Consultation on proposed changes to national (England only) law in relation to EU Directives on animal feed, food contact materials and extraction solvents

Summary of responses

Summary of stakeholder responses: Consultation on proposed changes to national (England only) law in relation to EU Directives on animal feed, food contact materials and extraction solvents (accessible version).

This consultation was of most interest to: 

• Food, food packaging and feed manufacturers, importers/exports and retailers
• Trade bodies representing stakeholders for animal feed, food contact materials and extraction solvents
• Organisations representing consumer interests in the feed and food-chains
• Enforcement authorities

A full list of interested parties is available in Annex A of the consultation document.

Consultation subject

This consultation sought stakeholders’ views, comments, and feedback on the proposals to correct deficiencies in national (England only) legislation relating to animal feed, food contact materials and extraction solvents, separately, to ensure the legislation operates effectively following the UK’s exit from the European Union.
Currently, the relevant national legislation for animal feed, food contact materials and extraction solvents contain inoperabilities that need to be resolved following the UK’s exit from the EU.

In particular, the legislation cross-refers to Annexes and specific articles of their associated EU Directives. These inoperabilities need to be addressed using European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA) powers. Following the referendum vote held on the 23rd June 2016, and the subsequent majority vote to leave the European Union, the EUWA was passed on the 26th of June 2018. The EUWA provides that, on exit from the EU, certain directly applicable EU legislation will be converted into UK law. The EUWA also provides ministers with powers to make corrections to retained EU law so that it operates effectively as UK law. Necessary corrections have been made by way of a number of statutory instruments across Government departments, including the FSA. As these powers will no longer be available after 31 December 2022, the revised national legislation must be established before the powers expire. Additionally, in order to ensure clean and operable legislation, miscellaneous references to the Directives and associated Annexes must be removed from national legislation covering animal feed, food contact material and extraction solvents respectively.

This consultation covered changes to the Statutory Instruments in England only. Similar changes are being made to Welsh and Scottish national legislation.

Purpose of the consultation

To seek stakeholders’ views, comments, and feedback in relation to the proposals to incorporate requirements in EU Directives into national law on animal feed, food contact materials and extractions solvents. We asked stakeholders to consider if any relevant requirements have been missed, or if they are content with the proposed changes.

Engagement and consultation process

A four-week public consultation was launched across the UK to provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment on the policy proposals for the incorporation of requirements in EU Directives into national law on animal feed, food contact materials and extraction solvents.

The consultation period was relatively short in comparison to the optimal length of twelve weeks. This shorter consultation is due to the need for the FSA to conclude the process with sufficient time to allow for the use of European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (‘EUWA’) powers, which expire at the end of 2022. These powers would be used to implement the legislation in the event the consultation responses are supportive.

Any responses to this consultation will be given careful consideration and a summary of responses received will be published on the FSA website within three months of the consultation closing.

Consultation pack

How to respond

Responses to this consultation should be sent to:

Animal Feed: Taranjit.Dhansay@food.gov.uk

Food Contact Materials: Tim.Chandler@food.gov.uk

Extraction Solvents: Danielle.Gazi@food.gov.uk