The Fish Labelling (England) Regulations 2003

Statutory Instruments

2003 No. 461

FOOD, ENGLAND

The Fish Labelling (England) Regulations 2003

Made

26th February 2003

Laid before Parliament

6th March 2003

Coming into force

28th March 2003

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 16(1)(e) and (f), 17(2), 26(3) and 48(1) of the Food Safety Act 1990(1) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, having had regard in accordance with section 48(4A) of that Act to 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(2) and in accordance with section 48(4) and (4B) of the said Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and extent

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Fish Labelling (England) Regulations 2003, shall come into force on 28th March 2003 and shall extend to England only.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“Regulation 104/2000” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 104/2000 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products(3);

“Regulation 2065/2001” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2065/2001 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 104/2000 as regards informing consumers about fishery and aquaculture products(4);

and any expressions used in these Regulations and in Regulation 104/2000 or Regulation 2065/2001 have the same meaning as in those Regulations.

Offences relating to consumer information

3.—(1) Any person who, in contravention of Article 4.1 of Regulation 104/2000 (consumer information) as read with Regulation 2065/2001, offers for retail sale to the final consumer any of the products to which that Article applies shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(2) Any person who fails to comply with Article 8 of Regulation 2065/2001 (traceability and control) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

Lists of commercial designations

4.—(1) As regards England, the list of commercial designations which the United Kingdom is required to draw up and publish under Article 4(2) of Regulation 104/2000 is that set out in the Schedule to these Regulations, and accordingly, the commercial designations set out in that Schedule are names prescribed by law for the purposes of regulations 6(1), 7 and 8(a) of the Food Labelling Regulations 1996(5).

(2) In relation to a species included both in the Schedule to these Regulations and in a list published in English under Article 4(2) of Regulation 104/2000 having effect in another Member State or in another part of the United Kingdom, the commercial designation for that species in the list having effect in that other Member State or part of the United Kingdom shall be an alternative to the commercial designation for that species set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Omission of reference to the production method

5.  In the case described in Article 4.2 of Regulation 2065/2001 (situation where it is obvious from commercial designation and catch area that the species is caught at sea) it shall not be a contravention of Article 4.1 of Regulation 104/2000 to offer for retail sale to the final consumer a fisheries product to which that Article applies without the product being marked or labelled with the production method.

Small quantities of products

6.—(1) For the purposes of Article 4(1) of Regulation 104/2000 as read with Article 7 of Regulation 2065/2001, the small quantity of products which may be sold directly to consumers shall be products to a value not exceeding 20 Euro for each purchase.

(2) For the purposes of this regulation, the reference to 20 Euro shall be taken to be a reference to the sterling equivalent of that number of Euro, converted by reference to the rate of conversion published annually on the first working day of the preceding September in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Communities or, if no rate is published in it on that day, the first rate published in it thereafter.

Additional information relating to the catch area

7.  The indication of catch area required by Article 4(1)(c) of Regulation 104/2000 may, where the circumstances described in Article 5(1)(c) of Regulation 2065/2001 apply, indicate the various Member States or third countries in which the product was farmed.

Provisional commercial designations

8.—(1) For the purposes of Article 2 of Regulation 2065/2001 (provisional commercial designations), the Food Standards Agency (“the Agency”) shall be the competent authority.

(2) The Agency shall draw up and publish a list of provisional commercial designations laid down pursuant to the said Article 2.

Enforcement

9.  Each food authority shall enforce and execute these Regulations in its area.

Application of various provisions of the Act

10.  The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the modification that any reference in those provisions to the Act or Part of the Act shall be construed as a reference to these Regulations and to those provisions of Regulation 104/2000 and Regulation 2065/2001 to which these Regulations relate—

(a) section 3 (presumption that food is intended for human consumption);

(b) section 20 (offences due to fault of another person);

(c) section 21 (defence of due diligence) as it applies for the purposes of section 8, 14 or 15;

(d) section 30(8) (which relates to documentary evidence);

(e) section 32 of the Act (powers of entry);

(f) section 33(1) (obstruction etc of officers);

(g) section 33(2) with the modification that the reference to “any such requirement as is mentioned in subsection (1) (b) above” shall be deemed to be a reference to any such requirement as is mentioned in that subsection as applied by sub-paragraph (f) above;

(h) section 35(1) (punishment of offences) insofar as it relates to offences under section 33(1) as applied by sub-paragraph (f) above;

(i) section 35(2) and (3) insofar as it relates to offences under section 33(2) as applied by sub-paragraph (g) above;

(j) section 36 (offences by bodies corporate);

(k) section 44 (protection of officers acting in good faith).

Revocation

11.  Paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (prescribed names of fish and shellfish) is revoked insofar as it extends to England.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health

Hazel Blears

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Department of Health

26th February 2003

Regulation 4

SCHEDULE COMMERCIAL DESIGNATIONS

1.—(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) of this paragraph, the commercial designation for any species of fish specified in column 2 of the following Table shall be a name specified for that species in the corresponding entry in column 1 of the said Table.

(2) A customary name may be used for any species of fish which has been subjected to smoking or any similar process, unless the name of the species in column 2 of the following Table is followed by an asterisk. In such cases the name used for the food when the fish is smoked shall be either—

(a) a name specified for that species in column 1 of the said Table preceded by the word “smoked”, or

(b) except in the case of Salmo salar (L.), “smoked Pacific salmon”.

(3) Sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, as read with the following Table, shall not apply to fish regulated by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2136/89(6) laying down common marketing standards for preserved sardines, or Council Regulation (EEC) No 1536/92(7) laying down common marketing standards for preserved tuna and bonito.

Column 1	Column 2
Commercial designation	Species of fish
Sea Fish
Anchovy	All species of the family Engraulidae
Barracuda	All species of Sphyraena
Barramundi	Lates calcarifer
Bass or Sea bass	Dicentrarchus labrax (L.)
Japanese sea bass	Lateolabrax japonicus
Spotted sea bass	Dicentrarchus punctatus
Southern rock bass	Paralabrax callaensis
Bigeye	All species of Priacanthus
Bluefish or Tailor	Pomatomus saltatrix
Bogue	Boops boops
Bonito	All species of Sarda All species of Euthynnus, with the exception of Euthynnus (Katsuwonus) pelamis All species of Auxis
Brill	Scophthalmus rhombus (L.)
Brisling	Sprattus sprattus (L.) when canned
Catfish or Rockfish or Wolffish	All species of Anarhichas
Cobia	Rachycentron canadum
Cod or Codling	Gadus morhua
Pacific cod or Cod	Gadus macrocephalus
Greenland cod or Cod	Gadus ogac
Saffron cod	Eleginus gracilis
Red cod	Pseudophycis bachus
Blue cod	Parapercis colias
Coley or Saithe or Coalfish	Pollachius virens (L.)
Conger	All species of Conger
Croaker or Drum or Jewfish	All species of the family Sciaenidae
Dab	Limanda limanda (L.)
Yellowtail dab	Limanda ferruginea
Pacific sand dab	Citharichthys sordidus
Dogfish or Flake or Huss or Rigg or Rock Salmon or Rock Eel	All species of Galeorhinus All species of Mustelus All species of Scyliorhinus Galeus melastomus Squalus acanthias (L.)
Dory or John Dory or St Peter’s fish	Zeus faber (L.)
Eel	All species of Anguilla
Emperor	All species of Lethrinus
Escolar or Snake Mackerel	All species of the family Gempylidae
Flounder	Platichthys flesus (L.)
Flying fish	All species of the family Exocoetidae
Greenling	Ophiodon elongatus
Grouper	All species of Mycteroperca All species of Epinephelus
Gurnard	All species of the family Triglidae Peristedion cataphractum (L.)
Haddock	Melanogrammus aeglefinus (L.)
Hake	All species of Merluccius Alternatively, the following may be used
Cape hake	Merluccius capensis Merluccius paradoxus
White hake	Urophycis tenuis
Halibut	Hippoglossus hippoglossus (L.) Hippoglossus stenolepis
Black halibut or Mock halibut	Reinhardtius hippoglossoides (Walbaum)
Herring	Clupea harengus (L.)
Hilsa	Tenualosa ilisha
Hoki	Macruronus novaezelandiae
Chilean hoki	Macruronus magellanicus
Jack or Scad or Horse Mackerel or Trevally	All species of Caranx All species of Hemicaranx All species of Seriola All species of Trachurus All species of Decapterus
Kingklip	Genypterus capensis
Ladyfish	All species of the family Elopidae
Ling	All species of Molva
Lumpfish or Lumpsucker	Cyclopterus lumpus
Mackerel	All species of Scomber
King Mackerel or Kingfish	Scomberomorus cavalla
