The Food Safety(Northern Ireland) Order 1991

Special provisions for particular foods, etc.

17.—(1) Regulations may make provision—

(a) for prohibiting the carrying out of commercial operations with respect to novel foods or food sources from which such foods are intended to be derived of any class specified in the regulations; or

(b) for prohibiting the carrying out of such operations with respect to genetically modified food sources, or foods derived from such food sources, of any class so specified;

and in either case for excluding from the prohibition any food or food source which is of a description specified by or under the regulations.

(2) Regulations may also—

(a) prescribe, in relation to milk of any description which complies with such requirements as may be prescribed, such designation as the Department concerned considers appropriate;

(b) prohibit—

(i) all sales by retail; or

(ii) use, or possession for use, for the purposes of a business,

of milk, unless the milk is of a description to which a designation has been prescribed under sub-paragraph (a) and complies with the requirements of milk of that designation;

(c) make provision for—

(i) the issue of milk licences;

(ii) the authorisation of the sale of milk produced by the holder of a milk licence in any area where no milk of a description prescribed under sub-paragraph (a) is available; and

(iii) the imposition of conditions subject to which such a sale may be made.

(3) For the purposes of this Article a food source is genetically modified if any of the genes or other genetic material in the food source—

(a) has been modified by means of an artificial technique; or

(b) is inherited or otherwise derived through any number of replications, from genetic material which was so modified;

and in this paragraph “artificial technique” does not include any technique which involves no more than, or no more than the assistance of, naturally occurring processes of reproduction (including selective breeding techniques or in vitro fertilisation).