Guidance on the General Food Law Regulation 178/2002 (Scotland)

The guidance notes seek to distinguish between what businesses need to do to comply with the legal requirements of Regulation 178/2002 and what they can do by way of best practice. The key elements of the guidance notes concern:

• the import and export of food and feed
• responsibilities of food and feed business operators
• traceability
• product recall/withdrawal and notification

The Agency has inserted additional clarification in shaded boxes. We would welcome feedback on whether this clarification is useful to business and whether in your view this should be taken into account in any revised EC guidance.

Views are also sought on revised Agency guidance notes on food requirements, which have been amended to include guidance on Article 14 and the concept of 'unfit' food.

Formal consultations on the requirements of Regulation 178/2002, domestic 'implementing' legislation and accompanying Food Standards Agency guidance notes were carried out in 2001 and 2004. However, the EC published its own guidance on 20 January, which was subsequently incorporated into revised Agency guidance. The EC has announced that a review of this guidance will begin later in the year, and the Agency has decided to consult formally on it in order to inform this process.

The EC guidance is more detailed than the original UK guidance notes. In particular, this guidance is more specific about:

• record keeping for traceability purposes
• reaction times for traceability purposes
• notification procedures for products which do not meet European Union (EU) food and feed safety requirements

The EC guidance also encourages food and feed businesses to adopt 'internal traceability' systems, even though this is not a legal requirement under Regulation 178/2002.

Although comments on any aspect of both the EC guidance and the Agency guidance notes are welcome, we would particularly welcome comments on the partial Regulatory Impact Assessment, which seeks to identify key issues.

EC Regulation 178/2002, 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, came into force on 21 February 2002, although certain key provisions did not apply until 1 January 2005. The draft regulation was subject to an extensive consultation process with stakeholders. It was published in the Official Journal No. L 31 on 1 February 2002, and can be accessed via the Commission website. Although as an EC Regulation it is directly applicable in Member States, there was nevertheless a need to review domestic legislation in order to ensure that this was in conformity with both the general principles and the requirements of the Regulation. There was also a need to introduce new enforcement powers and penalties in relation to the obligations on food and feed businesses in Articles 14 – 20, to apply from 1 January 2005. Three new Statutory Instruments were adopted to meet these requirements.

The Food Safety Act 1990 (Amendment) Regulations 2004 amended the definition of 'food' in the Food Safety Act 1990.

The General Food Regulations 2004 and The Feeding Stuffs (Safety Requirements for Feed for Food Producing Animals) Regulations 2004 provide new enforcement powers in respect of the new obligations relating to food and feed businesses, to apply from 1 January 2005 under Regulation 178/2002.

Agency Guidance Notes on the new legislative requirements were issued to local authorities on 24 December 2004 and to industry on 18 January 2005. EC Guidance was published on 20 January. The Agency guidance was subsequently revised to take account of the EC Guidance and reissued for comment on 14 March. The EC Guidance is available as a pdf document on the EU website

Specific queries on feed aspects can be addressed to David Roy on 01224 285138 or by email to david.roy@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the HM Government Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the consultation feedback questionnaire.

Consultation feedback questionnaire (Word)

Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. Responses will be open to public access upon request. The FSA will also publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name and contact address details. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

Data protection form (Word)

Data protection form (pdf)

Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator by email: consultationcoordinator@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk