Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water And Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) Regulations 2006

We seek your views and comments on the draft Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) Regulations 2006 and the associated regulatory guidance. These regulations consolidate the existing regulations (as amended). There is also a Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on which your comments are welcome.

Note that, in addition, draft provisions for using infant feed claims on natural mineral water may also be incorporated into the attached draft regulations. They are not included in the text of this draft Scottish Statutory Instrument consulted on here as they have already been consulted on in 2005.

The key proposals are:

• to consolidate the requirements of the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999 as amended
• to clarify the detailed legislative requirements and so reduce burdens on bottled water producers and enforcement authorities

These regulations are intended to apply only in Scotland. Parallel regulations will apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Background

The sale of bottled waters in the UK is controlled by the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999 (SI 1999 No 1540) as amended by The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) Scotland Regulations 2003 SSI 2003/139 and The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Amendment) Scotland Regulations 2004 SSI 2004/132.

These regulations implement in Scotland the provisions of the parent European Directives 98/83/EC and 80/777/EEC (as amended by 96/70/EC and 2003/40/EC).

The Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSA Scotland) has taken steps to consolidate the requirements of the regulations into a single Scottish Statutory Instrument, namely the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) Regulations 2006.

The aim is to make the collective instructions more transparent and user friendly. By incorporating text from the parent Directives it is anticipated that the need to cross-reference will be reduced. By virtue of this consolidation enforcement bodies and stakeholders will be provided with a single SSI against which compliance with the regulations can be measured. The language used within the new SSI will be more accessible and the requirements more clearly defined, facilitating more uniform interpretation of the regulations.

Date of compliance

The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations 1999 (as amended) will be revoked. The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) Regulations 2006 will come into force in Scotland by October 2006.

Your comments

We welcome your comments on the attached draft Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) Regulation 2006, and in particular, on:

• the general structure of the Regulations
• the clarity of the requirements laid down by the Regulations
• the redrafting of the minimum hardness requirement for spring water and drinking water that has been softened or desalinated (Schedule 8, Part I: 1(d))
• the requirement for the recognition of a natural mineral water by the competent authority in Scotland to be published in the Edinburgh Gazette and/or Belfast Gazette in addition to the London Gazette
• the guidance and its usefulness, in particular whether it covers the appropriate topics or if more detail is required. Please highlight specific sections in your response

We also welcome your comments on the Partial RIA, specifically on:

• Item 5 relating to Costs and Benefits e.g. time saved on studying the Regulations
• Item 6 which covers Small Firms Impact Test. Your views would be particularly welcome on: One-off and any on-going costs due to the consolidation of the legislation. It would be helpful if your assessment could be as accurate as possible by identifying monetary costs, any additional administrative costs, including impact on staffing requirements. If applicable, what these are likely to be? If you are a charity or voluntary organisation, will these regulations affect you?

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