Mahi Mahi	Coryphaena hippurus
Marlin	All species of Makaira
Megrim	All species of Lepidorhombus
Milkfish	Chanos chanos
Monk(fish) or Angler(fish)	Lophius piscatorius (L.) Lophius americanus
Cape monk(fish) or Cape angler(fish)	Lophius vomerinus
Red mullet	All species of Mullus
Goatfish	All other species of the family Mullidae
Grey mullet	All species of Mugil All species of Liza All species of Chelon
Opah or Moonfish	All species of Lampris
Orange roughy	Hoplostethus atlanticus
Parrotfish	All species of the family Scaridae
Picarel	Spicara smaris
Pilchard	Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum)
Pacific pilchard	Sardinops sagax that has been caught in the Pacific Ocean
South Atlantic pilchard	Sardinops sagax that has been caught in the South Atlantic Ocean
Plaice	Pleuronectes platessa (L.)
American plaice	Hippoglossoides platessoides (Fabr.)
Pollack or Pollock or Lythe	Pollachius pollachius (L.)
Pacific pollack or Pacific pollock or Alaska pollack or Alaska pollock	Theragra chalcogramma (Pallas)
Pomfret or Butterfish	All species of Brama All species of Stromateus All species of Pampus
Poor cod	Trisopterus minutus
Pout or Pout Whiting or Pouting or Bib	Trisopterus luscus
Rainbow runner	Elagatis bipinnulata
Redfish or Ocean perch or Rose fish	All species of Sebastes All species of Helicolenus
Sablefish	Anoplopoma fimbria
Sailfish	All species of Istiophorus
Sardine	Small Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum)
Sardinella	All species of Sardinella
Scabbard fish or Sabre or Sabre fish or Silver sabre or Black sabre	Lepidopus caudatus Aphanopus carbo
Sea bream or Porgy	All species of the family Sparidae except Boops boops
Sild	Small Clupea harengus (L.), when canned Small Sprattus sprattus (L.), when canned
Skate or Ray or Roker	All species of Raja
Smelt or Sparling	All species of Osmerus
Snapper	All species of the family Lutjanidae Alternatively, the following may be used
Jobfish	All species of Aphareus All species of Aprion All species of Pristipomoides
Snook	All species of Centropomus
Sole or Dover sole	Solea solea (L.)
Butter sole	Isopsetta isolepis
Californian sole	Parophrys vetulus
Lemon sole	Microstomus kitt (Walbaum)
Petrale sole	Eopsetta jordani
Rex sole or Long-finned sole	Glyptocephalus zachirus
Rock sole	Lepidopsetta bilineata
Pacific sole	Microstomus pacificus
Torbay sole or Witch	Glyptocephalus cynoglossus (L.)
Sprat	Sprattus sprattus (L.), except when canned
Swordfish	Xiphias gladius
Tarpon	All species of the family Megalopidae
Threadfin bream	All species of Nemipterus
Toothfish or Icefish	Dissostichus mawsoni Dissostichus eleginoides
Tuna or Tunny	All species of Thunnus
Skipjack tuna (or tuna)	Katsuwonus pelamis
Albacore tuna (or tuna)	Thunnus alalunga
Yellowfin tuna (or tuna)	Thunnus albacares
Bluefin tuna (or tuna)	Thunnus thynnus
Bigeye tuna (or tuna)	Thunnus obesus
Turbot	Psetta maxima
Wahoo	Acanthocybium solandri
Whitebait	Small Clupea harengus (L.) Small Sprattus sprattus (L.) (except when canned)
Whiting	Merlangius merlangus (L.)
Blue whiting	Micromesistius poutassou (Risso)
Southern blue whiting	Micromesistius australis
Winter flounder	Pseudopleuronectes americanus (Walbaum)
Salmon and Freshwater Fish
Bacha	Eutropiichthys vacha
Batashi	Pseudeutropius atherinoides
Carp	All species of the family Cyprinidae Alternatively the following may be used
Mowrala	Amblypharyngodon mola
Banspata	Danio devario
Bata	Labeo bata
Kalibous	Labeo calbasu
Ghania	Labeo gonius
Ruhi	Labeo rohita
Punti	Puntius sarana
Chelapata	Salmostoma bacaila
Catfish or American catfish or Channel catfish	All species of the family Ictaluridae
Catfish	All species of the family Clariidae All species of the family Siluridae All species of the family Bagridae Alternatively the following may be used
Magur	Clarias batrachus
Gulsha	Mystus bleekeri
Buzuri	Mystus tengara
Tengra	Mystus vittatus
Pabda	Ompok pabda
Ayre	Sperata aor
Boal	Wallago attu
Chapila	Gudusia chapra
Char	All species of Salvelinus
Kakila	Xenentodon cancila
Keski	Corica soborna
Khalisha	Colisa fasciatus
