2005 No. 288

FOOD

The Kava-kava in Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Made7th June 2005

Coming into operation11th July 2005

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety1 in exercise of the powers conferred on it by Articles 15(1)(a), (e) and (f), 25(1) and (3), 26(3) and 47(2) of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 19912, and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, having had regard in accordance with Article 47(3A) of the said Order to relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency, and after consultation both 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 safety3 and in accordance with Article 47(3) and (3B) of the said Order, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation and commencementI11

These Regulations may be cited as the Kava-kava in Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 11th July 2005.

InterpretationI22

In these Regulations –

“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 19924 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 19935;
“EEA State” means a State, which is a Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement;
“free circulation in member States” has the same meaning as in Article 23.2, as read with Article 24, of the Treaty establishing the European Community;
“Kava-kava” means a plant, or any part of or an extract from a plant, belonging to the species Piper methysticum;
“the Order” means the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

Prohibition on sale etc. of food consisting of or containing Kava-kavaI33

1

Subject to paragraph (2), no person shall –

a

sell, or

b

possess for sale or offer, expose or advertise for sale, or

c

import from a country outside the United Kingdom,

any food consisting of or containing Kava-kava.

2

The prohibition imposed by paragraph (1) shall not apply where the food consisting of or containing Kava-kava is imported from an EEA State, if the food –

a

originates in an EEA State, or

b

originates outside the European Economic Area, but is in free circulation in member states,

and is being, or is to be, exported to an EEA State other than the United Kingdom.

Penalty and enforcementI44

1

Any person who contravenes regulation 3 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

2

Each district council shall enforce and execute these Regulations within its district.

Application of various provisions of the OrderI55

1

The following provisions of the Order shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations and any reference in them to the Order shall be construed as a reference to these Regulations –

a

Articles 2(4) and 3 (extending meaning of “sale” etc.);

b

Article 4 (presumptions that food intended for human consumption);

c

Article 19 (offences due to fault of another person);

d

Article 20 (defence of due diligence) as it applies for the purposes of Articles 7, 13 or 14;

e

Article 21 (defence of publication in the course of business);

f

Article 30(8) (which relates to documentary evidence);

g

Article 34 (obstruction, etc., of officers);

h

Article 36 (punishment of offences) in so far as it relates to offences under Article 34(1) and (2) as applied by sub-paragraph (g).

2

Article 7(2) of the Order (which makes presumptions in the case of batches etc. of food) shall apply to food which it is an offence to sell under these Regulations as it applies to food which fails to comply with food safety requirements.

3

Article 8 of the Order (inspection and seizure of suspected food) shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as if food which it was an offence to sell under them was food which failed to comply with food safety requirements.

RevocationI66

The Kava-kava in Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 20036 are hereby revoked.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety on 7th June 2005.

Deirdre KennyA senior officer of theDepartment of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations revoke and replace the Kava-kava in Food Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.

These Regulations prohibit the sale, possession for sale, offer, exposure or advertisement for sale of any food consisting of, or containing Kava-kava (being 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 provide for an exception to the prohibition imposed above where the food is imported from an EEA State, if it originates from such a State but is in free circulation in member States (within the meaning of Article 23.2, as read with Article 24, of the EC Treaty), and is being, or is to be exported to an EEA State other than the United Kingdom (regulation 3(2)).

The European Commission was notified of these Regulations 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).