The Secretary of State makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 6(4), 16(1), 17(1), 26(1) and (3), 31(1) and 48(1) of the Food Safety Act 19901 and now vested in the Secretary of State2, and paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 19723.

The Secretary of State is a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to food and drink intended for sale for human consumption, including the presentation, packaging, labelling, marketing and advertising of such food and drink4.

The following Regulations make provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 and it appears to the Secretary of State that it is expedient for the references to the European instruments, and the Annex to the European instrument, listed in regulation 2 (4) to be construed as references to those instruments and that Annex as amended from time to time.

So far as the following Regulations are made in exercise of powers under the Food Safety Act 1990, the Secretary of State has had regard to relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency in accordance with section 48(4A) of that Act5.

There has been consultation, 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 safety6, during the preparation and evaluation of the following Regulations.