2008 No. 1287
The Spreadable Fats (Marketing Standards) and the Milk and Milk Products (Protection of Designations) (England) Regulations 2008
Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 16(1), 17(2), 26(1) and (3) and 48(1) of the Food Safety Act 19901, and now vested in him2.
In accordance with section 48(4A) of that Act he has had regard to relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency.
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, there has been open and transparent public consultation during the preparation and evaluation of these Regulations.
Title, application and commencement1
These Regulations may be cited as the Spreadable Fats (Marketing Standards) and the Milk and Milk Products (Protection of Designations) (England) Regulations 2008, apply in relation to England only and come into force on 1st July 2008.
Interpretation2
1
In these Regulations —
“the Act” means the Food Safety Act;
“the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1234/2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation)4;
“the Commission Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EC) No.445/2007 laying down certain detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No. 2991/94 laying down standards for spreadable fats and of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1898/87 on the protection of designations used in the marketing of milk and milk products5;
“F6EU provision” means a provision referred to in regulation 6(2);
“food authority” has the meaning it bears by virtue of section 5(1) of the Act, except that it does not include the appropriate Treasurer referred to in section 5(1)(c) of the Act (which deals with the Inner Temple and Middle Temple);
“sell” includes possess for sale, and offer, expose or advertise for sale;
“sell by retail” means to sell to a person who is not buying for the purpose of re-sale;
F1...
F1...
2
Other expressions used in these Regulations and in the Council Regulation or the Commission Regulation have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in the Council Regulation or the Commission Regulation.
Exemptions from these Regulations3
1
F2... unless and until there is a decision by the EEA Joint Committee to amend the EEA Agreement under Article 98 so as to refer to the Council Regulation and the Commission Regulation, these Regulations shall not apply in respect of any spreadable fat to which the EEA Agreement applies and which —
a
is brought into England —
i
from an EEA State (other than a member State) in which it was lawfully produced and sold, or
ii
from another part of the United Kingdom if that spreadable fat was brought there from such an EEA State; and
b
is suitably labelled to indicate the nature of the spreadable fat.
F32
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F33
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vitamin content of margarineF44
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enforcement5
Each food authority in its area shall execute and enforce the Community provisions and these Regulations.
Offences and penalty6
1
Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with —
F5a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
b
any F7EU provision,
is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
2
The F7EU provisions are —
a
Article 114(1) of the Council Regulation (prescribed descriptions for milk and milk products) as read with Annex XII to that Regulation;
b
Article 115 of the Council Regulation (marketing standards applying to spreadable fats, including compositional criteria for reserved descriptions), as read with —
i
Annex XV to the Council Regulation,
ii
Article 1 of and Annex I to the Commission Regulation, or
iii
Article 2 of and Annex II to the Commission Regulation; and
c
Article 3 of the Commission Regulation (requirements relating to the use of the designation “butter” for composite products) as read with Annex III to that Regulation.
Application of various provisions of the Act7
1
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 thereof is to be construed as a reference to these Regulations —
a
section 2 (extended meaning of “sale” etc);
b
section 3 (presumptions that food intended for human consumption);
c
section 20 (offences due to fault of another person);
d
section 21 (defence of due diligence), as it applies for the purposes of section 14 or 15;
e
section 22 (defence of publication in the course of a business);
f
section 30(8) (which relates to documentary evidence);
g
section 33 (obstruction of officers);
h
section 35(1) to (3) (punishment of offences) in so far as it relates to offences under section 33(1) and (2);
i
section 36 (offences by bodies corporate); and
j
section 36A (offences by Scottish partnerships).
2
Section 44 (protection of officers acting in good faith) of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations and, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to the Act in that section shall be construed for the purposes of these Regulations as including a reference to the Community provisions.
Revocations8
The following instruments are revoked —
a
The Milk and Milk Products (Protection of Designations) Regulations 19906, in so far as they apply in relation to England;
b
The Spreadable Fats (Marketing Standards) (England) Regulations 19997;
c
The Spreadable Fats (Marketing Standards) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 20078.
Signed by Authority of the Secretary of State for Health.
(This note is not part of the Regulations)