The Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Amendment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011

Who will this consultation be of most interest to?
Fruit juice manufacturers, canned fruit manufacturers, retailers, importers, enforcement authorities and trade associations.

What is the subject of this consultation?
These Regulations will amend The Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 in order to implement Commission Directive 2009/106/EC. The 2011 Regulations aim to remove ambiguity from the description of mixtures of fruit juice and fruit juice from concentrate and will introduce minimum Brix levels for fruit juices from concentrate.

What is the purpose of this consultation?
To seek comments on the draft Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Amendment Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011. This amends the description of mixtures of fruit juice, and fruit juice from concentrate, by a minor linguistic change which allows easier translation by Member States. The main proposal is to introduce minimum Brix levels for juices from concentrate.

This consultation seeks views on the draft Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011. These Regulations will amend the Fruit Juices and Fruit Nectars Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 in order to implement Commission Directive 2009/106/EC of 14th August 2009, which itself amends Council Directive 2001/112/EC.

The draft 2011 Regulations aim to remove ambiguity from the description of mixtures of fruit juice and fruit juice from concentrate and will introduce minimum Brix levels for fruit juices from concentrate and these are shown in the draft Northern Ireland Statutory Rule (SR – See Annexe B). Brix values provide a measure of quality by setting minimum soluble solids (essentially sugar content) for fruit juices. We are seeking your views on these changes.

1. Do nothing – Do not adopt the proposal.
2. Introduce the changes proposed in the Amendment.

Preferred option
Option 2 is the preferred option.

A six-week public consultation is being undertaken on the draft SR. This is a shorter period than usual due to the EU legislation taking effect from January 2011. All responses received as part of this consultation will be given careful consideration. These will be summarised and published online in due course.

These Regulations will apply in Northern Ireland only. Separate consultations are taking place in England (this is being carried ouy by Defra), Scotland and Wales.

Impact Assessment
Comments are also requested on the Impact Assessment (IA), enclosed at Annex D. This IA has been prepared by Defra and whilst it relates to England we are keen to find out the impacts of this proposal on Northern Ireland businesses.

Questions asked in this consultation:

1. Do you agree to the change to labelling mixtures of fruit juice and fruit juice from concentrate?
2. Do you agree with introduction of minimum Brix levels for fruit juices from concentrate?
3. Do you consider that the Brix levels proposed in the Regulations are appropriate?
4. How many products do you anticipate will be affected by the linguistic change?
5. Do you agree that the costs associated with the linguistic change and new Brix levels will be minimal and are a true reflection of the estimated costs? And that the Impact Assessment is a reasonable account of the benefits?
6. Are there any other manufacturers that you think might be affected by both the linguistic change and the introduction of minimum Brix levels for fruit juices from concentrate?

Questions for canned fruit manufacturers:

7. How many manufacturers do industry believe there are in the canned fruit industry?
8. We would welcome feedback on the number of businesses and products affected and whether reformulation or re-labelling is the more likely change.
9. What do you envisage the reformulation cost to be in this case? Will this result in higher ongoing costs?
10. Please indicate what the likely costs of re-labelling will be in this case.
11. What is the normal re-labelling cycle for canned fruit?
12. Do you agree that the new Regulations will result in no additional enforcement costs over and above business as usual?
13. Are there any other costs and benefits that have not been considered?
14. Do you agree that any new administrative burdens will be minimal? If not, please provide details, including costs, of any new administrative burden introduced.

Responses are required by Wednesday 2 February 2011. Please state, in your response, whether you are responding as a private individual or on behalf of an organisation/company (including details of any stakeholders your organisation represents).

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.

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness we shall keep a copy of the completed consultation and responses, to be made available to the public on request. The FSA will publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name. Disclosure of any other personal data would be made only upon request for the full consultation responses. 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.

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