A new online tool, launched by Intellectual Property Office (IPO), will allow businesses to improve their chances of registering a trade mark successfully. This new service is available to help people who have not applied for a trade mark before and have little or no knowledge of the application process.

This service has been built around consumer feedback and also features artificial intelligence (AI) powered checks and services to produce tailored results.

Customers can use the tool before they apply for a trade mark to:

• check if anyone already has a trade mark too similar to the one they want
• identify whether aspects of their proposed trade mark are not appropriate, such as offensive words or protected symbols (for example, geographical indications)
• identify the right groups of goods and services for their proposed trade mark
• see an estimate of their application costs

The tool does not:

• save the data that is input
• give legal advice
• form part of the formal trade mark application process – it provides guidance to help with the formal application

To access the tool go to the first page of the trade mark application form on GOV.UK, select the first option ‘trade mark owner or the authorised person within their business’ and click ‘continue’. You will then be presented with the option to access the pre-application tool or continue with your trade mark application.

For more information, please click here.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have issued an alert regarding several batches of sesame seeds from India which have been found to be contaminated with Ethylene oxide. Ethylene oxide is a pesticide which can be harmful and is not approved for use on food in the UK or the EU.

This issue has been subject to large scale action across the EU with numerous Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food (RASFF) alerts issued. The UK has been included in some of these RASFF notifications and action is already underway.

Any business that has received, or believes they have received, batches of potentially contaminated sesame seeds is being asked to notify their Local Authority and to withdraw products containing them from sale. The FSA have asked Local Authorities to assist in any such withdrawals as required, including verifying that affected products have been withdrawn and ensuring appropriate disposal.

The FSA has confirmed that, based on the likely level of exposure through the consumption of affected foods, the risk to consumers is low and the likely level of exposure from affected products is low. However, any risk would increase with higher levels of exposure or exposure over a longer period of time. The advocated product withdrawal in this case will reduce the period of potential exposure.

Further information can be found here

Two separate and unrelated cases of avian influenza have recently been confirmed in England, one at a broiler breeder rearing farm in Cheshire and the other at a small commercial premises near Deal in Kent.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) are taking immediate action and an investigation is underway to understand the origin of the disease.

Following confirmation of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) of the strain H5N8, a 3km Protection Zone and a 10km Surveillance Zone have been put in place around the infected premises near Frodsham, Cheshire.

Following confirmation of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) of the strain H5N2 a 1km low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) Restricted Zone has been put around the premises near Deal, Kent.

The risk of bird flu occurring in the UK is “medium” in wild birds, and “low” in poultry (provided there’s a good standard of biosecurity). This is because the wild bird migration season is underway, and as winter approaches there will be an increasing risk from bird flu in the UK from migrating wild birds (which might infect domestic poultry).

However, Public Health England (PHE) advises that the risk to public health from the virus is very low and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has emphasised that avian influenza does not pose a food safety risk for UK consumers. Thoroughly cooked poultry and poultry products, including eggs, are safe to eat.

The latest information including important biosecurity advice can be found on GOV.​UK here

BRC Global Standards (BRCGS) have now published Issue 4 of the Global Standard for Storage and Distribution.

It can be applied to any part of the supply chain and covers all activities which affect the safety, legality, quality and integrity of products stored and distributed, and of any additional contracted services that may be offered by storage and distribution operators.

It has been specifically designed for logistics operations dealing with Food, Packaging, and Consumer Products and aligns with GFSI 2020 requirements, as well as being covered by globally recognised accreditation (ISO/IEC 17065).

Richa Bedi-Navik, BRCGS Technical Manager-Food, Storage & Distribution, said: “Our new Standard has evolved to meet changing consumer expectations, supply chain dynamics, and technological advances in the industry. It is a fully flexible standard with multiple applications that can be applied at any point in the distribution chain from primary production to retail. We greatly appreciate the input from brands, retailers, storage, logistics and online retailers to help us upgrade the Standard to deliver assurance in product safety and integrity”.

The BFFF has very much welcomed being part of the working group in the development of this standard.

More information can be found here

Researchers have discovered a new strain of salmonella in pigs, known as ST34, has spread with the aid of a bacterial virus. The Quadram Institute stated that this new strain of salmonella is dominant in pigs and has spread on a global scale.

The ST34 strain is a type of Salmonella called Typhimirium which accounts for a quarter of all Salmonella infections and over half in the UK. Typhimirium has increased as a proportion of all Salmonella infections for more than a decade mainly due to the emergence of this new strain.

Unlike Enteritidis, a related Salmonella, that has been largely controlled in layer hen flocks in UK, there has been little success in managing Typhimirium.

Public Health England (PHE) data has been used to analyse the genome sequence from human infections and indicated that a bacterial virus known as mTmV infected ST34 on multiple occasions from around 2002. By analysing the population structure of ST34 it was evident that Salmonella harbouring the mTmV virus in its genetic material became numerous over time and gained an advantage over the salmonella that lacked the virus. It also carried a gene called sopE encoding a toxin known to help Samonella to infect animal hosts causing diarrhoea and passed on to new hosts via food and feed.

It is hoped that the research will assist with understanding how and why new strains of Salmonella emerge in livestock and that strategies can be developed to reduce its occurrence.

To read the full article – please click here.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has objected strongly to the Government’s rejection of infrastructure which could minimise disruption at Kent Ports, at the end of the Brexit transition, for exports destined for the EU.

The NFU called for all fresh agri-food products – live animals, including hatching eggs and reproductive material such as animal semen, embryos and ova – to be given special status but the Department of Transport (DfT) has confirmed that only day-old chicks and seafood would be given priority status for travelling through Kent to reach the Short Straits.

Gail Soutar, Chief EU Exit and International Trade Advisor of NFU, described this decision as ‘incredibly disappointing’. She further added, “We now face the prospect of vast quantities of high value British fresh, perishable product languishing in lorries sat in queues miles long.”

To read the full article – please click here.