Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Baroness Walmsley Excerpts

Tuesday 19th March 2019 Grand Committee

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, I will speak to all four Motions in my name. Consumers in the UK benefit from a high standard of food and feed safety and quality. The Government are committed to ensuring that that high standard is maintained when the UK leaves the European Union. These instruments are crucial to meeting our objective to continue to protect public health from risks that may arise in connection with the consumption of food.

These instruments, which all concern food and feed safety, relate to those substances collectively known as regulated products as well as to animal feed hygiene and marketing and are made under the powers in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 to make necessary amendments to UK regulations. The Government’s priority is to ensure that the high standard of food and feed safety and consumer protection we enjoy in this country is maintained when the UK leaves the European Union. These instruments will correct deficiencies in those regulations to ensure that the UK is prepared in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal on exit day. They are limited to necessary technical amendments to ensure that the legislation is operative on exit day. No policy changes are made through these instruments, and we do not intend to make any at this point.

The primary purpose of these instruments on regulated products used in food and animal feed is to ensure that UK domestic legislation that implements directly applicable EU regulations continues to function effectively after exit day. The proposed amendments are critical to ensure that there is minimal disruption to novel foods, feed additives and other regulated products collectively if we do not reach a deal with the EU. These instruments, which lay down fundamental principles underpinning the law on regulated products and basic food business requirements as well as describing certain functions carried out by EU institutions, will function effectively at exit day.

The Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 include all items intended to come into contact with food, directly and indirectly. Also known as food contact materials, they include processing line machinery, transport containers, kitchen equipment, packaging, containers, cutlery, dishes and utensils and can be made from a variety of materials including metal, paper, plastic, wood, ceramics and rubber. Any material that comes into contact with food must be safe and fit for purpose. The regulations lay down that materials and articles intended to come into contact with food should be manufactured in line with good manufacturing practice, so that under normal and foreseeable conditions of use they do not transfer their constituents to food in quantities that could endanger human health, bring about an unacceptable change or have an adverse impact on the composition, taste or texture of the food.

The Genetically Modified Food and Feed (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 lay down that all GM food and feed must undergo pre-market authorisation before being placed on the market. I emphasise that this instrument is not about changing any policy on GM foods, allowing more or less on the market; it is simply about transferring the functions and powers currently held by European bodies back to the UK. GM protein feed is essential for our livestock industry and there are no viable alternatives at present. We will continue to take a robust approach to assessing GM products and only those that we deem safe will be made available for those who wish to use them.

The Novel Food (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 require that novel foods must be assessed for safety before they are introduced into the market to ensure that they do not present a risk to public health. This includes foods that are relatively new or those that do not have a significant history of consumption in the EU and are referred to as novel foods.

The Animal Feed (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 will ensure that the retained EU legislation relating to feed additives, feed hygiene, sampling and marketing is operable after exit day. The retained EU law will be the legislative cornerstone for feed safety in the UK after EU exit and will underpin all other feed safety legislation in the UK. What farmers feed their livestock will vary for a variety of reasons but, whether it is grass, cereals, compound feedstuffs or by-products from the brewing industries, ensuring that the feed we provide to our animals is wholesome and safe is a pre-requisite to food safety.

As I have said, there are no changes to policy in these instruments beyond making the minimal changes necessary to rectify deficiencies in the retained EU legislation. For food and feed businesses, there will be no change in how they are regulated or in how they are run. All existing regulated products permitted for use within the UK prior to exit day will continue to be permitted immediately after exit and all conditions and requirements attached to their use will be preserved. This will ensure continuity and clarity for UK food and feed businesses and those exporting their food and feed products to the UK. Thus, consumers in the UK will benefit from high standards of food and feed safety and quality. The Government are committed to ensuring that these standards are maintained.

These instruments introduce a proposed transfer of powers to UK entities to support a UK-centric regulatory regime for regulated products. Currently, the European Commission holds a range of powers and functions under EU law which enables new products to be placed on to the market, amends conditions of use and purity criteria and removes products from the permitted lists when required. These instruments transfer these powers from the Commission to Ministers in England, Scotland and Wales and to the devolved authority in Northern Ireland. They also transfer responsibility for risk assessment from the European Food Safety Authority to the food safety authorities FSA and FSS, which will continue to deliver independent, open, transparent, science and evidence-based advice.

The FSA has strengthened its capability and recruited 140 extra policy and science experts to support the risk assessment and risk management processes that apply to these products. I am saying this now because the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, asked me about this last week. The FSA has received an extra £14 million to deal with EU exit and a further £16 million will be provided this year. In turn, the FSA provided a grant fund of £2 million last year to local authorities to support food safety activity in relation to EU exit pressures and a further £2 million will be made available this year.

Let me be clear that these instruments will have no impact on the food industry and that there are no changes to the controls on the use of already authorised products. There are no changes to the technical data and studies that will need to be provided for new authorisation applications. We will continue to take a robust science-based approach to what we permit on to our market.

It is important to note that the devolved Administrations have provided consent for these instruments. Furthermore, we have engaged positively with the devolved Administrations throughout the development of the instrument, and this ongoing engagement has been welcomed.

These instruments constitute a necessary measure to ensure that our food legislation relating to novel foods, feed additives and other regulated products collectively continues to work effectively after exit day. With the assurances I have given, I hope noble Lords are able to support these important regulations. I beg to move.

[Baroness Walmsley (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her introduction and assurances about resources for the FSA. I had not intended to ask her about that again, but I am grateful anyway. It is vital for the future health of our country to ensure that the correct legal infrastructure for food safety is in place if we exit the European Union. Therefore, it is important that these statutory instruments are passed. Yet it is also our duty to give these pieces of legislation adequate scrutiny to ensure that the high food standards and safety regulations our EU membership has provided for so many years are maintained.

On the matter of scrutiny, we depend on the views of those affected by this legislation—the people in the industry. However, the same consultation has been used for a number of these regulations, and I question whether it is allowing sufficient public consultation without confusing several issues in the same document. Does the Minister accept that using the same consultation for SIs with completely different purposes means that this legislation has not received adequate public scrutiny, and has restricted the capacity of experts to respond adequately?

There are also concerns, as with many other SIs, about the powers being transferred to Ministers. If we leave the EU with a deal, there will be a transition period during which our new relationship with the EU will be negotiated. However, during that time, the Government intend also to try to secure trade deals with other countries. I and many of the respondents are concerned that our high standards should not be used as a lever to achieve trade deals, resulting in lower standards for consumers. The Government have promised that this will not happen, but they also promised that we would leave on 29 March and it does not look as though we will. With the best will in the world, there will be pressure on Ministers to secure a trade deal they can brag about, and many are concerned that they will offer whatever comes to hand to achieve it. The trouble is that these SIs give them the power to do that. What reassurance can the Minister give that this will not happen?

We are being reminded that we will start out in line with EU regulations when we leave. That is true; however, these EU regulations are not static and will change over time. Can the Minister say what work is being done to prepare the UK to introduce speedily matching changes as they happen? If they do not do that, our exporting food producers will be in trouble. Also, how do the Government plan to communicate with those who work with animal feed or human food to ensure that they are kept up to date with future changes in the EU that we will also adopt in the UK, especially if we should diverge at some future date? Have the Government tested systems for taking on duties that were previously done by EU organisations, such applications for authorisation to put new animal feed additives on to the market?

Then there is the issue of risk. We hear that risk management functions will be split across the devolved Administrations, particularly between the FSA and the FSS. It is therefore possible that different approaches to risk management on food safety could be taken in, say, England and Scotland. This would be confusing enough at home, but could also undermine confidence in our food export market.