The Food (Peanuts from China) (Emergency Control) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2002

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which extend to England only, revoke and re-enact with changes the Food (Peanuts from China) (Emergency Control) (England) Regulations 2002. The revocation is effected by regulation 7.

The Regulations implement Commission Decision 2002/79/EC imposing special conditions on the import of peanuts and certain products derived from peanuts originating in, or consigned from, China (OJ No. L34, 5.2.2002, p.21) as amended by Commission Decision 2002/233/EC (OJ No. L78, 21.3.2002, p.14) and Commission Decision 2002/678/EC (OJ No. L229, 27.8.2002, p.33). The categories of products which are subject to those conditions are specified in Article 1.1 of Commission Decision 2002/79/EC as so amended.

The Regulations—

(a) prohibit the importation of “Chinese peanuts” (defined in regulation 2(1)), except where—

(i) they are accompanied by a Chinese Government health certificate and the results of official sampling and analysis, the importation takes place only through a specified point of entry and the consignment and each of its constituent bags or other containers are identified with a code corresponding with that specified on the health certificate and on the accompanying report containing the sampling and analysis results; or

(ii) (even though they are not accompanied by a Chinese Government health certificate or the results of official sampling and analysis) they left China before 11th March 2002, the operator shows, by means of sampling and analysis in the prescribed manner, that the levels of aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin in the products do not exceed the maximum permitted levels and the importation takes place only through a specified point of entry (regulation 3);

(b) provide for their enforcement (regulation 4);

(c) apply with modifications certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of the Regulations and provide for sampling and analysis (regulation 5); and

(d) provide for the redispatch or destruction of illegal imports of controlled Chinese peanuts (regulation 6).

The principal changes effected by these Regulations are that—

(a) the previous requirement that each consignment of controlled Chinese peanuts be identified by a code is additionally applied (in the case of consignments leaving China after 1st September 2002) to each bag (or other type of packaging used) making up the consignment concerned;

(b) the previous requirement that each consignment of controlled Chinese peanuts be subjected to sampling and analysis in order to ensure compliance with Commission Decision 2002/79/EC is modified by providing that—

(i) only approximately 10% of such consignments, selected at random, should be so subjected,

(ii) consignments so subjected must be detained for that purpose,

(iii) the period of detention must not exceed 10 working days, and

(iv) an authorised officer of the relevant enforcement authority must issue a notice in writing stating that sampling has taken place and the results of the analysis of the sample; and

(c) an authorised officer of the relevant enforcement authority is empowered (subject to a right of appeal to a magistrates' court) to issue a notice ordering the re-dispatch of illegal imports of controlled Chinese peanuts.

No regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations.