§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will delay the implementations of all those recent environment and health regulations applying to the production of English wine in English vineries until a full assessment has been made by the deregulation unit of his Department of their impact on the industry and effect on unemployment and the industry of obligatory requirements imposed by local authority environmental health officers.
§ Mr. DorrellNo new regulations have been introduced relating specifically to the safe production of wine. Wine producers are subject to the general requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990 for hygienic and safe production. As for other food businesses, their premises must be registered with local authorities under the Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991. Any enforcement measures should relate to the known risks of the product. In the case of wine production, the risks are generally relatively low.