ensure that - 

    (4) Where, pursuant to section 29(b) or (d) of the Act as modified by paragraph (1), an authorised officer has taken a sample of food of a description to which sub-paragraph (c) of that paragraph applies, and he has submitted that sample to be analysed pursuant to section 30(1)(a) of the Act the person who analyses the sample shall ensure that - 

    (5) Where, pursuant to section 29(b) or (d) of the Act as modified by paragraph (1), an authorised officer has taken a sample of food of a description to which sub-paragraph (d) of that paragraph applies, and he has submitted that sample to be analysed pursuant to section 30(1)(a) of the Act the person who analyses the sample shall ensure that - 

    (6) Where, pursuant to section 29(b) or (d) of the Act as modified by paragraph (1), an authorised officer has taken a sample of food of a description to which sub-paragraph (e) of that paragraph applies, and he has submitted that sample to be analysed pursuant to section 30(1)(a) of the Act the person who analyses the sample shall ensure that - 

Defence in relation to exports
     6. In any proceedings for an offence consisting of a contravention of regulation 3 it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that - 

Application of various sections of the Food Safety Act 1990
    
7.  - (1) The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the modification that any reference in those provisions to the Act or Part thereof shall be construed as a reference to these Regulations - 

    (2) Subject to paragraph (3), section 9 of the Act (inspection and seizure of suspected food) shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as if it read as follows - 

    (3) The expressions "authorised officer", "food authority", "port health authority", "human consumption", "placing on the market", "authorised spinach", "authorised lettuce", "Directive 98/53/EC", "Directive 2001/22/EC", "Directive 2002/26/EC" and "Directive 2002/69/EC", which are used in section 9 of the Act so far as it applies for the purposes of these Regulations by virtue of paragraph (2), shall, for those purposes, bear the meanings that those expressions respectively bear in these Regulations.

Re-dispatch or destruction of food imported into England that does not comply with these Regulations
    
8.  - (1) If it appears to an authorised officer of a port health authority or as the case may be food authority that any food contravenes regulation 3(1)(a)(i) or (b)(i) and has been imported into England, he may, after appropriate consultation with a person appearing to him to be the importer, serve on that person a notice requiring - 

    (2) In any case where such an appeal as is mentioned in paragraph (3) may be brought the notice served under paragraph (1) shall state - 

    (3) Any person who is aggrieved by the decision of an authorised officer to serve a notice under paragraph (1) may appeal to a magistrates' court, which shall be determine whether or not the notice was lawfully served.

    (4) The period within which such an appeal as is mentioned in paragraph (3) may be brought shall be 6 days from the date on which the notice was served exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays and the making of the complaint shall be deemed for the purpose of this paragraph to be the bringing of the appeal.

    (5) The procedure on an appeal to a magistrates' court under paragraph (3) shall be by way of complaint for an order, and the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980[
26] shall apply to the proceedings.

    (6) If the court allows an appeal brought under paragraph (3) the authority concerned shall compensate the owner of the food concerned for any depreciation in its value resulting from the action taken by the authorised officer.

    (7) Any disputed question as to the right to or the amount of any compensation payable under paragraph (6) shall be determined by arbitration.

    (8) Any person who breaches the terms of a notice served under paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

Transitional provisions
     9. Regulation 3(1)(a)(i) and (b)(i) shall not apply in relation to any food lawfully placed on the market in the European Economic Area before 5th April 2002 which is covered by, but fails to meet the requirements of, Article 1.1, 2.1 or 2.2 of the Commission Regulation, as read with Article 1.2 of that Regulation, to the extent that the failure consists in the food being placed on the market containing a contaminant specified in section 3 or 4 of Annex I to that Regulation at a level higher than that specified in the second column of the section concerned.

    
10. Regulation 3(1)(a)(ii) and (b)(ii) shall not apply in relation to any contravention of Article 2.3 of the Commission Regulation, to the extent that the contravention consists in the use as a food ingredient, for the production of a compound foodstuff, of food lawfully placed on the market in the European Economic Area before 5th April 2002 and containing a contaminant specified in section 3 or 4 of Annex I to that Regulation at a level higher than that specified in the second column of the section concerned.

