Natural Mineral Waters Regulations 1985
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1985/71 |
1985 No. 71
FOOD
The Natural Mineral Waters Regulations 198521stJanuary 1985
31stJanuary 1985
Regulations 1 to 10 and 14 to 2821stFebruary 1985Regulations 11, 12 and 1321stFebruary 1986
ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Title, extent and commencement.
2. Interpretation.
3. Exemptions.
PART II
RECOGNITION AND EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL MINERAL WATERS
4. Recognition as natural mineral water.
5. Conditions for exploitation of natural mineral water sources.
6. Authorised treatments.
7. Microbiological criteria.
8. Toxic substances.
9. Organoleptic defects.
10. Bottles.
PART III
LABELLING AND ADVERTISING
11. Labelling.
12. Commercial designation.
13. Restrictions on labelling and advertising.
PART IV
ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT
14. Periodic checks.
15. Enforcement.
16. Powers of authorised officers.
17. Confidentiality.
18. Analysis, examination and testing.
19. Samples taken for analysis.
20. Power of court to require analysis, examination or testing by Government Chemist.
PART V
OFFENCES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
21. Obstruction.
22. Offences by corporations.
23. Penalties.
24. Protection for authorised officers acting in good faith.
25. Offences due to fault of another person.
26. Defence of due diligence.
27. Conditions under which warranty may be pleaded as defence.
PART VI
AMENDMENT
28. Amendment of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 and the Food Labelling (Scotland) Regulations 1984.
SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 1. Recognition of natural mineral waters.
SCHEDULE 2. Exploitation of natural mineral water sources.
SCHEDULE 3. Indications relating to the composition of the water, including reference to special diets.
SCHEDULE 4. Chemical characteristics of natural mineral waters.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State, being Ministers designated(a) for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972(b) in relation to the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by the said section 2(2) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following regulations:—
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Title, extent and commencement
1.—(1) These regulations, which extend to Great Britain, may be cited as the Natural Mineral Waters Regulations 1985.
(2) Regulations 1 to 10 and 14 to 28 shall come into operation on 21st February 1985.
(3) Regulations 11, 12 and 13 shall come into operation on 21st February 1986.
Interpretation
2. In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —
"authorised officer" means an officer of a relevant authority in England or Wales or a food and drugs authority authorised by that authority in writing, either generally or specially, to act in matters of any specified kind or in any specified matter;
"bottle" means a sealed container of any kind in which water is sold to the ultimate consumer, and "bottled" and "bottling" shall be construed accordingly;
"carbonated natural mineral water" means an effervescent natural mineral water whose carbon dioxide content derives at least in part from an origin other than the ground water body or deposit from which the water comes;
"commercial designation" means the name under which a natural mineral water is sold, and includes any brand name, trade mark or fancy name;
(a) S.I. 1973/1889.
(b) 1972 c.68; section 2 is subject to Schedule 2 to the Act and is to be read, as regards England and Wales, with section 40 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 (c.48), and as regards Scotland, with section 289F of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c.21), which was inserted by section 54 of the said Act of 1982.
"effervescent natural mineral water" means a natural mineral water which spontaneously and visibly gives off carbon dioxide under ambient conditions of temperature and pressure;
"exploit" means, in relation to a source, take water from, and in relation to water, take; in either case for purposes of trade, business or commerce; and "exploiter" shall be construed accordingly;
"food and drugs authority" has in England and Wales the same meaning as in section 71 of the Food Act 1984(a);
"the Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;
"natural mineral water" means water which originates in a ground water body or deposit and is extracted for human consumption from the ground through a spring, well, bore or other exit, and which is recognised for the purposes of these regulations in accordance with paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4) or (7) of regulation 4;
"natural mineral water fortified with gas from the spring" means an effervescent natural mineral water whose carbon dioxide content derives from the same ground water body or deposit as the water and is greater than that established at source;
"naturally carbonated natural mineral water" means an effervescent natural mineral water whose carbon dioxide content is the same after decanting (if it is decanted) and bottling as it was at source, and includes a natural mineral water to which carbon dioxide from the same ground water body or deposit as the water has been added if the amount added does not exceed the amount previously released during decanting or bottling;
"public analyst" —
(a) in England and Wales has the meaning assigned to it by section 76 of the Food Act 1984,
(b) in Scotland has the meaning assigned to it by section 27 of the Food and Drugs (Scotland) Act 1956(b);
"relevant authority" means, in England and Wales, the district council or London borough council, and in Scotland the district or islands council;
"sell" includes offer, expose or advertise for sale or have in possession for sale, and "sale" and "sold" shall be construed accordingly;
"source" means any point of natural emergence or artificial abstraction of ground water;
"ultimate consumer" means any person who buys otherwise than —
(a) for the purpose of resale,
(b) for the purposes of a catering establishment, or
(c) for the purposes of a manufacturing business.
