HC Deb 23 March 1999 vol 328 cc214-5W
Mr. Maclean

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all those(a) food and (b) health food products on which he has received advice from his civil servants since 1 May 1997 as being a cause for concern. [76651]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 15 March 1999]: Ministers receive advice on a wide range of issues relating to the composition and labelling of food and health food products. Details of each occasion on which this happened could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Martyn Jones

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for each year since 1990 the statutory codes of practice that have been issued, pursuant to section 40 of the Food Safety Act 1990. [77502]

Mr. Rooker

There are currently 20 Codes of Practice, a full list and copies of these are available from the Library of the House.

Mr. Martyn Jones

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what procedure he has in place to ensure that his Department knows when the rates of(a) food sampling and (b) food analysis by local authorities, in relation to their statutory duties on food law, fall during the course of any given year; [77513]

(2) if he will list the categories of information that have been supplied by local authorities in response to requests under section 41 of the Food Safety Act 1990; [77506]

(3) what information he collects from local authorities, in relation to their statutory duties to enforce food law, about their levels of (a) food sampling and (b) food analysis; [775141

(4) what use he has made of the powers provided by section 41 of the Food Safety Act 1990; [77508]

(5) what information he collects from local authorities, in relation to their statutory duties to enforce food law, about the scopes of analysis and examination undertaken by public analysts. [77507]

Mr. Rooker

Statistics covering many areas of food control, including sampling, are compiled by the Ministry from returns required to be submitted by local authorities in the United Kingdom under section 41 of the Food Safety Act 1990 as part of the information for the annual return we are required to make to the Commission under article 14 of the Council Directive on the Official Control of Foodstuffs. A copy of the latest return was recently placed in the Library of the House.

Mr. Martyn Jones

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what guidance has been issued by the Joint Food Safety and Standards Group of his Department and the Department of Health to local authorities with respect to their statutory obligations to sample foods; [77505]

(2) if he will list for each year since 1989 all the occasions on which his Department and the Department of Health issued guidance to local authorities on the numbers of samples to be taken with respect to their statutory obligations to sample foods; [77504]

(3) what steps he has taken to ensure that local authorities have (a) constructed and (b) implemented proper sampling programmes in relation to food law; [77517]

(4) what powers he has to prevent the rates of (a) food sampling and (b) food analysis by local authorities, in relation to their statutory duties on food law, falling (i) during any given year and (ii) in successive years; [77510]

(5) if he will publish for each year since 1989 what his Department's and the Department of Health's guidance was to local authorities with respect to their statutory obligations to ensure that samples of foods were properly analysed by public analysts; [77519]

(6) if he will publish for each year since 1989 what his Department's and the Department of Health's guidance was to local authorities on the numbers of samples to be taken with respect to their statutory obligations to sample food; [77503]

(7) what powers he has to direct local authorities, in relation to their statutory duties on food law, to maintain a minimum level of (a) food sampling and (b) food analysis; [77511]

(8) if he will list each occasion on which he has exercised the powers, under section 42 of the Food Safety Act 1990, to direct local authorities to undertake adequate and satisfactory sampling of food; [77518]

Mr. Rooker

Responsibility for enforcement of food law rests with the relevant food authorities throughout the UK. All local authorities determine their sampling and inspection programmes in the light of local circumstances and guidance provided in the Codes of Practice issued by the Ministry and the Department of Health under section 40 of the Food Safety Act 1990. While section 40 (2)(a) of the Act imposes a legal obligation on food authorities to have regard to the Codes, it does not impose an obligation to comply with them.