Koi	Anabas testudineus
Largebaim	Mastacembelus armatus
Meni	Nandus nandus
Nile perch	Lates niloticus
Pacific dory or Vietnamese sole	Pangasius bocourti
Patabaim	Macrognathus aculeatus
Queen fish	Botia dario
River cobbler	Pangasius micronemus Pangasius hypophthalmus
Salmon or Atlantic salmon	Salmo salar (L.)*
Cherry salmon or Pacific salmon	Oncorhynchus masou masou*
Chum salmon or Keta salmon	Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum)*
Medium red salmon or Coho salmon or Silver salmon	Oncorhynchus kisutch (Walbaum)*
Pink salmon	Oncorhynchus gorbuscha (Walbaum)*
Red salmon or Sockeye salmon	Oncorhynchus nerka (Walbaum)*
Spring salmon or King salmon or Chinook salmon or Pacific salmon	Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum)*
Shol	Channa striata
Taki	Channa punctata
Tilapia	All species of Tilapia All species of Oreochromis
Trout or Brown trout	Salmo trutta trutta (L.) which has spent all of its life in fresh water
Sea trout or Salmon trout	Salmo trutta trutta (L.) which has spent part of its life in sea water
Cut-throat trout or trout	Oncorhynchus clarki clarki
Rainbow trout or Steelhead trout or trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss
Shellfish
Abalone or Ormer	All species of Haliotis
Clam or Hard shell clam	Mercenaria mercenaria (L.) Venus verrucosa (L.)
Clam or Razor clam	All species of Ensis and Solen
Geoduck or Geoduck clam	Panopea abrupta
Surf clam	All species of Spisula
Cockle	All species of Cerastoderma
Crab	All species of the order Brachyura All species of the family Lithodidae
Crayfish	All species of the family Astacidae All species of the family Parastacidae All species of the family Austroastacidae All species of the family Cambaridae
Cuttlefish	All species of Sepia Rossia macrosoma
Lobster	All species of Homarus
Slipper lobster	All species of the family Scyllaridae
Squat lobster	All species of the family Galatheidae
Crawfish or Spiny lobster or Rock lobster	All species of Panulirus All species of Palinurus All species of Jasus
Indian ocean lobster	Puerulus sewelli
Mussel	All species of the family Mytilidae
Octopus	All species of Octopus
Oyster	All species of Crassostrea All species of Ostrea
Oyster or Portuguese oyster	Crassostrea angulata (Lmk.)
Oyster or Pacific oyster or Rock oyster	Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg)
Oyster or Native oyster	Ostrea edulis (L.)
Prawn or Shrimp	Whole fish (of a size which, when cooked, have a count of less than 397 per kg) or tails (of a size which, when peeled and cooked, have a count of less than 1,323 per kg) of— all species of the family Palaemonidae, all species of the family Penaeidae, and all species of the family Pandalidae
King prawn	All species of the family Palaemonidae All species of the family Penaeidae Where the count is less than 123 per kg (head on/shell on) or less than 198 per kg (head off/shell on) or less than 242 per kg (head off/shell off)
Tiger prawn	Penaeus monodon Penaeus semisulcatus Penaeus esculentus Penaeus kerathurus Penaeus japonicus Parapenaeopsis hardwickii Parapenaeopsis sculptilis
Scallop or King scallop	Pecten maximus
Atlantic scallop or Scallop	Placopecten magellanicus
Queen scallop or Queen or Scallop	Chlamys (Aequipecten) opercularis
Scallop or Common scallop	All species of the family Pectinidae
Scampi or Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn or Langoustine	Nephrops norvegicus (L.)
Pacific scampi	Metanephrops andamanicus Metanephrops challengeri Metanephrops thomsoni
Shrimp	Whole fish (of a size which, when cooked, have a count of 397 per kg or more) or tails (of a size which, when peeled and cooked, have a count of 1,323 per kg or more) of— all species of the family Palaemonidae, all species of the family Penaeidae, and all species of the family Pandalidae
Shrimp or Pink shrimp	Pandalus montagui
Shrimp or Brown shrimp	All species of Crangon
Squid	All species of Loligo All species of Illex Ommastrephes sagittatus
Arrow squid	Nototodarus sloani Nototodarus gouldi
Whelk	All species of Buccinum
Winkle	All species of Littorina

