The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004

Title, commencement and application

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004 and shall apply in relation to England only.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) below these Regulations shall come into force on 5th April 2004.

(3) Regulations 5, 8(2), 11(a) and 12(2) shall come into force on 1st July 2004.

Amendments to the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999

2.  The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999(1) shall be amended insofar as they apply to England in accordance with regulations 3 to 14.

3.—(1) In regulation 2 paragraph (1) after the definition of “the Agency” there shall be inserted the following definition —

““authorised ozone-enriched air oxidation technique” means —

(a)

a treatment with ozone–enriched air authorised and carried out in accordance with Schedule 5; or

(b)

in the case of water brought into England from other parts of the United Kingdom or from another EEA State a treatment which complies with Article 5 of Directive 2003/40 as implemented in that part of the United Kingdom or that EEA State.”.

(2) In regulation 2 paragraph (1) after the definition of “Directive 98/83” there shall be inserted —

““Directive 2003/40” means 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 spring waters.”.

4.  In regulation 7 paragraph (1) for sub–paragraph (a) there shall be substituted —

“(a) any treatment other than —

(i) an authorised ozone–enriched air oxidation technique;

(ii) a treatment referred to in sub–paragraph (a) or (d) of Article 4.1; or”

5.  After regulation 7 there shall be inserted —

“7A.— (1) No person shall bottle any natural mineral water which, at the time of bottling, contains any substance listed in Schedule 6 at a level which exceeds the maximum limit specified in relation to that substance in that Schedule.

(2) No person shall sell any natural mineral water bottled in contravention of paragraph (1).

(3) The methods used for detection of the substances listed in Schedule 6 shall conform to the performance characteristics for analysis specified in Schedule 7.

(4) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2) above, where —

(a) (i) the water concerned exceeds the maximum limits specified in Schedule 6,

(ii) the water concerned was bottled in another EEA State,

(iii) the EEA State concerned had not, at the time of bottling, implemented Article 2(1) of Directive 2003/40, and

(iv) the water was bottled prior to 1st January 2006 and at the date of bottling otherwise complied with Directives 80/777, 98/83 and the provisions of Directive 2003/40 which were in force in that EEA State; or

(b) (i) the water concerned exceeds the maximum limits specified in Schedule 6 relating to nickel and fluoride,

(ii) the water concerned was bottled in another EEA State,

(iii) the EEA State concerned had not, at the time of bottling, implemented Article 2(1) of Directive 2003/40 insofar as it relates to maximum limits for nickel and fluoride, and

(iv) the water was bottled prior to 1st January 2008 and at the date of bottling otherwise complied with Directives 80/777, 98/83 and the provisions of Directive 2003/40 which were in force in that EEA State,

that water shall be deemed not to exceed the maximum limits specified in Schedule 6.”.

6.  After regulation 9 there shall be inserted —

“9A.   No person shall bottle any natural mineral water, or sell natural mineral water which is bottled, if it has been treated with ozone–enriched air unless that treatment is an authorised ozone–enriched air oxidation technique.”.

7.  For regulation 10 paragraph (3) there shall be substituted —

“(3) Natural mineral water shall be bottled in a bottle marked or labelled with —

(a) where it has undergone the treatment of total or partial elimination of free carbon dioxide by exclusively physical methods, the indication “fully de–carbonated” or “partially de–carbonated” as appropriate;

(b) where it has undergone an authorised ozone–enriched air oxidation technique, the words “water subjected to an authorised ozone–enriched air oxidation technique”, which shall appear in proximity to the analytical composition of characteristic constituents;

(c) where its fluoride concentration exceeds 1.5 mg/l —

(i) the words “contains more than 1.5 mg/l of fluoride not suitable for regular consumption by infants and children under 7 years of age”, which shall appear in proximity to the trade name and in clearly visible characters,

(ii) the actual fluoride content in relation to the physico–chemical composition, which shall be included within the mandatory information referred to in paragraph (4) below; and

(d) the mandatory information referred to in paragraph (4) below.”.

8.—(1) In regulation 10(5)(b), after “has undergone any of the treatments referred to in paragraph (3)(a)” there shall be inserted the words “or (b)”.

(2) In regulation 10(5)(c) the word “or” shall be omitted, and at the end of sub–paragraph (d) there shall be added —

“or

(e) does not bear the labelling indications set out in sub–paragraph (c) of paragraph (3) above where required by that sub–paragraph.”.

9.  In regulation 11(1) at the end of sub–paragraph (d) the word “and” shall be omitted and at the end of sub–paragraph (e) the following shall be inserted —

“and

(f) where the water has undergone an authorised ozone–enriched air oxidation technique, the bottle is marked or labelled with the words “water subjected to an authorised ozone–enriched air oxidation technique” which shall appear in proximity to the particulars in paragraph (3) of this regulation.”.

10.  After regulation 11 there shall be inserted —

“11A.   No person shall cause any water to be bottled in a bottle marked or labelled with the description spring water, or sell any bottled water which is described as spring water, if it has been treated with ozone–enriched air unless that treatment is an authorised ozone–enriched air oxidation technique.”.

11.  In regulation 17 —

(a) after the number “7,” there shall be inserted “7A(1) or (2),”;

(b) after the number “9,” there shall be inserted “9A,”;

(c) after “11(1), (2), (3) or (5),” there shall be inserted “11A,”.

12.—(1) In regulation 18, after paragraph (3) there shall be added the following —

“(4) In any proceedings for an offence for contravening regulation 9A, 10(3)(b), 11(1)(f) or 11A it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that —

(a) the water in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed was bottled and marked or labelled before 1st July 2004; and

(b) the matters constituting the alleged offence would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations as they stood immediately before the coming into force of the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004.”.

(2) In regulation 18, after the paragraph (4) inserted by paragraph (1) above there shall be added the following —

“(5) In any proceedings for an offence for contravening regulations 7A or 10(5)(e) it shall be a defence for the accused to prove that —

(a) the water in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed was bottled and marked or labelled as the case may be, before 1st July 2004; and

(b) the matters constituting the alleged offence would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations as they stood immediately before the coming into force of the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004.”.

13.—(1) In Schedule 1 Part I paragraph 2, sub–paragraph (c), for the words following “contains no substance” there shall be substituted the words —

“listed in Schedule 6 at a level which exceeds the maximum limit specified in relation to that substance in that Schedule.”.

(2) In Schedule 1 Part II paragraph 2, sub–paragraph (c), for the words following “contains no substance” there shall be substituted the words —

“listed in Schedule 6 at a level which exceeds the maximum limit specified in relation to that substance in that Schedule.”.

14.  After Schedule 4 there shall be added Schedules 5, 6 and 7 contained in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Consequential amendments

15.—(1) In Schedule 1 to the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990(2) (provisions to which those Regulations do not apply) the reference in the second column, opposite to the reference in the first column to the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999 shall be amended insofar as it applies to England so as to read “S.I. 1999/1540 as amended by S.I. 2000/656, S.I. 2003/666 and S.I. 2004/656”.

(2) In the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995(3) in paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation), in the definition of “water”, after the words “as amended by the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2003” there shall be inserted the words “and the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2004”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health

Melanie Johnson

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State,

Department of Health

8th March 2004