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WQ.270/2024
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT BY DEPUTY C.D . CURTIS OF ST. HELIER CENTRAL
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2024 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 16th SEPTEMBER 2024
Question
“Further to his responses to Written Questions 20/2024 and 198/2024, will the Minister provide a timeframe and an update on the progress being made in bringing forward the Food (Jersey) Law 2023 Regulations, including the labelling of allergens in food?”
Answer
The Department now has dedicated resources engaged on moving forward with the subordinate legislation which will allow the Food Law (Jersey) 2023 to come into force. The departure of specialist staff has delayed work in this area, but discussions are expected shortly with the Legislative Drafting Office on the best approach to deliver the desired outcomes. This will be encapsulated in law drafting instructions. The resulting draft Regulations will then be subject to consultation with stakeholders and the EHI Scrutiny Panel. Any subsequent revisions will be incorporated into revised Regulations and then lodged with the States Assembly for debate and approval. This is expected in 2025.
As explained in the answer to WQ20(2024), it is worth reiterating that most of the packaged food available locally is either imported from the UK or EU, meaning that the Island is provided an elevated level of consumer protection. Mandatory EU labelling requirements, which are substantively unchanged by Brexit, provide for detailed ingredient lists in a legible font size with prominence given to the 14 most serious allergens on labelling. The Food Safety (Labelling) (Jersey) Order 2005 deems such imported products compliant with local legislation, provided they are in a language understood by the intended consumer. Local legislation also legislates against misrepresentation of food, e.g. claiming that a product is suitable for an allergic consumer when it is not.