The Coffee and Coffee Products (Amendment) Regulations 1987

Made: 19th November 1987

Laid before Parliament: 1st December 1987

Coming into force

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Secretary of State for Social Services and the Secretary of State for Wales, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by sections 4, 7, 118 and 119 of the Food Act 1984([^f00001]) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations, after consultation in accordance with section 118(6) of the said Act with such organisations as appear to them to be representative of interests substantially affected by the said Regulations:—

Title and commencement

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Coffee and Coffee Products (Amendment) Regulations 1987, and shall come into force for the purposes of regulations 1 and 4 on22nd December 1987; and for all other purposes 21st December 1988.

Amendment of the Coffee and Coffee Products Regulations 1978

2

The Coffee and Coffee Products Regulations 1978([^f00002]) are hereby further amended:—

• (a) by adding at the end of regulation 2 thereof the following paragraph:—

(9) Where a designated product contains the ingredients coffee and chicory, or extracts of those ingredients, or extracts of coffee and fig, the reserved description of the product shall be such that in it the name of the ingredient of which the higher proportion was used in the manufacturing process shall precede the name of the other ingredient.

• (b) by substituting for regulations 5 and 6 thereof the following regulations:—

(5) (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984([^f00003]) and subject to regulation 6, no person shall sell by retail, or consign or deliver pursuant to a sale by retail any designated product in a container unless that container is correctly marked or labelled with the following particulars:— (a) subject to paragraph (2) below, a reserved description of the product, which shall be the name prescribed by law for that product for the purposes of regulation 7(1) of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984; (b) the word “decaffeinated” in the case of:— (i) a designated product specified in Part I of Schedule 1 produced from coffee which has been subjected to a decaffeination process and in which the residual anhydrous caffeine content determined according to the method of analysis referred to in item (1) of Schedule 2 does not exceed 0·10% of its coffee-based dry matter content, or (ii) a designated product specified in Part II or Part IV of Schedule 1 produced from coffee which has been subjected to a decaffeination process and in which the residual anhydrous caffeine content determined according to the method of analysis referred to in item (1) of Schedule 2 does not exceed 0·30% of its coffee-based dry matter content; (c) in the case of any of the following designated products, namely, liquid coffee extract, liquid chicory extract, liquid coffee and chicory extract, chicory and coffee essence and liquid coffee and fig extract:— (i) the declaration “roasted with sugar”, if the product is obtained from the raw material roasted with sugar; (ii) the declaration “with sugar”, “preserved with sugar”, or “with added sugar”, if the sugar has been added to the raw material after roasting, the word “sugar” being replaced in that declaration by the name of any sugar product used instead of sucrose, which name shall be the reserved description of that product as specified in relation thereto in the Specified Sugar Products Regulations 1976([^f00004]) or, if the sugar product has no such reserved description, the name of the product which, if the sugar product were itself being sold as a food, would be used, pursuant to the Food Labelling Regulations 1984, as the name of the food; (d) in the case of the following designated products:— (i) coffee extract paste and liquid coffee extract or mixtures containing these products, a declaration of the minimum coffee-based dry matter content expressed as a percentage; (ii) chicory extract paste and liquid chicory extract or mixtures containing these products, a declaration of the minimum chicory-based dry matter content expressed as a percentage. (2) In the case of the designated product liquid coffee extract containing more than 25% coffee-based dry matter and of the designated product liquid chicory extract containing more than 45% chicory-based dry matter, the word “concentrated” may be added to the reserved description. (5A) Subject to regulation 6, no person shall sell otherwise than by retail, or consign or deliver pursuant to a sale otherwise than by retail, any designated product in a container unless that container is correctly marked or labelled with the following particulars:— (a) a reserved description of the product; (b) the name or business name and the address of the manufacturer, or packer or of a seller established within the Community; (c) a marking by which the batch can be identified; (d) in the case of a designated product containing any added permitted anti-caking agent in accordance with paragraph (a) of the proviso to regulation 8, the declaration “for use in vending machines only”. (6) (1) Regulations 32(1) and 34(1) and (2) of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 (which relate to the manner of marking or labelling of food) shall apply to the particulars with which a designated product is required to be marked or labelled by regulation 5 as if they were particulars with which food is required to be marked or labelled by the Food Labelling Regulations 1984. (2) Any indication of minimum durability required by regulation 21 of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 shall appear in the labelling of the designated product sold by retail or consigned or delivered pursuant to a sale by retail in the same field of vision as the particulars required by regulation 5(1)(a), (b) and (c). (3) The particulars with which any designated product is required to be marked or labelled by Regulation 5A shall appear on the container, on a label attached to the container or in an accompanying document.

