Imported food booklet: Working together on imported food

Monday 15 October 2007

A guidance booklet for local authorities on imported food regulation has been published by the Food Standards Agency.

About half the food we eat in the UK is imported, and the regulation of these products stretches far beyond its point-of-entry into the country. Ensuring that the imported food on sale complies with the law is the shared responsibility of authorities at borders (seaports and airports) and inland, the Agency, and our enforcement partners.

The booklet for local authorities outlines the support available to help port and inland health authorities increase their imported food sampling to the minimum of 10%, the national target set by the FSA, Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Servies and the Association of Port Health Authorities. Nearly 24,000 samples of imported food were taken by UK enforcement authorities in 2006/07, but only about one in three local and port health authorities carried out this sampling.

The publication 'Working together on imported food' can be found at the link below.