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Food and Feed Codes of Practice

Find information on the food and feed law codes of practice and practice guidance for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Competency Framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Last updated: 26 January 2024
See all updates
Last updated: 26 January 2024
See all updates
Important

References to EU legislation in FSA guidance

Directly applicable EU legislation no longer applies in GB. EU legislation retained when the UK exited the EU became assimilated law on 1 January 2024, published on legislation.gov.uk. References to any legislation in FSA guidance with ‘EU’ or ‘EC’ in the title (e.g. Regulation (EC) 178/2002) should now be regarded as assimilated law where applicable to GB. References to ‘Retained EU Law’ or ‘REUL’ should now be regarded as references to assimilated law. 

For businesses moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, information on the Windsor Framework is available on GOV.UK. 

The Windsor Framework was adopted by the UK and EU on 24 March 2023. The Framework provides a unique set of arrangements to support the flow of agrifood retail products from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI), allowing GB standards for public health in relation to food, marketing and organics to apply for pre-packed retail goods moved via the NI Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS).

Food Law Code of Practice

The Food Law Code of Practice gives instructions that local authorities must consider when enforcing food law. Local authorities need to follow and implement the relevant sections of the Code that apply. 

England

Northern Ireland 

Wales

 

Feed Law Code of Practice

The Feed Law Code of Practice gives instructions that local feed authorities must consider when enforcing animal feed law. Feed authorities need to follow and implement the relevant sections of the Code that apply to them.

England

Feed Law Code of Practice (England) (PDF download)

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Wales

Feed Law Code of Practice (Wales) (PDF download)

 

Practice Guidance

We issue Practice Guidance that is non-statutory as a complement to the statutory Code of Practice. These provide general advice on approach to enforcement of the law.

Food Law Practice Guidance

England

Food Law Practice Guidance (England) (PDF download)

Northern Ireland

Food Law Practice Guidance (Northern Ireland) (PDF download)

Wales

Food Law Practice Guidance (Wales) (PDF download)

Feed Law Practice Guidance

England

Feed Law Practice Guidance (England) (PDF download)

Northern Ireland

Feed Law Practice Guidance (Northern Ireland) (PDF download)

Wales

Feed Law Practice Guidance (Wales) (PDF download)

 

Competency Framework

Knowledge and skills for the effective delivery of official food and feed controls and other activities (the Competency Framework) sets out the competencies required for local authority and port health authority officers in England, Wales and district council officers in Northern Ireland, undertaking official food controls, other official activities and other activities related to these. The Competency Framework is hosted on the FSA Smarter Communications platform (sign-in required).

To assist with the implementation of the Competency Framework we have produced a number of support materials, which can also be found on FSA Smarter Communications.