Health and Sport Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Official Report 631KB pdf

---

Subordinate Legislation

---

Official Feed and Food Controls (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 (SSI 2019/407)

Good morning and welcome to the Health and Sport Committee’s 30th meeting in 2019. We have received apologies from David Torrance MSP. I ask everyone in the room to ensure that mobile phones are off or in silent mode. We will, of course, record and film proceedings, so the proceedings should not be recorded or filmed by anyone else.

The first item on the agenda is consideration of subordinate legislation. The purpose of the Official Feed and Food Controls (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 is to amend existing domestic food and feed law to provide for the execution and enforcement in Scotland of the food and feed elements of the new Official Controls Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and associated tertiary legislation. Do members have any comments on the regulations?

I am interested in whether the statutory instrument is being used to continue to protect our food standards across Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. I am specifically interested in the amendment to the Feed (Sampling and Analysis and Specified Undesirable Substances) (Scotland) Regulations 2010. I have concerns about the United States Food and Drug Administration’s acceptable level of defects in food that comes from the US. I am curious as to whether the regulations will continue to protect our food standards.

I understand that the regulations are a continuation of existing law, but I have questions about the public consultation. The information that we have says that five responses were received, but it does not say who was consulted. For clarity, we should know who was consulted and who responded. The businesses that will be affected include slaughterhouses, cutting plants, fish auctions, wholesale fish markets, shellfish operators and those involved in milk and colostrum production. A huge number of businesses are involved. If possible, I would like to have that information.

I had another issue about the cost to local authorities and others but, having looked at the full papers, I see that it is just over £74 per authority.

I am happy to support the regulations, but I would like clarification about the consultation, if possible.

There are a couple of questions for clarification. The essence of the regulations is to bring up to date existing regulations in Scotland, which is required at this stage because the United Kingdom did not leave the European Union at the end of October. The new European regulation comes into force this month, so the update is required in order that we continue to be consistent with European regulation.

On Emma Harper’s questions, the regulations do not change the robustness of regulation in this country in relation to any third party, because they maintain the European provisions.

On the points about consultation, separately from deciding on the regulations, we can write to the Scottish Government to ask it to provide us with that information.

I would be happy with that.

Subject to those points, do members agree to make no recommendations in relation to the regulations?

Members indicated agreement.

As I suggested, we will write to the Scottish Government on the matter of consultation.