The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2018

Made: 7th March 2018

Laid before Parliament: 12th March 2018

Coming into force: 6th April 2018

There has been consultation as required by Article 9 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[^f00004].

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 and come into force on 6th April 2018.

• (2) They extend to England and Wales.

Amendment of the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) Regulations 2007

2

The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) Regulations 2007[^f00005] are amended as follows.

Amendment of regulation 2 (interpretation)

3

In regulation 2(1)—

• (a) at the appropriate places insert the following definitions—

• “pesticides” has the meaning given in note 6 of Part B of Annex 1 to Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water for human consumption[^f00006];

• “polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” means— benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(ghi)perylene, and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene;

• “trihalomethanes” means— chloroform, bromoform, dibromochloromethane, and bromodichloromethane.

• (b) in the definition of “parameter”, for the words from “second column” to the end substitute “first column of any table in Schedule 2 or the first column of the table in Section 1 of Part 9 of Schedule 12”;

• (c) omit the definition of “prescribed concentration or value”;

• (d) at the end of the definition of “relevant authority” omit “and”.

Amendment of regulation 3 (exemptions)

4

For regulation 3(1)(a) substitute—

(a) is a medicinal product within the meaning of Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use[^f00007];

Amendment of regulation 14 (marking, labelling and advertising of bottled drinking water)

5

In regulation 14, in paragraphs (a) and (b), in the words before sub-paragraph (i), omit the words from “which” to “Annex I”.

Amendment of regulation 16 (enforcement)

6

• (1) Regulation 16 is amended as follows.

• (2) In paragraph (5)—

• (a) in sub-paragraph (a)—

• (i) in the words before paragraph (i), for “to check” substitute “, including checks to determine”;

• (ii) in paragraph (i), at the end insert “and”;

• (iii) omit paragraphs (ii) to (iv);

• (b) omit sub-paragraphs (b) to (d).

• (3) In paragraph (6), omit “, (b) and (d)”.

Insertion of regulation 16A (monitoring of bottled spring water and bottled drinking water)

7

After regulation 16, insert—

(16A) Each food authority must, in accordance with Schedule 12, maintain a monitoring programme for, and monitor, any water that— (a) is water to which paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 applies (water bottled and labelled as “spring water” and bottled drinking water), and (b) is being bottled in its area.

Omission of regulations 19 to 21 (methods of analysis, offences and penalties and defences)

8

Omit—

• (a) regulation 19 (methods of analysis);

• (b) regulation 20 (offences and penalties);

• (c) regulation 21 (defences).

Substitution of regulation 22 (application of provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990)

9

For regulation 22 substitute—

(22) (1) The provisions of the Act specified in the first column of the table in Schedule 13 apply for the purposes of these Regulations, with the modifications specified in the second column of that table. (2) An authorised officer of a food authority must not serve an improvement notice under section 10(1) of the Act, as applied and modified by paragraph (1), as read with Schedule 13, if— (a) the improvement notice would relate to water bottled and labelled before 6th April 2018, and (b) the matters constituting the alleged contravention would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations as they stood immediately before 6th April 2018.

Substitution of Schedule 2 (requirements for spring water and drinking water including prescribed concentrations or values of parameters)

10

For Schedule 2 (requirements for water bottled and labelled as “spring water” and bottled drinking water including concentration and value limits for microbiological, chemical and radioactive parameters) substitute the Schedule in Schedule 1.

Omission of Schedules 9 to 11 (audit monitoring, check monitoring and minimum sampling frequencies)

11

Omit—

• (a) Schedule 9 (properties, elements, substances and organisms, not being parameters, whose concentration or value in bottled drinking water and spring water must be determined by audit monitoring);

• (b) Schedule 10 (parameters, properties, elements, substances and organisms in relation to which check monitoring must be carried out);

• (c) Schedule 11 (minimum frequencies for sampling and analysis of spring water and bottled drinking water).

Insertion of Schedule 12 (monitoring provisions) and Schedule 13 (application of provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990)

12

At the appropriate places, insert the Schedules in Schedule 2 as Schedule 12 (monitoring of water bottled and labelled as “spring water” and bottled drinking water) and Schedule 13 (application and modification of provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990).

