§ Mrs. McGuireTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons the Government is planning to replace the Bread and Flour Regulations 1995; and if he will make a statement. [3507]
§ Mr. RookerEuropean law requires draft national legislation to be notified to the European Commission (and through them to other member states) to ensure that it does not introduce new technical barriers to trade. The Bread and Flour Regulations 1995 were a simplification of earlier Regulations. They did not introduce any new standards and at the time it was considered that they did not need to be notified.
However, the ECJ has recently ruled that even a simplification of existing Regulations should be subject to the notification procedure.
The European Commission has indicated that it considers the Bread and Flour Regulations 1995 to be technically in breach of Community law and the Government has therefore agreed to revoke and remake them in accordance with EU notification procedures.
Draft Regulations are now being issued for public consultation. They revoke and re-enact the Bread and Flour Regulations 1995 and incorporate amendments made by the Bread and Flour (Amendment Regulations) 1996.