The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities have launched a consultation on proposed changes to nutrition labelling, composition, and standards (NLCS) retained EU law.

The nutrition and health claims regulations ensure that claims made about a food or drink are accurate and not misleading so that consumers can make informed choices to meet their lifestyle and nutritional needs.

This consultation sets out 2 proposals:

· reforming nutrition and health claims enforcement in England by introducing an improvement notices regime.

· removing redundant tertiary legislation that approved or rejected health claims.

We would encourage members to review the consultation and respond as applicable.

The consultation will run for 12 weeks, closing at 11:59pm on 31st October 2023 and can be found here.

Responses are welcomed online, by email or by post.

Defra have now published a summary of responses and government response to the consultation they carried out last summer on ‘Improved food waste reporting by large food businesses in England’.

On 13 June 2022 the government’s Food Strategy announced the launch of the consultation and proposed options for how to go about ensuring this action.

The summary reveals that the predominant view from respondents (80%) was in favour of requiring food waste measurement and reporting for large food businesses. However, after careful consideration, and as only 39% of respondents identified as a large business, government has decided that a regulatory approach is not suitable at this time, especially when any additional costs may be passed on to consumers. The government will instead be looking at options to improve the number of food businesses reporting through a voluntary approach.

The voluntary approach will remain in place until mid-2025 at a minimum at which point a review will be undertaken. Subsequently, and in order to provide businesses with the certainty they need, any changes to this approach will be made after a minimum of 12 months following that review in mid-2025 or later.

Should you wish to refer back to the original consultation document or impact assessment, they can still be accessed here

Defra have published a consultation on the draft Regulations which will implement Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, as set out in the March 2022 Government Response.

The purpose of this consultation is to gather views on how the approach set out in Government’s consultation response of March 2022  has been reflected in the draft Regulations, and to receive feedback on the operability of the implementation arrangements.

It is being undertaken jointly by the UK Government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland. The Regulations will apply UK-wide.

Defra would particularly appreciate views on the clarity with which these draft Regulations define the responsibilities of obligated producers, exporters, reprocessors, compliance schemes, local authorities and councils, the Scheme Administrator, and the regulators, identifying any ambiguities in the text that could be improved.

The questions are designed to be answered with reference to the consultation document; please view this document as you complete the online survey.  You do not need to answer all the questions; only the questions relevant to you/your organisation. The draft Regulations are also provided.

We encourage you to respond to this consultation. Your responses will help ensure an effective regulatory framework is put in place.

In the meantime, the BFFF will be reviewing the consultation, so please look out for regular updates in our newsletters and on our website.

This consultation will close at 23:59 on 9th October 2023 and can be found HERE

 

On Friday 28^th July, Defra published further guidance on elements of the Windsor Framework, including how the retail movement scheme (ReMoS or NIRMS as it is now referred to) will work, how to register and seal consignments, and groupage and mixed load consignments.

As always, there is a lot of information to go through so please bear with us whilst we digest. In the meantime, a summary of the guidance can be found below along with details of a series of webinars Defra have scheduled to help you gain further information and explanation about the changes.

Webinars:

These will run on MS Teams over the next 3 weeks, will be approx. 45mins-1 hour long and will include a presentation and Q&A section.

Tuesday, 8th Aug 09:30* – The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, groupage and mixed load consignments

Wednesday, 16th Aug 14:00* – The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, groupage and mixed load consignments

Tuesday 22nd Aug 09:30* – The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, groupage and mixed load consignments

To register your interest please email NIDBusinessReadinessTeam@defra.gov.uk.

 

Summary

Implementation of the Framework is taking place in stages up to 2025. As of 30th September, this year, the existing UK Trader Scheme (UKTS) will be replaced by a new UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS).

Procedures for the movement of goods subject to Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary (SPS) controls will also change with effect from 1 October 2023. Currently they are supported under STAMNI (Scheme for the Temporary Agrifood Movements to Northern Ireland). This will be replaced in October 2023 by a new scheme, the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme. This will be available to a much broader range of traders and includes new labelling provisions applicable to goods for sale only in Northern Ireland for goods moving through the new ‘green lane’. Movements which do not qualify under the scheme will move through the ‘red lane’. The government will continue to provide support through the Digital Assistance Scheme, and should goods remain in Northern Ireland, the Movement Assistance Scheme.

Formal registration for the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme will be launched in September 2023. In the meantime, traders are able to register their interest through a pre-registration process, the key elements of which are outlined below.

Note: The STAMNI scheme will remain in operation until these new arrangements enter into force. All existing members of the STAMNI scheme will be contacted directly regarding moving seamlessly to the new scheme. Unlike STAMNI, businesses will be able to join the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme on an ongoing basis.

 

Key elements of the Scheme:

From 1 September 2023, all businesses responsible for selling or facilitating the movement of food for final consumption in Northern Ireland will be able to register for the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS).

 

I am eligible, how do I register for the Scheme?

