Food Labelling (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

Amendment of the Food Labelling Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

7.  In regulation 36 (manner of marking or labelling in the case of food to which regulation 23 or 27 applies)—

(a)in paragraph (1)—

(i)after “by these Regulations” there shall be inserted “or by Regulation 1139/98”;

(ii)after “paragraph (2)” there shall be inserted “or (4A)”;

(b)in paragraph (2), after “use of alternative labelling” there shall be inserted “relating to irradiation”;

(c)after paragraph (4) there shall be inserted—

“(4A) In any case where food—

(a)is food to which the labelling requirements of Regulation 1139/98 apply;

(b)is—

(i)not prepacked, or

(ii)prepacked for direct sale, and

(c)is sold to the ultimate consumer at appropriate premises,

use of alternative labelling in place of the GMO particulars shall not alone be treated as a contravention of those labelling requirements and for this purpose alternative labelling is used where, instead of the particulars referred to in Article 2(3) of that Regulation appearing in the manner specified in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) of this regulation, alternative particulars are displayed in accordance with paragraph (4B).

(4B) Alternative particulars are displayed in accordance with this paragraph in relation to any food referred to in paragraph (4A) if there appears on a menu, notice, ticket or label which is readily discernible by an intending purchaser and which is located at the place at the premises where he chooses that food, indications to the effect that some of the food sold at those premises contains ingredients produced from genetically modified soya beans or maize, or both, as the case may be, and that further information is available from the staff.

(4C) In paragraph (4A)(c) “appropriate premises” means premises where—

(a)the staff provide clarification at the request of an intending purchaser as to whether particular food sold at those premises, other than food falling within Article 1(2) or 2(2) of Regulation 1139/98, is produced in whole or in part from a genetically modified product referred to in Article 1(1) of that Regulation, and

(b)there is an established procedure at those premises for keeping staff informed of that information.”.