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which extend to England only, provide for the execution and enforcement of Title 1, Chapter 2 of Council Regulation (EC) 104/2000 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products as applied by Commission Regulation (EC) 2065/2001 laying down detailed rules on the application of Council Regulation (EC) 104/2000 as regards informing consumers about fishery and aquaculture products.

Title 1 of Chapter 2 of Council Regulation (EC) 104/2000 imposes requirements regarding the provision of information about the commercial designation, production method and catch area of certain fishery and aquaculture products offered for retail sale to the final consumer. It further provides for Member States to draw up and publish a list of commercial designations for at least the species listed in Annexes I to IV of the Regulation. Commission Regulation (EC) 2065/2001 describes in more detail the information to be provided to consumers and the exemptions that may be allowed. It also provides for the necessary information to be provided at each stage of the marketing process.

These Regulations:

(a) provide a list, as regards England, of the commercial designations required to be drawn up by the United Kingdom (regulation 4 and the Schedule) and further provide for the granting of provisional commercial designations (regulation 8);

(b) make provision as to the relaxation of the requirements in certain circumstances in relation to information about the production method (regulation 5); in the case of direct sales of small quantities to consumers by fishermen or aquaculture producers (regulation 6) and with regard to the inclusion of additional information about catch area (regulation 7);

(c) create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 3), specify enforcement authorities (regulation 9) and incorporate specified provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 (regulation 10);

(d) revoke the fish labelling requirements set out in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 in relation to England (regulation 11).

A Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the Library of each House of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from Food Labelling Division, Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH.

(1)

1990 c. 16. Functions formerly exercisable by “the Ministers” are now exercisable in relation to England by the Secretary of State pursuant to paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the Food Standards Act 1999 (1999 c. 28), and paragraphs 12 and 21 of that Schedule amend sections 17 and 48 of the 1990 Act. Functions of “the Ministers” so far as exercisable in relation to Wales were transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by S.I. 1999/672 and those functions so far as exercisable in relation to Scotland were transferred to the Scottish Ministers by section 53 of the Scotland Act 1998 (1999 c. 46). Regulation 13(4) of S.I. 2000/656 expressly authorises the Secretary of State to revoke and amend existing Regulations made by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (whether with others or not) under the Food Safety Act 1990. Section 26(3) of the 1990 Act was amended by section 40(4) of, and Schedule 6 to, the Food Standards Act 1999.

(2)

OJ No. L31, 1.2.2002, p. 1; laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety.

(3)

OJ No. L17, 21.1.2000, p. 22.

(4)

OJ No. L278, 23.10.2001, p. 6.

(5)

S.I. 1996/1499; regulation 6(4) (which defines “prescribed by law” for the purposes of regulations 6(1), 7 and 8(a)) was inserted by S.I. 1998/1398.

(6)

OJ No. L212, 22.7.89, p. 79.

(7)

OJ No. L163, 17.6.92, p. 1.