Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1990

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved

1990 No. 2490

FOOD

The Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1990

Made 10th December 1990

Laid before Parliament 11th December 1990

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly, in relation to England and Wales, and the Secretary of State for Scotland in relation to Scotland, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sections 4(1), 6(4), 16(1) and (3), 18(1), 19(1)(b), 26, 45 and 48(1) of, and paragraphs 1 and 4(b) of Schedule 1 to, the Food Safety Act 19901and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations, after consultation in accordance with section 48 of the said Act with such organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests likely to be substantially affected by the Regulations:—

S-1 Title and commencement

Title and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1990 and shall come into force—

(a) for purposes relating to food other than poultry, on 1st January 1991, and

(b) for purposes relating to poultry, on 13th February 1991.

S-2 Interpretation

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, except where the context requires otherwise—

“the Act” means the Food Safety Act 1990;

“food” has the meaning which it has in section 16(5)(a) of the Act;

“ionising radiation” means any gamma rays, X rays or corpuscular radiations which are capable of producing ions either directly or indirectly other than—

(a) those rays or corpuscular radiations—

(i) which are emitted by measuring or inspection devices,

(ii) which are emitted at an energy level no higher than the appropriate maximum level, and

(iii) the dose of energy imparted by which does not exceed 0.5 Gy, and

(b) those rays or corpuscular radiations applied in respect of food prepared under medical supervision for patients requiring sterile diets,

and for the purposes of this definition the appropriate maximum level is 10 MeV in the case of X rays and 5 MeV otherwise;

“irradiation licence” means a licence to subject food of a particular description to treatment by ionising radiation;

“licensing authority” means—

(a) in relation to premises in England and Wales—

(i) except in respect of the recovery of charges, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Wales acting jointly,

(ii) in respect of the recovery of charges relating to premises in England, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and

(iii) in respect of the recovery of charges relating to premises in Wales, the Secretary of State for Wales, and

(b) in relation to premises in Scotland, the Secretary of State for Scotland;

“official authorisation” means authorisation granted by a competent authority in a member State of the European Economic Community other than the United Kingdom to subject food of a particular description to treatment by ionising radiation in a particular plant;

“sell” includes possess, offer, expose and advertise for sale, and “sale” shall be construed accordingly.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations—

(a)

(a) “properly irradiated food” means food—

(i) which falls within one of the seven permitted descriptions of food,

(ii) which, when subjected to treatment by ionising radiation, either was so subjected alone or was so subjected as part of a batch each item of food comprised in which was food which fell within the same permitted description of food, and

(iii) which has not been over-irradiated,

and “proper irradiation” shall be construed accordingly;

(b)

(b) food falls within one of the seven permitted descriptions of food when (excluding the weight of any added water) no less than 98 per cent of it by weight falls within that description, and “item”, in relation to a batch of food, means each item within that batch intended to be capable of being sold individually;

(c)

(c) the seven permitted descriptions of food are—

(i) fruit,

(ii) vegetables,

(iii) cereals,

(iv) bulbs and tubers,

(v) spices and condiments,

(vi) fish and shellfish, and

(vii) poultry;

(d)

(d) in those seven permitted descriptions of food—

(i) “fruit” includes fungi, tomatoes and rhubarb,

(ii) “vegetables” excludes fruit, cereals, bulbs and tubers and spices and condiments but includes pulses,

(iii) “cereals” has the meaning which it has in the Intervention Functions (Delegation) Regulations 19722;

(iv) “bulbs and tubers” means potatoes, yams, onions, shallots and garlic,

(v) “spices and condiments” means dried substances normally used for seasoning,

(vi) “fish and shellfish” includes eels, crustaceans and molluscs, and

(vii) “poultry” means domestic fowls, geese, ducks, guinea fowls, pigeons, quails and turkeys;

(e)

(e) food has been over-irradiated when the overall average dose of ionising radiation absorbed by it, measured by the approved method of measurement, exceeds, in the case of food falling within the permitted description of—

