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Draft Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations 2008

Monday 4 February 2008

The Agency seeks views on the the draft Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations 2008. Views are also requested on the provisional Impact Assessment and the questions posed as well as the accompanying guidance notes.

All comments and views should be sent to:

Olu Adetokunbo

Food Allergy Branch
Food Standards Agency
Room 511C Aviation House
125 Kingsway
London WC2B 6NH

Tel: 020 7276 8534
Fax: 020 7276 8513
E-mail: food.allergy@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

Responses are requested by: 14 March 2008

Summary of responses is now available

PDF Document (pdf 50KB)

Consultation details

Draft Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations
European Union (EU) legislation currently requires that specified allergenic ingredients used in pre-packed foods are clearly declared. The regulations that are the subject of this consultation will implement Directive 2007/68/ EC into national legislation. This directive revokes a previous Directive (2005/26/EC) that has now expired, which provided temporary exemption from the allergen labelling requirements for certain derived ingredients that have been shown to no longer be allergenic, and now provides permanent exemption for a number of derived products. This letter formally seeks your views on draft national legislation to implement the EU Directive.

Separate but parallel legislation will be made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Impact Assessment
6. The options are set out in the Impact Assessment in respect of an amendment to the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (as amended) ('FLR') (in so far as they apply in relation to England). These regulations implement in England Commission Directive 2007/68/EC of 27 November 2007, which amends Annex IIIa of Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council listing the ingredients which are exempt from food allergen labelling requirements.

Guidance notes
7. The Agency has also taken this opportunity to update the existing allergen labelling guidance notes by incorporating the new provisions. The Agency would welcome comments on the content and clarity of this document.

The draft regulation, Impact Assessment and the draft of the new guidance notes are included in the full consultation document at the link below.

Request for early resposnses
The Cabinet Office Code of Practice states that a written consultation must be held for a minimum of 12 weeks for at least once during the development of the policy. In order to have the necessary legislation in place within the deadlines set by the directive, this consultation is not being held for a full 12 weeks.

Further information

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the (External) Better Regulation Executive's Code of Practice on Consultation , which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the Consultation Feedback Questionnaire.

Consultation Feedback Questionnaire (Word)

Consultation Feedback Questionnaire (pdf)

Publication of personal data and confidentiality of responses

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. Responses will be open to public access upon request. The FSA will also publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name and contact address details. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

Publication of Personal Data Form (Word)

Publication of Personal Data Form (pdf)

In accordance with the provisions of freedom of information legislation, all information contained in your response may be subject to publication or disclosure. If you consider that some of the information provided in your response should not be disclosed, you should indicate the information concerned, request that it is not disclosed and explain what harm you consider would result from disclosure.

Any automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not be considered as such a request unless you specifically include a request, with an explanation, in the main text of your response.

Publication of response summary

Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact Chris Harvey, the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator, on 020 7276 8630.
Email: chris.harvey@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

Related links

Draft Food Labelling (Declaration of Allergens) (England) Regulations 2008 Read the consultation documents

Download pdf  (pdf 497KB) (External) Get Adobe Acrobat reader You may need the free Acrobat Reader to view a pdf

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