Statutory Instrument 1990 No. 2490

The Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1990

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© Crown Copyright 1990

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1990 No. 2490

FOOD

The Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 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 1990^[1] and 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:—

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.

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) "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) 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) 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) 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 1972^[2];
 (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) 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) 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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) 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 relevant to the alleged offence; or
 (b) that the food, in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed, was intended for export to a country which is not a member of the European Economic Community for sale to the ultimate consumer within that country.

    (2)  In this regulation "ultimate consumer" has the meaning which it has in the Food Labelling Regulations 1984^[3].

Penalties, enforcement and functions of licensing authority
    9.—(1)  If any person contravenes or fails to comply with any of the foregoing provisions of these Regulations or, for the purposes of these Regulations, makes any false statement or uses any document containing a false statement either recklessly or knowing it to be false, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
 (a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both; and
 (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

    (2)  If any person who holds an irradiation licence contravenes or fails to comply with any condition of that irradiation licence other than the condition required to be included by paragraph 17 of Part II of Schedule 1 below he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
 (a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both; and
 (b) on conviction or indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

    (3)  The licensing authority shall enforce the provisions of these Regulations in so far as they fall to be observed by the holder of a current irradiation licence and (without prejudice to any power conferred on it by the Act or these Regulations) shall, so far as is reasonably practicable, carry out regular inspections during the currency of an irradiation licence for the purpose of examining whether it should in relation to that irradiation licence exercise any power available to it under paragraphs 1 to 3 of Part IV of Schedule 1 below.

    (4)  The licensing authority and each food authority within its area shall severally enforce the provisions of regulation 3 above in so far as they fall to be observed by any person other than the holder of a current irradiation licence.

    (5)  Each food authority shall enforce within its area the provisions of these Regulations save in so far as they fall to be enforced under paragraph (3) or (4) above.

    (6)  Each authority concerned in the administration of these Regulations shall give to each other authority so concerned such assistance and information as that other authority may reasonably require for the purpose of its duties under these Regulations.

    (7)  In this regulation "food authority" does not include the appropriate Treasurer referred to in section 5(1)(c) of the Act (which deals with the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple).

    (8)  Where any charge under these Regulations or under an irradiation licence granted by the licensing authority falls to be paid to the licensing authority but remains outstanding, that charge shall be recoverable by the licensing authority as a civil debt.

Application of various provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990
    10.—(1)  The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as they apply for the purposes of section 8, 14 or 15 of the Act and, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in them to the Act shall be construed for the purposes of these Regulations as a reference to these Regulations—
 (a) section 2 (extended meaning of "sale" etc.);
 (b) section 3 (presumption that food is intended for human consumption);
 (c) section 20 (offences due to fault of another person);
 (d) section 21 (defence of due diligence);
 (e) section 22 (defence of publication in the course of business);
 (f) section 30(8) (which relates to documentary evidence);
 (g) section 33 (obstruction etc. of officers);
 (h) section 36 (offences by bodies corporate);
 (i) section 44 (protection of officers acting in good faith);
 (j) section 58(1) (which relates to territorial waters).

    (2)  Section 8(3) (which makes presumptions in the case of batches etc. of food) of the Act shall apply to food which it is an offence to sell under these Regulations as it applies to food which fails to comply with food safety requirements.

    (3)  Section 9 (inspection and seizure of suspected food) of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as if food which it were an offence to sell under them were food which failed to comply with food safety requirements.

    (4)  Section 34 (which relates to time limits for the beginning of prosecutions) of the Act shall apply in relation to offences under these Regulations as it applies to offences punishable under section 35(2) of the Act.

Revocation of existing regulations
    11.—(1)  The Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1967^[4] and the Food (Control of Irradiation) (Amendment) Regulations 1972^[5] are hereby revoked.

    (2)  The Food (Control of Irradiation) (Scotland) Regulations 1967^[6] and the Food (Control of Irradiation) (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 1972^[7] are hereby revoked.

In witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on 7th December 1990.


John Selwyn Gummer

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food


Stephen Dorrell

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health

10th December 1990

David Hunt

Secretary of State for Wales

7th December 1990

Strathclyde

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office

10th December 1990

[1] 1990 c. 16. back

[2] S.I. 1972/1679, amended by S.I. 1988/1000. back

[3] S.I. 1984/1305, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations. back

[4] S.I. 1967/385; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1972/205. back

[5] S.I. 1972/205. back

[6] S.I. 1967/388 (S.29); the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1972/307 (S.21). back

[7] S.I. 1972/307 (S.21). back

Explanatory Note