SCHEDULE 1 — New Schedule 2

SCHEDULE 2 — New Schedules 12 and 13

Signed

George Eustice — Minister of State — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — 7th March 2018

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations amend the Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (England) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/2785) (“the principal Regulations”), as amended. The principal Regulations regulate natural mineral water, spring water and bottled drinking water in England and implement various EU directives and regulations, including (relevant for the purposes of these Regulations) Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption (OJ No. L 330, 5.12.1998, p. 32).

These Regulations amend the principal Regulations to implement, in relation to England, the provisions in the following Directives so far as they relate to bottled spring water and bottled drinking water—

• (a) Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom laying down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption (OJ No. L 296, 7.11.2013, p. 12), and

• (b) Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 amending Annexes II and III to Council Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption (OJ No. L 260, 7.10.2015, p. 6).

The provisions of Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom and Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 also apply to public and private supplies of water. The provisions of Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom, so far as they apply to such water supplies, are implemented in England by the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/614), as amended, and the Private Water Supplies (England) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/618), as amended. Both Regulations will be amended to implement the provisions of Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 in England, so far as they apply to public and private water supplies.

The following changes are made to the principal Regulations to implement Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom and Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 in relation to bottled spring water and bottled drinking water—

• (a) the amendment of regulation 16 (enforcement) (regulation 6), omitting monitoring obligations that no longer apply or that are contained in the new Schedule 12 inserted into the principal Regulations by these Regulations,

• (b) the insertion of regulation 16A (regulation 7), the omission of regulation 19 (methods of analysis) (regulation 8(a)) and the insertion of the new Schedule 12 (regulation 12 and Schedule 2) relating to the monitoring of bottled spring water and bottled drinking water. The new Schedule 12 is the main place in which the requirements relating to the monitoring of bottled spring water and bottled drinking water are to be found (the provisions of Council Directive 98/83/EC and Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 do not apply to natural mineral water),

• (c) the replacement of Schedule 2 (requirements for bottled spring water and bottled drinking water) (regulation 10 and Schedule 1). Part 4 of the substituted Schedule 2 partly implements Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom in relation to concentrations of radon and tritium in bottled spring water and bottled drinking water and the indicative dose (a measure of radioactivity) for such water. The substituted Schedule 2 also omits the minimum calcium requirement for softened and desalined water previously contained in Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations. The rest of the substituted Schedule 2 re-implements Parts A (microbiological parameters) and B (chemical parameters) of Annex I to Council Directive 98/83/EC, and

• (d) the omission of Schedules 9 to 11 (audit monitoring, check monitoring and minimum sampling frequencies) (regulation 11). Those Schedules no longer apply to spring water and bottled drinking water following the repeal of the relevant provisions in Council Directive 98/83/EC by Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787.

The Regulations also replace regulation 22 of the principal Regulations (application of provisions in the Food Safety Act 1990 (1990 c.16)) (regulation 9) and insert a new Schedule 13 (regulation 12 and Schedule 2). The new provisions apply (with modifications) more provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 to the principal Regulations than before. This includes the application (with modifications) of section 10(1) of the Food Safety Act 1990, enabling an improvement notice to be served requiring compliance with specified provisions of the principal Regulations. The provisions, as applied, make the failure to comply with an improvement notice an offence. They replace the provisions that were in regulation 20 of the principal Regulations relating to offences and penalties. That regulation and regulation 21 of the principal Regulations (defences) are omitted (regulation 8(b) and (c)).

The Regulations also make minor amendments to the principal Regulations, updating the definitions in regulation 2 of the principal Regulations (regulation 3), updating out of date references to legislation in regulation 3 (exemptions) of the principal Regulations (regulation 4) and omitting unnecessary wording in regulation 14 of the principal Regulations (regulation 5).

Digital and hard copies of the British Standards referred to in these Regulations published by the British Standards Institution can be purchased online from the BSI Group at http://www.bsigroup.com. Hard copies of the standards can also be purchased by post from the BSI Group’s Customer Services Department at 389 Chiswick High Road, London W4 4AL.

Digital and hard copies of the ISO standards referred to in these Regulations can be purchased online from the International Organization for Standardization (http://www.iso.org). They can also be purchased online from the BSI Group internet address mentioned above and in hard copy form from the BSI Group at the postal address mentioned above.

