Consultation
Consultation on local authority and district council guidance on Grey Market goods in the United Kingdom
Consultation seeking stakeholders’ views on enforcement guidance relating to Grey Market goods in the United Kingdom
This consultation will be of most interest to:
- Local authority and district council food teams including Trading Standards officers and Environmental Health officers
- Port Health authorities
Purpose of this consultation
This consultation seeks views, comments, and feedback in relation to guidance produced by the FSA to support enforcement authorities identifying and taking action on food not intended for the UK market. These foods, also known as ‘Grey Market goods', can contain unauthorised or excessive additives and/or ingredients which do not meet requirements set out in UK food safety legislation. They may also fail to identify allergens in the prescribed format.
What we want to know
- Does the guidance clearly set out how authorities can use food law to enforce instances of non-compliant Grey Market goods?
- Is there anything missing from the guidance or that the guidance does not adequately cover?
- Do you feel the enforcement options outlined (e.g., seizure, improvement notices, prosecution) are sufficient and proportionate? If not, what additional options should be considered?
- Is the guidance on over-stickering and labelling breaches clear?
- Are the provided specimen notices and example letters useful for your enforcement work? Would any other examples be useful?
- Does the guidance give you greater confidence to take enforcement action when non-compliant Grey Market goods are found?
- Are there any gaps in the guidance regarding cross-border enforcement or coordination with port health authorities?
- For future consideration, what additional training or resources would be helpful to support in connection with this guidance?
- Do you have any other feedback?
Guidance documents
England, Northern Ireland and Wales
How to respond
Responses to this consultation should include “Consultation” in the subject bar of the email and be addressed to food.intelligence@food.gov.uk
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).
Responses should be received by 23:59 Friday 24 October 2025.
Publication of response summary
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.
You can find information on how we handle data provided in response to consultations in our Consultations privacy notice.
Further information
This consultation has been prepared in accordance with HM Government Consultation Principles. If an Impact Assessment has been produced, this is included in the consultation documents. If no Impact Assessment has been provided, the reason will be given in the consultation document.