Search Legislation

The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

 Help about what version

What Version

 Help about advanced features

Advanced Features

Changes over time for: Explanatory Notes

 Help about opening options

Alternative versions:

Changes to legislation:

There are currently no known outstanding effects for the The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations implement and enforce the following European instruments—

(a)

Council Directive 98/83/EC relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption (OJ No L 330, 3.11.98, p32), so far as it applies to water intended to be labelled and sold as “spring water” and bottled drinking water;

(b)

Directive 2009/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters (Recast) (OJ No L 164, 26.6.09, p45);

(c)

Commission Directive 2003/40/EC establishing the list, concentration limits and labelling requirements for the constituents of natural mineral waters and the conditions for using ozone-enriched air for the treatment of natural mineral waters and water bottled and labelled as “spring water” (OJ No L 126, 22.5.03, p34);

(d)

Commission Regulation (EU) No 115/2010 laying down the conditions for use of activated alumina for the removal of fluoride from natural mineral waters and water bottled and labelled “spring water”;

(e)

In relation to water bottled and labelled as “spring water” and bottled drinking water, Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom laying down the requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption (OJ No L 296, 7.11.13, p12).

The Regulations—

(a)

provide for exemptions from the Regulations in relation to specified types of water and for ice for cooling food (regulation 3);

(b)

prescribe the conditions for recognition of natural mineral water, the procedures for withdrawal of such recognition and provide for review of decisions not to grant or to withdraw recognition where that is requested by the person affected by the decision (regulations 4, 5, 6 and 7);

(c)

set out the conditions which must be satisfied for springs to be exploited with a view to marketing water from them as natural mineral water and prohibit exploitation of polluted springs until the cause of the pollution is eradicated (regulation 8);

(d)

prohibit subjection of natural mineral water to treatments and additions other than specified ones, subject to an exception in the case of such water when used in the manufacture of soft drinks (regulation 9);

(e)

prohibit bottling of natural mineral water where specified requirements relating to exploitation of the spring and bottling of the water are not complied with; prohibit bottling in containers not satisfying specified requirements and prohibit bottling of natural mineral water containing specified substances above specified limits and prescribe the methods to be used for detection of such substances (regulation 10);

(f)

restrict the labelling that may be applied to bottled natural mineral water (including effervescent natural mineral water), require such water to be labelled with specified information and in two respects regulate advertising of such water in addition to its labelling (regulations 11 and 12);

(g)

prohibit sale of water in a bottle whose marking or labelling uses the name “natural mineral water” unless it is such water; impose other prohibitions in relation to the sale of bottled natural mineral water; and prohibit the sale of natural mineral water from a single spring under more than one trade description (regulation 13);

(h)

prohibit bottling of water in a bottle labelled “spring water” unless the water satisfies specified requirements, prohibit such bottling where the water has been treated with ozone enriched air unless the treatment is an authorised one and prohibit exploitation of polluted springs until the cause of the pollution is eradicated (regulation 14);

(i)

prohibit subjection of water bottled and labelled “spring water” to treatments and additions other than specified ones. (Regulation 15);

(j)

impose restrictions on bottling and labelling water as “spring water” , require such water to be labelled with specified information and in one respect regulate advertising of such water in addition to its labelling (regulations 16 and 17);

(k)

prohibit sale of water bottled in a bottle labelled “spring water” if the water does not comply with the requirements as regards bottling and as regards labelling and advertisement in regulations 16 and 17 respectively, and prohibit sale of such water from one spring under more than one trade description (regulation 18);

(l)

prohibit bottling of drinking water unless it satisfies the requirements of Schedule 7 (regulation 19);

(m)

impose restrictions on the labelling and advertising of bottled drinking water (regulation 20 and 21);

(n)

prohibit sale of bottled drinking water not bottled in accordance with regulation 19 or not labelled in accordance with regulation 20 (regulation 22);

(o)

prescribes the requirements for monitoring natural mineral water, water bottled and labelled as “spring water” and bottled drinking water for the purpose of ensuring that the requirements of these Regulations are satisfied (regulations 23 to 31). Regulation 27 prescribes the remedial action that must be taken by a district council in relation to water bottled and labelled as “spring water” and bottled drinking water in the event on non-compliance with the parametric values for the parameters set out in Schedule 7;

(p)

imposes an obligation on district councils to execute and enforce the Regulations (regulation 32);

(q)

applies certain provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (1991 N.I.7) with modifications. This includes the application (with modifications) of Article 9(1), enabling an improvement notice to be served requiring compliance with specified provisions of the Regulations. The provisions, as applied, make the failure to comply with an improvement notice an offence (regulations 33, 34 and Schedule 12);

(r)

provides for transitional provisions (regulation 35);

(s)

revoke the Natural Mineral Water Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (S.R. 2007 No.420), the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009 (S.R.2009 No.260), the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (S.R.2010 No.68), the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (S.R.2010 No.127) and the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 (S.R. 2011 No.53) (regulation 36); and

(t)

makes consequential amendments to other legislation (regulation 37 and Schedule 13).

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

See additional information alongside the content

Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

Explanatory Memorandum

Explanatory Memorandum sets out a brief statement of the purpose of a Statutory Rule and provides information about its policy objective and policy implications. They aim to make the Statutory Rule accessible to readers who are not legally qualified and accompany any Northern Ireland Statutory Rule or Draft Northern Ireland Statutory Rule laid before the UK Parliament during the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as made version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources