The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2003
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2003/1478 |
| Year | 2003 |
2003 No. 1478
FOOD, ENGLAND
The Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2003
Made 5th June 2003
Laid before Parliament 6th June 2003
Coming into force 30th June 2003
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 16(1)(a), (e) and (f), 17(2), 26(1)(a) and (3) and 48(1) of the Food Safety Act 19901, and now vested in him2, having had regard, in accordance with section 48(4A) of that Act, to relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency, and after consultation as required by Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002of 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, and in accordance with section 48(4) and (4B) of that Act, makes the following Regulations:
Title, commencement and extent
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2003, shall come into force on 30th June 2003 and shall extend to England only.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the Food Safety Act 1990;
“the Commission Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 466/2001setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs4as corrected by a corrigendum published on 30th November 20015, and as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2375/20016, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 221/20027, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 257/20028, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 472/20029as corrected by a corrigendum published on 23rd March 200210and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 563/200211as corrected by a corrigendum published on 14th June 200212;
“Directive 85/591/EEC” means Council Directive 85/591/EECconcerning the introduction of Community methods of sampling and analysis for the monitoring of foodstuffs intended for human consumption13;
“Directive 93/99/EEC” means Council Directive 93/99/EECon the subject of additional measures concerning the official control of foodstuffs14;
“Directive 98/53/EC” means Commission Directive 98/53/EClaying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of the levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs15as amended by Commission Directive 2002/27/EC16;
“Directive 2001/22/EC” means Commission Directive 2001/22/EClaying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and 3-MCPD in foodstuffs17as corrected by Commission Decision 2001/873/EC18;
“Directive 2002/26/EC” means Commission Directive 2002/26/EClaying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of the levels of Ochratoxin A in foodstuffs19;
“Directive 2002/69/EC” means Commission Directive 2002/69/EClaying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of dioxins and the determination of dioxin-like PCBs in foodstuffs20as corrected by a corrigendum published on 20th September 200221;
“the EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area22signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol23signed at Brussels on 17th March 1993;
“EEA State” means a State which is Contracting Party to the EEA Agreement;
“food authority” includes neither the appropriate Treasurer referred to in section 5(1)(c) of the Act (which deals with the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple) nor a port health authority; and
“port health authority” means—
(a) in relation to the London port health district (within the meaning given to that phrase for the purposes of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 198424by section 7(1) of that Act), the Common Council of the City of London; and
(b) in relation to any port health district constituted by order under section 2(3) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984, a port health authority for that district constituted by order under section 2(4) of that Act.
(2) Other expressions used in these Regulations and in the Commission Regulation have the same meaning as in the Commission Regulation.
Offences and penalties
3.—(1) Subject to regulations 9 and 10, a person shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale if—
(a)
(a) before 1st January 2005—
(i) he places on the market any food (other than authorised spinach or authorised lettuce) which is covered by, but fails to meet the requirements of, Article 1.1, 2.1, 2.2 or 4.1 of the Commission Regulation, as read with Articles 1.2 and 4.3 of that Regulation, or
(ii) he contravenes Article 2.3, 4.2 or 4a of the Commission Regulation;
(b)
(b) on or after 1st January 2005—
(i) he places on the market any food (other than authorised spinach) which is covered by, but fails to meet the requirements of, Article 1.1, 2.1, 2.2 or 4.1 of the Commission Regulation, as read with Articles 1.2 and 4.3 of that Regulation, or
(ii) he contravenes Article 2.3, 4.2 or 4a of the Commission Regulation; or
(c)
(c) he knowingly contravenes or fails to comply with the requirements of a notice given under section 9(2)(a) of the Act as applied for the purposes of these Regulations by regulation 7(2).
(2) For the purposes of this regulation—
(a)
(a) “authorised spinach” means spinach of the kind specified in point 1.1 of section 1 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation, which is grown in the United Kingdom in accordance with the proviso to Article 3.1 of that Regulation and is intended for human consumption there; and
(b)
(b) “authorised lettuce” means lettuce of the kind specified in point 1.3 or in point 1.4 of section 1 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation, which is grown in the United Kingdom in accordance with the proviso to Article 3.1 of that Regulation and is intended for human consumption there.
Enforcement
4.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), it shall be the duty of each port health authority to execute and enforce these Regulations within its district.
(2) In relation to any place which is not situated in the district of a port health authority, these Regulations shall be executed and enforced by the food authority for the area in which that place is situated.
Modification of section 29 of the Food Safety Act 1990 (procurement of samples) and analysis of samples
5.—(1) In its application to the taking of a sample of any food specified in sections 1 to 5 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation, section 29 of the Act shall be modified so as to require the power to take samples under subsection (b) and (d) of that section to be exercised in accordance with the methods of taking samples described or referred to—
(a)
(a) subject to the requirement specified in paragraph (2), in the Annex to Commission Directive 2002/63/ECestablishing Community methods of sampling for the official control of pesticide residues in and on products of plant and animal origin and repealing Directive 79/700/EC25, where the food concerned is of a description specified in Section 1 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation to the sampling of which that Directive applies pursuant to Article 1.3 of that Regulation;
(b)
(b) in Annex I to Directive 98/53/EC, where the food concerned is of a description specified in Section 2 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation to the sampling of which that Directive applies pursuant to Article 1.3 of that Regulation;
(c)
(c) in Annex I to Directive 2002/26/EC, where the food concerned is of a description specified in Section 2 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation to the sampling of which that Directive applies pursuant to Article 1.3 of that Regulation;
(d)
(d) in Annex I to Directive 2001/22/EC, where the food concerned is of a description specified in Section 3 or 4 of Annex 1 to the Commission Regulation to the sampling of which that Directive applies pursuant to Article 1.3 of that Regulation; and
(e)
(e) in Annex I to Directive 2002/69/EC, where the food concerned is of a description specified in Section 5 of Annex 1 to the Commission Regulation to the sampling of which that Directive applies pursuant to Article 1.3 of that Regulation.
(2) The requirement is that, in the case of lettuce of the kind specified in point 1.3 or 1.4 of Section 1 of Annex I to the Commission Regulation, the minimum number of units required for each laboratory sample shall be ten.
(3) Where, pursuant to section 29(b) or (d) of the Act as modified by paragraph (1), an authorised officer has taken a sample of any food of a description to which sub-paragraph (b) of that paragraph applies, and he has submitted that sample to be analysed pursuant to section 30(1)(a) of the Act the person who analyses the sample shall ensure that—
(a)
(a) the sample is prepared in accordance with—
(i) paragraphs 1.1, 2 and 3 of Annex II to Directive 98/53/EC, and
(ii) in the case of whole nuts, paragraph 1.2 of that Annex;
(b)
(b) any analysis of the sample is carried out in accordance with methods of analysis which—
(i) so far as practicable, comply with paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Annex to Directive 85/591/EEC, and
(ii) meet the criteria specified in paragraph 4.3 of Annex II to Directive 98/53/ECas read with the notes to that paragraph;
(c)
(c) any analysis is carried out by a laboratory which complies with Directive 93/99/EEC; and
(d)
(d) the reporting of the results of the analysis of that sample—
(i) makes use of the definitions in paragraph 4.1 of Annex II to Directive 98/53/EC, and
(ii) is in accordance with paragraph 4.4 of that Annex.
(4) Where, pursuant to section 29(b) or (d) of the Act as modified by paragraph (1),...
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