• (c) by omitting, in regulation 8(e), the words and ellipsis “with added ...”;

• (d) by substituting for the Schedules thereto the contents of the Schedule to these Regulations.

Amendment of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984

3

The Food Labelling Regulations 1984 are hereby further amended by substituting for paragraph (3) of regulation 5 thereof the following paragraph:—

(3) This Part of these Regulations does not apply to any coffee, coffee mixture, coffee extract product, chicory extract product or other designated product as defined in the Coffee and Coffee Products Regulations 1978([^f00005]) which is ready for delivery to a catering establishment.

Transitional provisions

4

• (1) In any proceedings in respect of an act done before 21st December 1988 which is alleged to constitute an offence under the Coffee and Coffee Products Regulations 1978, the defendant shall not be convicted of an offence—

• (a) against regulation 5 unless the prosecution prove that such act would have constituted an offence against regulation 5 or 5A as substituted for that regulation by regulation 2 of these Regulations if it had been in force when the act was done;

• (b) against regulation 6 unless the prosecution prove that such act would have constituted an offence against regulation 6 as substituted for that regulation by regulation 2 of these Regulations if it had been in force when the act was done.

• (2) In any proceedings in respect of an alleged failure before 21st December 1988 to mark or label with a list of ingredients in accordance with Part III of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 any coffee, coffee mixture, coffee extract product, chicory extract product or other designated product as defined in the Coffee and Coffee Products Regulations 1978, as amended by regulation 2(d) of these Regulations, and which is ready for delivery to a catering establishment, the defendant shall not be convicted of an offence.

THE SCHEDULE — New Schedules 1 and 2 to the Coffee and Coffee Products Regulations 1978

Signed

In Witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on

John MacGregor — Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food — 10th November 1987.

John Moore — Secretary of State for Social Services — 19th November 1987

Peter Walker — Secretary of State for Wales — 13th November 1987

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which apply to England and Wales only, implement Council Directive No. 85/573/EEC (O.J. No. L372, 31.12.85, p.22) which amended for the second time Directive 77/436/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to coffee extracts and chicory extracts for human consumption. They also make consequential and other provision for products to which the Directives do not apply. For these purposes, they further amend the Coffee and Coffee Products Regulations 1978 (“the Principal Regulations”) by substituting for original regulations 5 and 6, new regulations 5, 5A and 6 to make separate provision for retail and non-retail sales of coffee and coffee products (regulation 2(b)) and by re-defining specified designated products in Schedule 1 (regulation 2(d)). They also amend the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 so as to apply Part III to coffee and coffee products other than those ready for delivery to a catering establishment (regulation 3).

The new definitions in the replaced Schedule 1 remove the requirement as to the minimum raw coffee content of coffee extracts and reduce the requirement as to the minimum dry matter content of coffee extracts and chicory extracts. The definition of chicory and coffee essence has also been amended to remove (in the case of non-retail sales) the requirement to declare added sugar products and the reserved description has been amended in consequence.

In relation to retail sales, the requirements in new principal regulation 5 for labelling products with specified particulars, make the following changes of substance:—

• (a) coffee and chicory extracts are required to be labelled respectively with the minimum coffee-based and chicory-based dry matter content;

• (b) the word “concentrated” is permitted to be added to the description of specified liquid coffee and chicory extracts.

In relation to non-retail sales, new principal regulation 5A requires products to be labelled with a reserved description and particulars of the Community manufacturer, packer or seller, a marking by which the batch can be identified and, in the case of specified coffee products containing permitted anti-caking agent, a declaration that they are for use in vending machines, where this is the intention.

The manner of marking or labelling of all designated products is prescribed by new principal regulation 6 for retail and non-retail sales.

The substantive changes made by regulations 2 and 3 come into force on 21st December 1988. Until then regulation 4 (which with regulation 1 comes into force on 22nd December 1987) provides that a defendant shall not be convicted of an offence:—

• (a) against regulations 5 or 6, unless it is proved that his act would have constituted an offence against the respective substituted provisions had they then been in force;

• (b) against Part III of the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 for failing to mark or label with a list of ingredients coffee or coffee products which are ready for delivery to a catering establishment.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1984 c. 30.

[^f00002]: S.I. 1978/1420; the relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1982/254, 1727 and 1985/67.

[^f00003]: S.I. 1984/1305; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1985/67.

[^f00004]: S.I. 1976/509; the relevant amending instrument is S.I. 1982/255.

[^f00005]: S.I. 1978/1420.

[^f00006]: O.J. No. L327, 24.12.79, p.17.