Food Labelling Regulations (Amendment) Bill (HC Bill 130)

A

BILL

TO

Amend the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 to provide for information about
the country of origin of food to be made available to consumers; and for
connected purposes.

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

1 Country of origin labelling

(1) The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (S. I. 1996/1499) are amended as follows.

(2) In Regulation 2, after paragraph (1) insert—

(1A) Notwithstanding the definition above, for the purposes of sub-
5paragraph (f) of Regulation 5, paragraph (1)(g) of Regulation 39,
Regulations 39A, 39B and 39C—

  • “meat product” means any food which consists of meat,
    including raw unprocessed meat, or which contains as an
    ingredient, or as ingredients, any of the following—

    (none)

    10meat;

    (none)

    mechanically recovered meat; or

    (none)

    the heart, any other internal organ, the tongue, the
    muscles of the head, the carpus, the tarsus, or the tail
    from any mammalian or bird species recognised as fit
    15for human consumption.

  • “mechanically recovered meat” has the same meaning as in
    Commission Directive 2001/101/EC;.

(3) In Regulation 3, after paragraph (1A)(b) insert—

(c) Regulation 5(f).

(4) 20In Regulation 5, for sub-paragraph (f) substitute—

(f) particulars of the place of origin of the meat component or
components of any meat product;

Food Labelling Regulations (Amendment) BillPage 2

(fa) particulars of the place of origin or provenance of any other
food if failure to give such particulars might mislead a
purchaser to a material degree as to the true origin or
provenance of the food; and.

(5) 5In Regulation 39, after paragraph (1)(f) insert—

(g) particulars of the place of origin in respect of the meat
component or components of any meat product as set out in
sub-paragraph (f) of Regulation 5.

(6) After Regulation 39 insert—

39A 10Country of origin

(1) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (f) of Regulation 5 the place of origin
of the meat component or components of any meat product is the
country where the animal from which that meat was derived was born.

(2) Where meat to which sub-paragraph (f) of Regulation 5 applies has
15been reared or slaughtered in a country or countries other than that in
which it was born the particulars of this country or countries shall also
be marked or labelled in accordance with the requirements of these
Regulations.

(3) For the purposes of this Regulation section 36 of the Trade Descriptions
20Act 1968Trade Descriptions
20Act 1968 does not apply.

39B Country of origin: British

(1) No meat product may be labelled “British” unless the animal from
which the meat was derived was born, reared and slaughtered in the
United Kingdom.

(2) 25For the purposes of paragraph (1) above “labelled “British”” means
either labelled with the word “British” or labelled with the Union Flag
or any other label implying that the country of origin of the meat was
the United Kingdom.

(3) For the purposes of this Regulation section 36 of the Trade Descriptions
30Act 1968Trade Descriptions
30Act 1968 does not apply.

39C Meat component

For the purposes of sub-paragraph (f) of Regulation 5, paragraph (1)(g)
of Regulation 39 and Regulations 39A and 39B the meat component of
a meat product is any meat ingredient or ingredients which makes up
35at least 10% of the product by weight as sold to the ultimate
consumer..

2 Short title and commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Food Labelling Regulations (Amendment) Act
2011.

(2) 40This Act shall come into force on such day as the Secretary of State may appoint
by an order made by statutory instrument.