The Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2013

Contents

1Title, application and commencement#

These Regulations may be cited as the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2013, apply in relation to England only and come into force on 6th April 2013.

2Interpretation#

In these Regulations —• “the Act” means the Food Safety Act 1990;• “owner” means —(a) in the case of goods in transit, the consignor (or, if the consignor does not have an address in England, the consignee);(b) in the case of goods from a vending machine —(i) if the machine is marked with the name and address of its owner, and the address is in England, that person; and(ii) in any other case, the occupier of the premises on which the machine stands or to which it is affixed;(c) in any other case, the person appearing to the authorised officer to be the owner of the sample when the officer procured it;• “qualified” means qualified for the purposes of the Act;• “Regulation 2017/625” means Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, amending Regulations (EC) No. 999/2001, (EC) No. 396/2005, (EC) No. 1069/2009, (EC) No. 1107/2009, (EU) No. 1151/2012, (EU) No. 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No. 1/2005 and (EC) No. 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No. 854/2004 and (EC) No. 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council Decision 92/438/EEC.• “specified state” means one of the states specified in Schedule 1 to the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) Regulations 2023;

3Sampling and analysis provisions to which these Regulations do not apply#

The provisions of these Regulations specified in column 3 of Schedule 1 do not apply to any sample taken under the provisions of the Regulations listed in the corresponding entry in the first column of that Schedule.

4Qualifications of analysts#

A person is qualified to be a food analyst or a public analyst if that person possesses a Mastership in Chemical Analysis awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

5Qualifications of food examiners#

(1)A person is qualified to be a food examiner if that person —

(a)before the coming into force of these Regulations, was qualified to be a food examiner under regulation 4 of the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990 ^note; or

(b)on or after that date,

(i)possesses a qualification listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2; and

(ii)has carried out examination of food over a period or periods amounting in aggregate to at least 3 years in one or more of the laboratories listed in Part 2 of that Schedule.

(2)In calculating the qualification period in paragraph (1)(b)(ii), no account is to be taken of any period spent as an undergraduate in a laboratory specified in paragraphs 4 to 6 of Part 2 of Schedule 2.

6Restrictions applying to analysts and examiners#

(1)No director, owner or employee of a food business or partner in a food business may act as a public analyst or food examiner for the area in which such business is situated.

(2)No person mentioned in paragraph (1) may analyse or examine any sample which that person knows to have been taken from the business.

7Procedure where a sample is to be analysed#

(1)An authorised officer who has procured a sample under section 29 of the Act and who considers that it should be analysed shall, subject to paragraph (4), cause the sample to be divided into three parts.

(2)If the sample consists of sealed containers and opening them would, in the opinion of the authorised officer, impede a proper analysis, the authorised officer shall divide the sample into parts by putting the containers into three lots, and each lot shall be treated as being a part.

(3)The authorised officer shall —

(a)if necessary place each part in a suitable container and seal each container;

(b)mark or label each part or container;

(c)as soon as reasonably practicable give one part to the owner and give the owner notice that the sample will be analysed;

(d)submit one part for analysis; and

(e)retain one part for future submission under regulation 8.

(4)If the authorised officer is of the opinion that division of the parts is not reasonably practicable or is likely to impede a proper analysis the officer shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable, give notice to the owner that the undivided sample will be analysed and shall submit it for analysis.

8Submission of the retained part of the sample#

(1)Where a part of the sample has been retained under regulation 7(3)(e) and —

(a)proceedings are intended to be or have been commenced against a person for an offence in connection with that sample; and

(b)the prosecution intends to adduce as evidence the result of the analysis mentioned above,

9Procedure where a sample is to be examined#

An authorised officer who has procured a sample under section 29 of the Act and who considers that it should be examined shall —

(a)if necessary place the sample in a suitable container and seal the container;

(b)mark or label the sample or container; and

(c)as soon as reasonably practicable,

(i)submit the sample for examination, and

(ii)give notice to the owner that it is to be examined.

10Certificates#

(1)Where a sample procured under section 29 of the Act has been analysed or examined, the owner is entitled on request to be supplied with a copy of the certificate of analysis or examination by the enforcement authority.

(2)The certificate given by a food analyst or examiner under section 30(6) of the Act shall, subject to such adaptations as circumstances may reasonably require, be in the form of the example set out in Schedule 3.

