Contents
- Part 1 Introduction
- Part 2 Product names and descriptions
- Part 3 Compositional requirements
- Part 4 Additional labelling requirements
- Part 5 Enforcement and miscellaneous provisions
- Schedule 1 Compositional criteria
- Schedule 2 Application and modification of provisions of the Order
- Schedule 3 Amendment of the Food Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014
Part 1 · Introduction
1Citation and commencement#
These Regulations may be cited as the Honey Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 and come into operation on 24th June 2015.
2Definition of “honey” and different types of honey#
(1)In these Regulations “honey” means the natural sweet substance produced by Apis mellifera bees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant-sucking insects on the living parts of plants which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and leave in honeycombs to ripen and mature.
(2)In these Regulations—• “baker’s honey” means honey which is suitable for industrial uses or as an ingredient in other foodstuffs which is then processed and may—(a) have a foreign taste or odour;(b) have begun to ferment or have fermented;(c) have been overheated; or(d) have been obtained by removing foreign inorganic or organic matter in such a way as to result in the significant removal of pollen.• “blossom honey” and “nectar honey” mean honeys obtained from the nectar of plants;• “chunk honey” and “cut comb in honey” mean honeys which contain one or more pieces of comb honey;• “comb honey” means honey stored by bees in the cells of freshly built broodless combs or thin comb foundation sheets made solely of beeswax and sold in sealed whole combs or sections of such combs;• “drained honey” means honey obtained by draining de-capped broodless combs;• “extracted honey” means honey obtained by centrifuging de-capped broodless combs;• note...• “honeydew honey” means honey obtained mainly from excretions of plant sucking insects (Hemiptera) on the living part of plants or secretions of living parts of plants;• “pressed honey” means honey obtained by pressing broodless combs with or without the application of moderate heat not exceeding 45° Celsius.
3General interpretation#
(1)In these Regulations—• “bulk containers” has the same meaning as in Article 3 of the Honey Directive;• “FIC” means Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004note... note;• “the Honey Directive” means Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey note...note;• “ingredient” has the meaning given in Article 2(2)(f) of FIC, as read with Article 2(5) of the Honey Directive;• “in trade” has the same meaning as in the Honey Directive;• “label” has the meaning given in Article 2(2)(i) of FIC;• “the Order” means the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991;• “packaging” has the same meaning as in Article 3 of the Honey Directive;• “sales documentation” has the same meaning as in Article 3 of the Honey Directive;• “specific quality criteria” has the same meaning as in the third indented paragraph of paragraph (b) of the second sub-paragraph of point 2 of Article 2 of the Honey Directive.
(2)Any other expression used in both these Regulations and in the Honey Directive has the same meaning in these Regulations as in that Directive.
(3)The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Assembly.
4Limited scope of specified provisions#
(1)The following provisions only apply in relation to a product intended for supply to a final consumer or mass caterer—
(a)Part 2, except for regulations 14(4) and 15(4) and (5);
(b)regulation 16(1) and (2);
(c)Part 4.
(2)Regulation 16(3) and (4) only apply where the products intended for human consumption specified in those paragraphs (the products to which honey is added as an ingredient) are intended for supply to a final consumer or mass caterer.
(3)In this regulation—• “final consumer” has the meaning given in point 18 of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety;• “mass caterer” has the meaning given in Article 2(2)(d) of FIC.
Part 2 · Product names and descriptions
6Honey#
(2)This paragraph applies to—
(a)baker's honey;
(b)comb honey;
(c)drained honey;
(d)extracted honey;
(e). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(f)honeydew honey;
(g)honey that contains one or more pieces of comb honey (chunk honey and cut comb in honey);
(i)pressed honey.
8Honeydew honey#
(1)A person trading in a honeydew honey must use the name “honey” or “honeydew honey” in trade as the name of the product.
(2)A person must not use the name “honeydew honey” in trade as the name of a product if the product is not honeydew honey.
9Comb honey#
(1)A person trading in a comb honey must use the name “comb honey” in trade as the name of the product.
(2)A person must not use the name “comb honey” in trade as the name of a product if the product is not comb honey.
10Chunk honey and cut comb in honey#
(1)A person trading in a honey that contains one or more pieces of comb honey must use the name “chunk honey” or “cut comb in honey” in trade as the name of the product.
(2)A person must not use the name “chunk honey” or “cut comb in honey” in trade as the name of a product if the product does not contain one or more pieces of comb honey.
11Drained honey#
(1)A person trading in drained honey must use the name “honey” or “drained honey” in trade as the name of the product.
(2)A person must not use the name “drained honey” in trade as the name of a product if the product is not drained honey.
12Extracted honey#
(1)A person trading in extracted honey must use the name “honey” or “extracted honey” in trade as the name of the product.
(2)A person must not use the name “extracted honey” in trade as the name of a product if the product is not extracted honey.
13Pressed honey#
(1)A person trading in pressed honey must use the name “honey” or “pressed honey” in trade as the name of the product.
(2)A person must not use the name “pressed honey” in trade as the name of a product if the product is not pressed honey.
15Baker's honey#
(3)A person trading in baker's honey must not provide information relating to the floral, vegetable, regional, territorial or topographical origin of the product or specific quality criteria for the product.
(5)A person must not trade in baker's honey in bulk containers or packaging unless the product name “baker's honey” is clearly indicated—
(a)on those containers and packaging ; and
(b)on the sales documentation relating to the product.
