These Regulations prohibit the sale, possession for sale, offer, exposure or advertisement for sale, and the importation from outside the United Kingdom, of any food consisting of, or containing, Kava-kava (being a plant or part of a plant, or an extract from such a plant, belonging to the species Piper methysticum) (regulation 3). Any such food may be treated as being unfit for human consumption and liable to be seized and destroyed (regulation 5(3)).

These Regulations were notified in draft to the European Commission in accordance with Article 8 of the European Parliament and Council Directive 98/34/EC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services (O.J. No. L204, 21.7.1998, p. 37), as amended by the European Parliament and Council Directive 98/48/EC (O.J. No. L217, 5.8.1998, p. 18).