(i) fruit, 2 kGy,

(ii) vegetables, 1 kGy,

(iii) cereals, 1 kGy,

(iv) bulbs and tubers, 0.2 kGy,

(v) spices and condiments, 10 kGy,

(vi) fish and shellfish, 3 kGy, or

(vii) poultry, 7 kGy,

or when the maximum dose of ionising radiation absorbed by it, or by any food in a batch of which it forms part, is, when so measured, a dose of kGy higher than the lower of 3x and 1.5y where x is the minimum dose of kGy so absorbed when so measured and y is the overall average dose of kGy specified in the paragraph of this sub-paragraph relating to that permitted description; and

(f)

(f) the approved method of measurement relating to food subjected to treatment by ionising radiation is the method of measuring doses of ionising radiation required by the irradiation licence or, as the case may be, official authorisation under which that food has been subjected to that treatment.

S-3 Prohibition on treatment without licence

Prohibition on treatment without licence

3.—(1) No person shall in the preparation of any food for sale subject it or any part of it to treatment by ionising radiation unless—

(a)

(a) he holds a current irradiation licence,

(b)

(b) the food so subjected is food which he is authorised by that irradiation licence to subject to that treatment, and

(c)

(c) that treatment is carried out in accordance with the conditions of that irradiation licence.

(2) Each person who in the preparation of food for sale subjects it or any part of it to treatment by ionising radiation shall, on expiry of his irradiation licence, retain such records relating to that food as he is required by the licence to keep throughout its currency until five years have passed from the date of that treatment.

(3) Schedule 1 below shall have effect in relation to the grant of irradiation licences by the licensing authority, the terms and conditions, variation, withdrawal, suspension and extension of those irradiation licences and publication and charges payable to the licensing authority relating to those matters and the specification of things done by the licensing authority in respect of which such charges are payable.

S-4 Restriction on importation

Restriction on importation

4.—(1) No person shall import into Great Britain for the purpose of sale any food which has been subjected to treatment by ionising radiation unless that food is properly irradiated food, is of a recognised appropriate origin and is accompanied by appropriate documentation.

(2) Schedule 2 below shall have effect in relation to the recognition and withdrawal of recognition of appropriate origins and specification of appropriate documentation.

(3) This regulation applies to food which has (as well as food which has not) become an ingredient of other food before importation.

S-5 Restriction on storage

Restriction on storage

5.—(1) No person shall store or transport for the purpose of sale any food which has been subjected to treatment by ionising radiation unless either he is the holder of the irradiation licence relating to that food or that food is stored or, as the case may be, transported in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 3 below.

(2) This regulation applies to food which (as well as food which has not) become an ingredient of other food before storage or, as the case may be, transportation.

S-6 Restriction on sale

Restriction on sale

6. No person shall sell any food which or any part of which has been subjected to treatment by ionising radiation unless—

(a) either—

(i) that treatment took place in Great Britain in accordance with regulation 3 above and all requirements of the irradiation licence relating to that food have been observed, or

(ii) that food was imported in circumstances in which compliance with regulation 4 above was observed, and

(b) any storage or transportation of that food was carried out in circumstances in which compliance with regulation 5 above was observed.

S-7 Activities taking place in Northern Ireland

Activities taking place in Northern Ireland

7. In relation to food which has been subjected to treatment by ionising radiation, compliance with any provision (corresponding to a provision of these Regulations) of legislation having effect in Northern Ireland which regulates the subjection to treatment by ionising radiation, importation, storage and transport of that food shall, in respect of any activity which took place in Northern Ireland, be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as if it were compliance with corresponding provision of these Regulations.

S-8 Defence in relation to exports

Defence in relation to exports

8.—(1) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove—

(a)

(a) that the food, in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed, was intended for export to another member State of the European Economic Community and that the food complied with that member State’s domestic food legislation...

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