(6)Where baker's honey is used as an ingredient in a compound foodstuff, the product name “honey” may be used, in trade, in the product name of the compound foodstuff instead of “baker's honey”.
(7)Where baker's honey is used as an ingredient in a compound foodstuff and the name “honey” is used in the product name of the compound foodstuff, a person must not trade in that foodstuff unless the list of ingredients for that foodstuff identifies that honey ingredient using the name “baker's honey”.
Part 3 · Compositional requirements
16Compositional requirements#
(2)A person must not place any product on the market using a product name listed in paragraph (5) unless it meets the appropriate compositional criteria for that type of honey specified in Schedule 1.
(3)A person must not use a product (“the honey ingredient”) as “honey” in a product intended to be placed on the market for human consumption unless the honey ingredient meets the appropriate compositional criteria for “honey” specified in Schedule 1.
(4)A person must not use a product (“the honey ingredient”) as honey of a type listed in paragraph (5) in a product intended to be placed on the market for human consumption unless the honey ingredient meets the appropriate compositional criteria for that type of honey specified in Schedule 1.
(5)The product names and types of honey are—
(a)baker's honey;
(b)blossom honey;
(c)chunk honey;
(d)comb honey;
(e)cut comb in honey;
(f)drained honey;
(g)extracted honey;
(h). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(i)honeydew honey;
(j)nectar honey;
(k)pressed honey.
Part 4 · Additional labelling requirements
17Additional labelling requirements#
(1)Subject to paragraphs (1A) and (1B) a person must not trade in honey unless the country of origin where the honey has been harvested is indicated on the label.
(1A)Subject to paragraph (1B) where the honey originates in more than one country, the countries of origin where the honey has been harvested must be indicated on the label—
(a)in the principal field of vision; and
(b)subject to paragraph (1C), in descending order of their share in weight together with the percentage that each of those countries of origin represents.
(1B)For packages containing net quantities of honey of less than 30 grams, the names of the countries of origin may be replaced by a two-letter code, in accordance with the latest version of the international ISO 3166-1 two-letter code (alfa-2) in force.
(1C)A tolerance of 5% shall be allowed for each individual share within the blend, calculated on the basis of the operator’s traceability documentation.
(1D)The particulars indicated in paragraphs (1), (1A), (1B) and (1C) are mandatory particulars in accordance with Article 9 of FIC.
(2)In paragraphs (3) to (5), “relevant honey” means all honey except for baker's honeynote....
(3)The product name of a relevant honey may be supplemented by information relating to its floral or vegetable origin but a person may not trade in a relevant honey for which such supplemental information is provided unless the product comes wholly or mainly from the indicated source and presents the organoleptic, physico-chemical and microscopic characteristics of the indicated origin .
(4)The product name of a relevant honey may be supplemented by information relating to its regional, territorial or topographical origin but a person may not trade in a relevant honey for which such supplemental information is provided unless the product comes entirely from the indicated source .
(5)The product name of a relevant honey may be supplemented by information relating to its specific quality criteria.
Part 5 · Enforcement and miscellaneous provisions
19Application of provisions of the Order#
The provisions of the Order specified in column 1 of the table in Schedule 2 apply, with the modifications specified in column 2 of that table, for the purposes of these Regulations.
20Revocations#
(1)The following Regulations are revoked—
(a)the Honey Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 note;
(b)the Honey (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 note; and
(c)the Honey (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 note.
(2)Omit the following provisions of the Food Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 note—
(a)entry 12 of the table in Part 1 of Schedule 6; and
(b)paragraph 9 of Part 2 of Schedule 7.
22Transitional provision#
(1)An authorised officer of an enforcement authority must not serve an improvement notice under Article 9(1) of the Order, as applied and modified by regulation 19, as read with Schedule 2, if—
(a)the improvement notice would relate to a product that was placed on the market or labelled before 24th June 2015; and
(b)the matters constituting the alleged contravention would not have constituted an offence under the Honey Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 as they stood immediately before 24th June 2015.
(2)In this regulation “authorised officer” has the same meaning as in Article 2(2)(a) of the Order.
Schedule 1 · Compositional criteria
(2)The colour varies from nearly colourless to dark brown.
(3)The consistency can be fluid, viscous or partly or entirely crystallised.
(4)The flavour and aroma vary but are derived from the plant origin.
(5)No food ingredient has been added, including any food additive.
(7)It must, as far as possible, be free from organic or inorganic matters foreign to its composition.
(8)It must not—
(a)have any foreign tastes or odours;
(b)have begun to ferment;
(c)have an artificially changed acidity;
(d)have been heated in such a way that the natural enzymes have been either destroyed or significantly inactivated.
(9)Paragraph 8 does not apply to baker's honey.
(10)No pollen or constituent particular to honey may be removed except where this is unavoidable in the removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter.
(11). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(12)The additional compositional criteria set out in the following table apply—
Schedule 2 · Application and modification of provisions of the Order
Schedule 3 · Amendment of the Food Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014
(1)The Food Information Regulations 2014 are amended as follows.
(2)In the table in Part 2 of Schedule 5 (FIC provisions in relation to which an improvement notice may be served on and from 13th December 2014)—
(a)in the third column of entry number 26 at the end insert “ and point 4(b) of Article 2 of Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey ”; and
(b)in the third column of entry number 27 at the end insert “ and point 4(b) of Article 2 of Council Directive 2001/110/EC ”.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.