Nutrition (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Baroness Thornton Excerpts

Thursday 21st March 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, this statutory instrument has been laid to ensure that, following our exit from the European Union, the people of the United Kingdom can continue to benefit from the same world-leading standards of safety and quality for nutrition regulation as they do today. Primarily, successful passage of this SI will provide certainty for businesses and the public by ensuring a functioning statute book of nutrition legislation when the UK leaves the EU. It is no secret that both the Government and Parliament have shown a clear preference against a no-deal outcome. However, the Prime Minister has been clear that it will continue to be appropriate to prepare for a no-deal scenario, and this remains a priority for the Government. The EU is stepping up its preparations for no deal and it would be irresponsible for the UK not to do the same.

This SI provides all the necessary legislative building blocks to ensure readiness on exit day in all scenarios, guaranteeing that this aspect of nutrition legislation will continue to operate at the same high standard as it does now long after we exit the EU. The instrument covers the following aspects of nutrition legislation: the health or nutritional claims that food manufacturers can make for the foods they produce; the vitamin and mineral substances permitted for use in food supplements; the vitamins and minerals that can voluntarily be added to fortify foods, such as to breakfast cereals or soft drinks; the content of foods for specific groups, such as young children; foods that are used for special medical purposes, such as those for people recovering from illnesses; and total diet replacement foods for weight control.

Changes made through this instrument are largely technical in nature, amending EU-specific references in retained EU and domestic law which will no longer be applicable when the UK withdraws from the EU. Perhaps the most important change made by this SI is the transfer of powers currently held by the European Commission to the Secretary of State, Scottish Ministers, Welsh Ministers and, in relation to Northern Ireland, the Department of Health as applicable, ensuring that the UK reclaims full legislative control in this area. The SI also ensures that all applicable registers, annexes and lists will apply effectively in UK law as they stand on exit day. This has the explicit aim of mirroring the existing regulatory system, ensuring minimal disruption to industry and delivering continuity for both businesses and consumers.

Crucially, this SI provides for the transfer of functions in nutrition and health claims applications from EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority, to an expert committee in the UK. To guarantee minimal disruption, my department has been working closely with Public Health England to establish the new United Kingdom Nutrition and Health Claims Committee. The UKNHCC would replace EFSA’s Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens, and assume responsibility for providing independent scientific opinion on any new nutrition health claims submitted for use in the UK to the four UK Administrations. The committee would operate in a similar way to and to similar timescales as the current EFSA process, providing further continuity to business.

I am pleased to report to the House that, since the debate in the other place, excellent progress has been made in establishing the committee. Earlier this month, following the open and transparent recruitment exercise, appointment letters were issued to eight exceptional individuals selected from a number of high-calibre applicants. Further details of these appointments will be available in the public domain at the point the committee is required. With an excellent panel and chair in place, I can confirm that the committee is ready to come into effect if required.

Given the scope of the instrument, the House might ask why food for special medical purposes developed specifically to satisfy the nutritional needs of infants, such as infant follow-on formula, do not appear to be covered. While delegated legislation relating to infants and infant formula has indeed come into force under EU regulation 609/2013 to enable food business operators to adapt to the new requirements, those regulations do not apply until February 2020. As this SI covers only legislation in force and applicable at exit day, it was not appropriate to include them in this instrument. However, I reassure the House that it is the Government’s full intention to bring forward domestic legislation mirroring this delegated legislation as closely as possible at the appropriate time. Until then, the existing compositional, labelling and advertising rules will continue to be enforced by statutory instruments already in place, and will not be affected by the UK’s exit from the EU.

As I stated earlier, this instrument, respectful to devolution settlements, provides for the relevant Commission powers to be transferred to the four Administrations and includes a power for the Secretary of State to make legislation for the whole UK with the consent of the devolved Administrations, which have been involved with the drafting of these regulations at every stage. I am grateful to them for all their efforts to ensure that our high standards for nutrition are maintained after EU exit.

For the purposes of maintaining free trade across the UK and to retain continued consumer confidence, it is important that policy consistency remains where possible, but that the potential for necessary and appropriate divergence which does not disproportionately impact on the UK internal market also remains. This is to reflect or respond to country-specific needs where risk assessment shows this is both necessary and proportionate to protect consumers, such as on public health grounds. Officials have therefore been working collaboratively across the UK to develop frameworks which will deliver a common approach to nutrition policy and ensure that devolved interests are taken into account in the formulation of new policy and future decisions taken within central government concerning nutrition.

Proposals underpinning this SI were subject to a public consultation during December. As no significant changes to the existing regulatory regime were proposed, costs to business were deemed to be below the de minimis threshold. Departments are not required to publish de minimis assessments. However, we conducted an equalities impact assessment and found no impact on any of the protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010. We are grateful to the broad range of stakeholders that responded to the consultation, including food manufacturers, trade bodies, a local authority and members of the public.

On 25 February we published our response, which detailed how respondents were supportive of our proposals but sought more detail on how they would work in practice. Appropriate guidance, which my department plans to publish via bulletins ahead of exit day, has been tested with industry via the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s business experts group. Having received excellent feedback on the draft, I am confident that it is fit for purpose, clearly communicates any changes in process and provides all the additional information respondents requested.

We know that this is an important area of legislation, with many thriving businesses operating in this space. I again assure the House that it is our overarching aim that the amendments made by this instrument provide continuity for businesses and ensure that, when the UK leaves the European Union, the exceptional standards of safety and quality for nutrition regulation will continue. These draft regulations were passed in the other place on 28 February. With the assurances I have given noble Lords, I hope that they will support this necessary legislation. I beg to move.

[Baroness Thornton (Lab)]

My Lords, I will speak briefly. I thank the Minister for proposing these regulations. I remember several years ago one of the issues we had to deal with in the European Union was that the thriving industry in the UK for nutrition, vitamins, minerals and substances was much more advanced than those of many of our European colleagues. The framework we are now looking at, and will be pulling out of, is very largely of our making. That standards will be transferred intact is not surprising, since we developed them 10 or 15 years ago in the UK; we did so partly because we wanted access to the markets of the European Union for supplements, vitamins and so on.

My first question is this: what will happen to those markets? After Brexit day, what will happen to this industry, where we have been leading in Europe? It is quite clear that the purpose of this SI is to remedy deficiencies in UK legislation relating to nutrition arising from the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union without a deal. The Explanatory Memorandum says, and the Minister repeated, that there would be a,

“low level of impact … on businesses”.

But no impact assessment has been made—although I accept that the results of the consultation came to that conclusion. It also says that some “administrative burden” will be placed on businesses. That is a matter of some concern, and one we would wish to keep under scrutiny. Some of these businesses are not huge corporations but are relatively small; any additional administrative burden is a matter of concern.