Food Safety Act 1990

49 Form and authentication of documents. E+W+S

(1) The following shall be in writing, namely—

(a) all documents authorised or required by or under this Act to be given, made or issued by a food authority; and

(b) all notices and applications authorised or required by or under this Act to be given or made to, or to any officer of, such an authority.

(2) [F1 the Secretary of State] may by regulations prescribe the form of any document to be used for any of the purposes of this Act and, if forms are so prescribed, those forms or forms to the like effect may be used in all cases to which those forms are applicable.

(3) Any document which a food authority are authorised or required by or under this Act to give, make or issue may be signed on behalf of the authority—

(a) by the proper officer of the authority as respects documents relating to matters within his province; or

(b) by any officer of the authority authorised by them in writing to sign documents of the particular kind or, as the case may be, the particular document.

(4) Any document purporting to bear the signature of an officer who is expressed—

(a) to hold an office by virtue of which he is under this section empowered to sign such a document; or

(b) to be duly authorised by the food authority to sign such a document or the particular document,

shall for the purposes of this Act, and of any regulations and orders made under it, be deemed, until the contrary is proved, to have been duly given, made or issued by authority of the food authority.

(5) In this section—

• “proper officer”, in relation to any purpose and to any food authority or any area, means the officer appointed for that purpose by that authority or, as the case may be, for that area;

• “signature” includes a facsimile of a signature by whatever process reproduced.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 49 substituted (1.4.2000) by 1999 c. 28, s. 40(1), Sch. 5 para. 8 (with ss. 38, 40(2)); S.I. 2000/1066, art. 2

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 49 transfer of functions (23.3.2005) by Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/849), art. 1, Sch. (with art. 6)

C2 S. 49 applied (with modifications) (S.) (1.1.2018) by The Novel Foods (Scotland) Regulations 2017 (S.S.I. 2017/415), regs. 1, 5(1)(i)

C3 S. 49 applied (with modifications) (E.) (8.3.2018) by The Novel Foods (England) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/154), regs. 1, 7(1)(i)

C4 S. 49(3)-(5) power to apply in part for certain purposes conferred (S.) (1.4.2015) by Food (Scotland) Act 2015 (asp 1), ss. 49(2)(c)(xi), 63(2) (with s. 62); S.S.I. 2015/99, art. 2

C5 S. 49(3)-(5) applied (with modifications) (S.) (30.6.2023) by The Food (Scotland) Act 2015 (Compliance Notices) Regulations 2023 (S.S.I. 2023/161), regs. 1(2), 3(d)

C6 S. 49(4) applied (with modifications) (5.11.1991) by S.I. 1991/2486, reg. 7(2)