(a) 1984 c.30.
(b) 1956 c.30.
Exemptions
3.—(1) These regulations shall not apply to any natural mineral water which —
(a) is intended at the time of sale for export to any place outside the European Economic Community,
(b) is supplied under Government contracts for consumption by Her Majesty's forces or supplied for consumption by a visiting force within the meaning of any of the provisions of Part I of the Visiting Forces Act 1952(a),
(c) has a product licence issued under the provisions of the Medicines Act 1968(b),
(d) is used at source for curative purposes in thermal or hydromineral establishments, or
(e) is not intended for sale for human consumption.
(2) Regulations 11, 12 and 13 and Schedule 3 shall not apply to any natural mineral water intended for sale in Northern Ireland or for export to any other place within the European Economic Community.
PART II
RECOGNITION AND EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL MINERAL WATERS
Recognition as natural mineral water
4.—(1) No water originating in Great Britain shall be recognised as a natural mineral water for the purposes of these regulations unless it has been so designated by the relevant authority in accordance with Part I of Schedule 1 or paragraph (7) of this regulation.
(2) No water originating in Northern Ireland shall be recognised as a natural mineral water for the purposes of these regulations unless it has been so designated by a responsible authority of Northern Ireland.
(3) No water originating in any member state of the European Economic Community other than the United Kingdom shall be recognised as a natural mineral water for the purposes of these regulations unless it has been so designated by a responsible authority of that member state.
(4) No water originating in a country outside the European Economic Community shall be recognised as a natural mineral water for the purposes of these regulations unless it has been so designated by a responsible authority of Northern Ireland or of a member state of that Community other than the United Kingdom or, in accordance with Part II of Schedule 1, by the Minister.
(5) The publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities of the name of any water as that of a recognised natural mineral water shall be conclusive evidence that that water has been so recognised.
(a) 1952 c.67.
(b) 1968 c.67.
(6) If at any time after its recognition as a natural mineral water on being designated as such by the relevant authority or by the Minister under paragraph (1) or paragraph (4) respectively or by the relevant authority on the Minister's or the Secretary of State's direction in accordance with paragraph (7) of this regulation, any water originating in Great Britain or in a country outside the European Economic Community is found not to meet any one or more of the standards required for such recognition by Part I of Schedule 1 or any one or more of the requirements of Schedule 2 in connection with the exploitation of the water the relevant authority or, as the case may be, the Minister, may withdraw that recognition until such time as the said standards or requirements are fully met, and during that period of withdrawal of recognition that water shall cease to be recognised as a natural mineral water for the purposes of these regulations.
(7) A person aggrieved by a decision of the relevant authority either not to grant or to withdraw recognition of a water as a natural mineral water for the purposes of these regulations may apply, in the case of a water originating in England or Wales or in a country outside the European Economic Community, to the Minister or, in the case of a water originating in Scotland, to the Secretary of State for Scotland, for a review of that decision, and upon such application being made the Minister or Secretary of State as the case may be shall make such inquiry into the matter as may seem to him appropriate, and, having considered the results of that inquiry and any relevant...
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