A digital copy of “ICRP, 2012. Compendium of Dose Coefficients based on ICRP Publication 60. ICRP Publication 119. Ann. ICRP 41 (Suppl.)” is available digitally and can be downloaded for free at https://www.icrp.org or https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/j.icrp.2013.05.003. It is anticipated that hard copies of the Compendium will become available to purchase online in the future from Amazon at https://www.amazon.co.uk and SAGE Publishing at https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/series/Series2503. A hard copy of the Compendium can be obtained from the Food Compositional Standards Team at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Second Floor, Seacole Block, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.

An impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. The Explanatory Memorandum for the Regulations is available alongside the Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk. A Transposition Note relating to the provisions of Annex I to Council Directive 98/83/EC (re-implemented by these Regulations) and the implementation of Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom and Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 is submitted with the Explanatory Memorandum and is available on www.legislation.gov.uk. A hard copy of the Explanatory Memorandum and the Transposition Note can be obtained from the Food Compositional Standards Team at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at the address given above.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1990 c.16; section 6(4) was amended by the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 (c. 40), Schedule 9, paragraph 6, the Food Standards Act 1999 (c. 28) (“the 1999 Act”), Schedule 5, paragraph 10(1) and (3) and S.I. 2002/794 and partially repealed by the 1999 Act, Schedule 6. Section 16(1) was amended by the 1999 Act, Schedule 5, paragraph 8. Section 17(1) was amended by the 1999 Act, Schedule 5, paragraphs 8 and 12(a), and S.I. 2011/1043. Section 26(3) was partially repealed by the 1999 Act, Schedule 6. Sections 31(1) and 48(1) were amended by the 1999 Act, Schedule 5, paragraph 8.

[^f00002]: Functions formerly exercisable by “the Ministers” (being, in relation to England and Wales and acting jointly, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretaries of State respectively concerned with health in England and food and health in Wales and, in relation to Scotland, the Secretary of State) are now exercisable in relation to England by the Secretary of State pursuant to the 1999 Act, Schedule 5, paragraph 8.

[^f00003]: Section 48(4A) was inserted by the 1999 Act, Schedule 5, paragraph 21.

[^f00004]: OJ No. L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1, as last amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L 117, 5.5.2017, p. 1).

[^f00005]: S.I. 2007/2785, amended by S.I. 2010/433, 2011/451, 2014/1855; there are other amending instruments but none are relevant.

[^f00006]: OJ No. L 330, 5.12.1998, p. 32, as last amended by Commission Directive (EU) 2015/1787 (OJ No. 260, 7.10.2015, p. 6).

[^f00007]: OJ No. L 311, 28.11.2001, p. 67, as last amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L 117, 5.5.2017, p. 1).

[^f00008]: OJ No. L 201, 1.8.2009, p. 36.

[^f00009]: OJ No. L 296, 7.11.2013, p. 12.

[^f00010]: OJ No. L 165, 30.4.2004, p. 1, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/2460 (OJ No. L 348, 29.12.2017, p. 34).

[^f00011]: S.I. 1991/1620, revoked by S.I. 2013/1387.

[^f00012]: OJ No. L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 12, repealed by Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ No. L 88, 4.4.2011, p. 5).

[^f00013]: OJ No. L 88, 4.4.2011, p. 5, as last amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 574/2014 (OJ No. L 159, 28.5.2014, p. 41).

[^f00014]: ICRP, 2012. Compendium of Dose Coefficients based on ICRP Publication 60. ICRP Publication 119. Ann. ICRP 41 (Suppl.).

[^f00015]: Section 2(1) was amended by the Food Standards Act 1999 (c. 28), Schedule 5, paragraph 8.

[^f00016]: OJ No. L 37, 10.2.2010, p. 13.

[^f00017]: Section 32(5) and (6)(b) were amended by the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 (c. 16), Schedule 2, paragraph 18.

[^f00018]: Section 35(1) is amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), Schedule 26, paragraph 42, from a date to be appointed and was amended by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10), section 85(1).

[^f00019]: Section 35(2) was amended by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, section 85(1), and S.I. 2015/664.

[^f00020]: Section 36A was inserted by the Food Standards Act 1999, Schedule 5, paragraph 16.