Explanatory note

Northern Ireland

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations implement Council Directive 2001/111/EC relating to certain sugars intended for human consumption (O.J. No. L10, 12.1.2002, p. 53) apart from Article 2.2 which concerns the labelling of weights on small pre-packaged products. They revoke and replace the Specified Sugar Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1976, as amended.

The Regulations –

(a)

prescribe definitions and reserved descriptions for certain specified sugar products (regulation 2 and Schedules 1 and 2);

(b)

provide for the Regulations to apply to such specified sugar products intended for human consumption and ready for delivery to the ultimate consumer or to a catering establishment (regulation 3);

(c)

restrict the use of reserved descriptions to the specified sugar products to which they relate (regulation 4);

(d)

prescribe labelling requirements for such products (regulation 5);

(e)

prescribe the manner of marking or labelling by applying specified provisions of the Food Labelling Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (regulation 6);

(f)

specify a penalty, the enforcement authority and, in accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of Council Directive 89/397/EEC on the official control of foodstuffs (O.J. No. L186, 30.6.89, p.23) and the European Economic Area Agreement, a defence in relation to exports (regulations 7 and 8);

(g)

apply various provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (regulation 9);

(h)

revoke the previous Regulations and make consequential amendments and a transitional provision (regulations 10 and 11). An effect of the revocation contained in regulation 10(1)(a) and the absence of any re-enactment of the provision thereby revoked is that Part II of the Food Labelling Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 will apply in relation to the products to which these Regulations relate.