Consequential amendments
    
11. In Schedule 1 to the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990[27] so far as they extend to England (provisions to which those Regulations do not apply) for the entry relating to the Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2002 there shall be substituted the following entry - 

"The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2003 (to the extent that a sample falls to be prepared and analysed in accordance with regulation 5 thereof) S.I. 2003/1478".


Revocation of the Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2002 and the Contaminants in Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2002
     12. The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2002[28] and the Contaminants in Food (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2002[29] shall be revoked.



Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health


Hazel Blears
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health

5th June 2003



EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)


    
1. These Regulations, which extend to England only and revoke and re-enact with changes the Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/890, as amended) - 

     2. These Regulations - 

     3. A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations and placed in the Library of each House of Parliament, together with a transposition note setting out how the main elements of the Commission Directives referred to in paragraph 1 above are transposed into domestic law by these Regulations. Copies may be obtained from the Chemical Contaminants and Animal Feed Division of the Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH.


Notes:

[1] 1990 c. 16.back

[2] Functions formerly exercisable by "the Ministers" (being, in relation to England and Wales and acting jointly, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with health in England and food and health in Wales and, in relation to Scotland, the Secretary of State) are now exercisable in relation to England by the Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the Food Standards Act 1999 (1999 c. 28). Those functions, so far as exercisable in relation to Wales, were transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by S.I. 1999/672 as read with section 40(3) of the 1999 Act. Those functions, so far as exercisable in relation to Scotland, were transferred to the Scottish Ministers by section 53 of the Scotland Act 1998 (1998 c. 46) as read with section 40(2) of the 1999 Act. Section 17(2) was amended by paragraph 12(b), and section 48 by paragraph 21, of Schedule 5 to the 1999 Act.back

[3] OJ No. L31, 1.2.2002, p.1.back

[4] OJ No. L77, 16.3.2001, p.1, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 81/2002 (OJ No. L266, 3.10.2002, p.30 and EEA supplement No. 49, 3.10.2002).back

[5] OJ No. L313, 30.11.2001, p.60, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 81/2002.back

[6] OJ No L321, 6.12.2001, p.1, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 81/2002.back

[7] OJ No L37, 7.2.2002, p.4, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 139/2002 (OJ No. L 19, 23.1.2003, p.3 and EEA supplement No. 5, 23.1.2003).back

[8] OJ No. L41, 13.2.2002, p.12, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 100/2002 (OJ No. L298, 31.10.2002, p.13 and EEA supplement No 54, 31.10.2002, p.11).back

[9] OJ No. L75, 16.3.2002, p.18, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 161/2002 (OJ No. L38, 13.2.2003, p.16 and EEA supplement No. 9, 13.2.2003, p.13).back

[10] OJ No. L80, 23.3.2002, p.42.back

[11] OJ No. L86, 3.4.2002, p.5, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 161/2002.back

[12] OJ No. L155, 14.6.2002, p.63, as adopted by EEA Joint Committee Decision No. 161/2002.back

[13] OJ No. L372, 31.12.85, p.50.back

[14] OJ No. L290, 24.11.93, p.14.back

[15] OJ No. L201, 17.7.1998, p.93.back

[16] OJ No. L75, 16.3.2002, p.44.back

[17] OJ No. L77, 16.3.2001, p.14.back

[18] OJ No. L325, 8.12.2001, p.34.back

[19] OJ No. L75, 16.3.2002, p.38.back

[20] OJ No L209, 6.8.2002, p.5.back

[21] OJ No. L252, 20.9.2002, p.40.back

[22] OJ No. L1, 3.1.94, p.3.back

[23] OJ No. L1, 3.1.94, p.37.back

[24] 1984 c. 22.back

[25] OJ No. L187, 16.7.2002, p.30.back

[26] 1980 c. 43.back

[27] S.I. 1990/2463. The relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1999/1603 and S.I. 2002/890.back

[28] S.I. 2002/890.back

[29] S.I. 2002/1923.back



ISBN 0 11 046327 7


 
© Crown copyright 2003
Prepared 11 June 2003


BAILII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback | Donate to BAILII
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/legis/num_reg/2003/20031478.html