The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) Regulations 2015
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2015/1867 |
2015 No. 1867 (W. 274)
Food, Wales
The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) Regulations 2015
Made 4th November 2015
Laid before the National Assembly for Wales 6th November 2015
Coming into force 28th November 2015
The Welsh Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 6(4)1, 16(1)2, 17(1)3, 26(1) and (3)4, 315and 48(1)6of the Food Safety Act 19907and paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to the European Communities Act 19728.
The Welsh Ministers have had regard to the relevant advice given by the Food Standards Agency in accordance with section 48(4A) of the Food Safety Act 19909.
There has been consultation during the preparation and evaluation of the following Regulations, as required by Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety10.
These Regulations make provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 197211and it appears to the Welsh Ministers that it is expedient for the references in these Regulations to the Annexes to the EU Instruments listed in regulation 2(3) to be construed as references to those Annexes as amended from time to time.
PART 1
Introductory
Title, commencement and application
1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) Regulations 2015.
(2) These Regulations come into force on 28 November 2015 and apply in relation to Wales.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the Act” (“y Ddeddf”) means the Food Safety Act 1990;
“advertisement” (“hysbyseb”) means a representation in any form in connection with a trade or business in order to promote the supply of goods, and “advertise” (“hysbysebu”) is to be construed accordingly;
“the Agency” (“yr Asiantaeth”) means the Food Standards Agency;
“bottle” (“potel”) where used as a noun, means a closed container of any kind in which water is sold for drinking by humans or from which water sold for drinking by humans is derived, and “bottle” (“potelu”), where used as a verb, and cognate expressions, are to be construed accordingly;
“Directive 98/83” (“Cyfarwyddeb 98/83”) means Council Directive 98/83/ECon the quality of water intended for human consumption12;
“Directive 2003/40” (“Cyfarwyddeb 2003/40”) means Commission Directive 2003/40/ECestablishing the list, concentration limits and labelling requirements for the constituents of natural mineral waters and the conditions for using ozone-enriched air for the treatment of natural mineral waters and spring waters13;
“Directive 2009/54” (“Cyfarwyddeb 2009/54”) means Directive 2009/54/ECof the European Parliament and of the Council on the exploitation and marketing of natural mineral waters14;
“Directive 2013/51” (“Cyfarwyddeb 2013/51”) means Council Directive 2013/51/EURATOM laying down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption15;
“drinking water” (“dŵr yfed”) means water which is intended for sale for drinking by humans other than—
(a) natural mineral water, or
(b) water intended to be labelled and sold as “spring water”, “dŵr ffynnon”, or its equivalent in any other language;
“effervescent natural mineral water” (“dŵr mwynol naturiol eferw”) means natural mineral water which, at source or after bottling, gives off carbon dioxide spontaneously and in a clearly visible manner under normal conditions of temperature and pressure;
“fluoride removal treatment” (“triniaeth tynnu fflworid”) means—
(a) a treatment of natural mineral water or water intended to be bottled and labelled as “spring water”, “dŵr ffynnon”, or its equivalent in any other language, with activated alumina in order to remove fluoride which is authorised in accordance with regulations 9(1)(a)(iii) or 15(a)(iii) and Schedule 2, or
(b) in the case of water brought into Wales from another part of the United Kingdom or from another EEA state, a treatment which complies with Articles 1 to 3 of Regulation 115/2010;
“label” (“label”) means any tag, brand, mark, pictorial or other descriptive matter, which is written, printed, stencilled, marked, embossed or impressed on, or attached to the bottle of water, and “labelled” (“wedi’i labelu”) and “labelling” (“labelu”) are to be construed accordingly;
“natural mineral water” (“dŵr mwynol naturiol”) means water which—
(a) is microbiologically wholesome within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2009/54,
(b) originates in an underground water table or deposit and emerges from a spring tapped at one or more natural or bore exits,
(c) can be clearly distinguished from drinking water on account of the following characteristics having been preserved intact because of the underground origin of the water, which has been protected from all risk of pollution—