As part of the registration there are important steps you will need to follow, along with necessary systems to be put in place which is covered within the guidance. This includes:

Pre-registration: To enable registration for the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme you will need to ensure you are already registered on some key accounts as well as a specific portal if your business is based in Northern Ireland.

Sign up to system: On completion of pre-registration, you will then be able to sign up using the new digital platform which will allow you to send or receive goods under the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme.

During registration: You will need to provide details of all establishments for dispatch or receipt of goods under the scheme and confirm that you are a registered food business operator (FBO) in the UK. The business sending the consignment in GB and the business receiving the consignment in NI need to be registered for the scheme.

Application process: You will need to agree to the terms and conditions of the scheme. If your application is successful, you will receive an email confirmation along with a Scheme Membership Number for your business and Establishment Numbers for all establishments sending or receiving goods.

Registered: Once you are registered on the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, you will be able to complete the General Certificate (GC) via a link which will be provided following sign to the scheme through Export Health Certificate Online (EHC Online).

Sealing consignments: All consignments must be sealed with an authorised seal with appropriate supervision. The seal must have a unique identifier with associated number, and the number must be included in the General Certificate. Further explanation on sealing consignments can be found here.

Compliance: In line with the existing processes under STAMNI the NI destination establishment must inform DAERA of the arrival of the goods at the NI listed establishment via the Common Health Entry Document Operators Platform (CHOP) system, within 48 hours. DAERA will complete any channelling procedures and will follow up by email, if necessary, rather than “if there are any discrepancies”.

DAERA will complete 100% documentary verification on the General Certificate and Common Health Entry Document (CHED) using the CHED Inspection Platform, Common Health Entry Document Interface Platform (CHIP).  All goods must be labelled in accordance with the scheme’s labelling requirements. Details on the eligibility of products that you can move under the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme can be found here.

How do I express an interest in registering for the Scheme?

Expressing an Interest in joining the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme will grant you access to further details and webinars on how the scheme will work and the onboarding requirements, including what can be done ahead of 1 September 2023. If you would like to express an interest in registering for the scheme, please send an email to NIRetailMovementSchemeRegistration@defra.gov.uk, providing your name, email address, company name and whether you are based in GB or NI.

Please note, expressing an interest does not constitute registering for the NI Retail Movement Scheme, registration will open 1 September 2023.

Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme: groupage and mixed load consignments 

The guidance published is specifically for businesses moving consignments of scheme-compliant agrifood products within grouped loads (known as ‘groupage’) from Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) to Northern Ireland, which may include consignments of Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS) goods and consignments of non-NIRMS goods.
Details of eligible products can be found within the section above. It also notes the steps to take to utilise the certification and standards benefits of the NIRMS when moving scheme-compliant goods in a load which contains non-NIRMS goods (which will be subject to full Official Control regulations (OCR) controls).
You can find existing guidance on moving groups of agrifood products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under full OCR compliance here.

Full guidance can be found here but the guidance covers in detail: –
What groupage is under the Windsor Framework: how you can continue to move goods using any of the following groupage models; linear or consolidation hub.

Actions consignor is required to follow, in line with current arrangements under STAMNI, after contacting the haulier: which is to complete a General Certificate (GC) for the consignment, provide a packing list with your GC, submit both the GC and the packing list, confirming consignment meets the scheme conditions and send the GC and attachments to the Consignee in NI, who will raise a Common Health Entry Document (CHED).

Actions consignee is required to follow, in line with current arrangements under STAMNI, once the above paperwork has been received from the consignor: Produce a retail movement CHED (at least 4 hours in advance of arrival in NI), attaching the General Certificate (including seal number) and packing list and finally the NI destination establishment must inform DAERA of the arrival of the goods at the NI listed establishment within 48 hours, as is currently the case under STAMNI.

Sealing your NIRMS consignment (and if all consignments on lorry are NIRMS consignments): You must ensure that all your consignments are sealed with an authorised seal under the supervision of a Scheme member’s responsible person. The seal must have a unique identifier with associated number, and the number must be included in the General Certificate. Further explanation on seal requirements can be found in the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme section above and full guidance here link.

Mixed load of NIRMS and non NIRMS consignments: If the grouped load contains a mix of NI Retail Movement Scheme compliant goods and consignments which are not eligible for the NI Retail Movement Scheme the lorry, as a whole, cannot benefit from all the facilitations under the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme. Further explanation can be found in the full guidance here.

Action:
You should continue to use guidance and procedures that presently are in place on gov.uk until new procedures come into effect on 1st October 2023.

For up-to-date guidance we encourage you to sign up for gov.uk alerts.

Defra hold a fortnightly NI-GB Food Supply Chain Forum, the next session will be held on Thursday 3 August at 09.00. The Forum is open to all traders. If you would like to attend and do not already have the invite, please email: NIGBFoodSupplyChainForum@defra.gov.uk

 

Questions/queries on the guidance can be sent to traders@defra.gov.uk