11Consequential amendments#

In the following provisions, for “the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990” substitute “ the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) (England) Regulations 2013 ”

(a)paragraphs (10) and (11) of regulation 13 (analysis etc. of samples) of the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 ^note;

(b)paragraphs (10) and (11) of regulation 38 (analysis etc. of samples) of the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations 2009 ^note;

12Revocation#

The Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations 1990 ^note are revoked.

13Statutory review#

(1)The Food Standards Agency must from time to time —

(a)carry out a review of the operation and effect of regulations 3 to 10;

(b)set out the conclusions of the review in a report; and

(c)publish the report.

(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3)The report must in particular —

(a)set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory system established by these Regulations;

(b)assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved; and

(c)assess whether those objectives remain appropriate and, if so, the extent to which they could be achieved with a system that imposes less regulation.

(4)The first report under this regulation must be published before the end of the period of five years beginning with the day on which these Regulations come into force.

(5)Reports under this regulation are afterwards to be published at intervals not exceeding five years.

Schedule 1 · Instruments to which specified provisions of these Regulations do not apply

Schedule 2 · Qualifications of Food Examiners

Part 1

(1)A first degree (with honours) in microbiology (irrespective of the title of the degree).

(2)A degree of Master of Science, provided that —

(a)the degree was awarded following an examination rather than a thesis; and

(b)at least one paper in the degree was in microbiology.

(3)Fellowship of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences if that Fellowship has been gained after passing the higher specialist diploma examination in medical microbiology set by that Institute.

(4)The degree in Mastership in Chemical Analysis awarded by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

(5)Fellowship or Membership of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

(6)In paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Part, “degree” means a degree awarded by a body recognised for the purposes of section 214 of the Education Reform Act 1988 (which relates to bodies empowered to award degrees in the United Kingdom) or by a university in a Member State of the European Union.

Part 2

(1)The Laboratory of the Government Chemist.

(2)A laboratory owned by a Government Department or a laboratory under the equivalent control of the government of a Member State of the European Unionor of a specified state.

(3)A laboratory appointed as an official control laboratory under Regulation 2017/625.

(4)A laboratory of a university in the United Kingdom or of a Member State of the European Unionor of a specified state.

(5)A laboratory of a fundable body within the meaning of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 ^note.

(6)A laboratory of the Scottish Agricultural College.

(7)A laboratory specialising in food microbiology and accredited to ISO/IEC 17025.

Schedule 3 · Certificate of Analysis or Examination

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Defined terms · 6

Show every defined term

degree
means a degree awarded by a body recognised for the purposes of section 214 of the Education Reform Act 1988 (which relates to bodies empowered to award degrees in the United Kingdom) or by a university in a Member State of the European Union.
owner
means — (a) in the case of goods in transit, the consignor (or, if the consignor does not have an address in England, the consignee);
qualified
means qualified for the purposes of the Act;
Regulation 2017/625
means Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, amending Regulations (EC) No. 999/2001, (EC) No. 396/2005, (EC) No. 1069/2009, (EC) No. 1107/2009, (EU) No. 1151/2012, (EU) No. 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No. 1/2005 and (EC) No. 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC, and repealing Regulations (EC) No. 854/2004 and (EC) No. 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council Decision 92/438/EEC. • “specified state” means one of the states specified in Schedule 1 to the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) Regulations 2023;
specified state
means one of the states specified in Schedule 1 to the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) Regulations 2023;
the Act
means the Food Safety Act 1990;

1Title, application and commencement#

2Interpretation#

3Sampling and analysis provisions to which these Regulations do not apply#

4Qualifications of analysts#

5Qualifications of food examiners#

6Restrictions applying to analysts and examiners#

7Procedure where a sample is to be analysed#

8Submission of the retained part of the sample#

9Procedure where a sample is to be examined#

10Certificates#

11Consequential amendments#

12Revocation#

13Statutory review#

Defined terms · 6

Connections

Key facts

History · 4 versions

1Title, application and commencement#

2Interpretation#

3Sampling and analysis provisions to which these Regulations do not apply#

4Qualifications of analysts#

5Qualifications of food examiners#

6Restrictions applying to analysts and examiners#

7Procedure where a sample is to be analysed#

8Submission of the retained part of the sample#

9Procedure where a sample is to be examined#

10Certificates#

11Consequential amendments#

12Revocation#

13Statutory review#