(i) its nature, which is characterised by its mineral content, trace elements or other constituents and, where appropriate, by certain effects, and
(ii) its original purity, and
(d) is for the time being recognised pursuant to and in accordance with regulation 4;
“ozone-enriched air treatment” (“triniaeth aer a gyfoethogir ag osôn”) means—
(a) a treatment of natural mineral water or water intended to be bottled and labelled as “spring water”, “dŵr ffynnon”, or its equivalent in any other language, with ozone-enriched air which is authorised in accordance with regulations 9(1)(a)(iv) or 15(a)(iv) and Schedule 3, or
(b) in the case of water brought into Wales from other parts of the United Kingdom or from another EEA State, a treatment which complies with Article 5 of Directive 2003/40, as implemented in that part of the United Kingdom or that EEA State;
“parameter” (“paramedr”) means a property, element, organism or substance listed in the second column of any table in Part 2, Part 3 or Part 4 of Schedule 7;
“Regulation 115/2010” (“Rheoliad 115/2010”) means Commission Regulation (EU) No 115/2010 laying down the conditions for use of activated alumina for the removal of fluoride from natural mineral waters and spring waters16; and
“sell” (“gwerthu”) includes possess for sale and offer, expose or advertise for sale, and “sale” (“gwerthiant”) is to be construed accordingly.
(2) Expressions used in these Regulations that are also used in Directive 98/83, Directive 2009/54, Regulation 115/2010 or Directive 2013/51 have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have in those Directives or that Regulation.
(3) References to the Annexes to Directive 98/83, Directive 2003/40, Directive 2009/54, Regulation 115/2010 and Directive 2013/51 are references to those Annexes as amended from time to time.
(4) Any reference in these Regulations to the labelling of a bottle includes labelling done before any water is bottled and labelling after bottling.
Exemptions
3.—(1) These Regulations do not apply to any water which—
(a)
(a) is a medicinal product within the meaning of Directive 2001/83 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use17;
(b)
(b) is a natural mineral water which is used at source for curative purposes in thermal or hydromineral establishments;
(c)
(c) is not intended for sale for drinking by humans; or
(d)
(d) is a natural mineral water intended for export to a country other than an EEA State.
(2) These Regulations do not apply to packaged ice portions intended for use in cooling food.
PART 2
Natural mineral water
Recognition as natural mineral water
4.—(1) Natural mineral water may only be sold as natural mineral water if it is recognised in accordance with paragraph (2).
(2) Water is recognised as natural mineral water where—
(a)
(a) in the case of water extracted from the ground in Wales, a food authority grants recognition in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 1;
(b)
(b) in the case of water extracted from the ground in another part of the United Kingdom, the responsible authority of that part of the United Kingdom recognises it pursuant to Directive 2009/54;
(c)
(c) in the case of water extracted from the ground in an EEA State other than the United Kingdom, a responsible authority of that EEA State recognises it pursuant to Directive 2009/54;
(d)
(d) in the case of water extracted from the ground in a country other than an EEA State—
(i) the Agency grants recognition in accordance with Part 2 of Schedule 1; or
(ii) it has an equivalent recognition, given by a responsible authority of—
(aa) another part of the United Kingdom; or
(bb) an EEA State other than the United Kingdom.
(3) The publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the name of any water as a natural mineral water recognised in the European Union for the purposes of Directive 2009/54 is, except where recognition is granted in accordance with Schedule 1, conclusive evidence that water is recognised for the purposes of that Directive.
Declining to grant or withdrawing recognition
5.—(1) Where, in relation to any water that has been recognised under regulation 4(2)(a) or 4(2)(d)(i), it is found that—
(a)
(a) by analysis in accordance with Part 3 of Schedule 1, the requirements of paragraph 10(c) of that Part are not met;
(b)
(b) the requirements of Schedule 4 are not met; or
(c)
(c) the content of the water is not in accordance with paragraph 1(c) of Part 1 or, as the case may be, paragraph 5(c) of Part 2 of Schedule 1,
the food authority or, as the case may be, the Agency may withdraw that recognition until such time as the requirements concerned are met.
(2) Where the food authority or, as the case may...
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