Food Irradiation

In February 1999 the European Council and the European Parliament published two EC Directives on foods and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation in the Official Journal of the European Communities. These EC Directives were enacted in England by SI 2000/2254 - The Food Irradiation Provisions (England) Regulation 2000 which came into force on the 21 September 2000 and amended the Food (Control of Irradiation) Regulations 1990. Similar implementation regulations have been introduced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Following consideration of SI 2000/2254 by the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments (JCSI) several changes to the SI were recommended. These included the removal of the definition of 'the Directive' in regulation 2, and the removal of the phrase 'as the case may be' from regulation 7. The tidying up of part 1 and part III of Schedule 1. The correction of a typographical error part VI of Schedule 1, where £1,5000 was printed instead of the correct sum of £1,500 and the inclusion of the words 'or territory' after 'country' in a number of places in Schedule 2.

An amending instrument has been produced and we seek your comments on this new amending SI (see Annex 1). We are consulting all organisations that responded to the May 2000 consultation along with consumer groups, the FDF, and the BRC, on the draft Food Irradiation Provisions (England) Regulation.

In line with the Agencies policy of openness we intend to make these papers, and copies of the responses we receive, publicly available at the end of the consultation period through the Dr Elsie Widdowson library at Aviation House. It will be assumed therefore, that your response can be made publicly available in this way unless you clearly indicate that you wish all or part of your response to be excluded from this arrangement. The library will supply copies on request to personal callers or telephone enquirers (Tel: 0207 276 8181 - local call rates will be charged). An administrative charge, to cover the cost of photocopying and postage, will apply. To enable requests to be dealt with efficiently, and to avoid undue delay for those calling at the library in person, it would be appreciated if personal callers could give the library at least 24 hours notice of their requirements.

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the HM Government 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)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. The FSA will publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name. Disclosure of any other personal data would be made only upon request for the full consultation responses. 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.

Data protection form (Word)

Data protection form (pdf)

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 the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator by email: consultationcoordinator@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk