WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/GBR/14 
7 June 2006 
 (06-2709) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED KINGDOM  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):         
2. Agency responsible:   Food Standards Agency 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:    
Department of Trade and Industry 
UK TBT Enquiry Point 
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:         
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.  
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Spring Water and 
Bottled Drinking Water 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   (Draft) Natural 
Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Dr inking Water (England) Regulations 2006 
(28 pages, in English). 
(Draft) Natural Mineral Water, Spring Wa ter and Bottled Drinking Water (Scotland) 
Regulations 2006 (28 pages, in English). 
(Draft) Natural Mineral Water, Spring Wa ter and Bottled Drinking Water (Northern 
Ireland) Regulations 2006 ( 28 pages, in English). 
(Draft) Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) 
Regulations 2006, in preparation .  The national provision notified will be identical to the 
England, Scotland and Nort hern Ireland Regulations. 
6. Description of content:   These draft UK Regulations consolidate the requirements laid 
down in the existing Regulations, which impl ement Directives 80/777/EEC (as amended) 
and 98/83/EC (as amended), the latter as it rela tes to bottled water for human consumption. 
Schedule 8, Part 1 (1d), of these draft Regula tions contains a national requirement that 
spring water and bottled drinking water which h as been softened or desalinated must not 
have its hardness reduced below a certain leve l.  In these draft Regulations the level is 
measured as 60 mg/litre of the calcium ion (the main component of water hardness).  This is a national provision to be implemente d throughout the UK and applies to all 
softened/desalinated spring waters and bottled dri nking waters sold in the UK.  It does not 
apply to untreated waters or to natural mine ral waters.  The minimu m hardness requirement 
laid down in the Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Regulations is identical to that laid 
down in the English Regulations.  This pr ovision is currently subject to technical 
notification to the European Commission under 98/34/EC. G/TBT/N/GBR/14 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:  
There is a significant body of epidemiologi cal evidence that demonstrates an inverse 
relationship between drinking water hardness and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD).  The UK has one of the highest rates of cardiovascular disease mortality in Europe and in 2004 CVD accounted for just over 216, 000 deaths (British H eart Foundation, 2006), 
and was the second most commonly reported longstanding illness in Great Britain (ONS, 
2005).  Furthermore the popularity of bottled water with consumers is increasing as exemplified by the increase in total volume sales (+26.6%) of spring water and bottled drinking water between 2001 and 2005.  The prot ective effect of water hardness is therefore 
a beneficial health measure for the UK and it is therefore important to set this minimum 
hardness requirement. 
8. Relevant documents:    
(Draft) Natural Mineral Water, Sp ring Water and Bottled Drinking Water 
(England) Regulations 2006: http://www.food.gov.uk/Consultations/c onsulteng/2006/mine ralwaterregs06
. 
 (Draft) Natural Mineral Water, Sp ring Water and Bottled Drinking Water 
(Scotland) Regulations 2006: 
http://www.food.gov.uk/Consulta tions/consultscot/2006/naturalmineralwater2006s
. 
 (Draft) Natural Mineral Water, Spring Wa ter and Bottled Drinking Water (Northern 
Ireland) Regulations 2006. 
 
(Draft) Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water (Wales) 
Regulations 2006, in preparation.  World Health Organisation, 2006, Ha rdness in Drinking-water, Background 
document for development of WHO Gu idelines for Drinking-water Quality, 
WHO/SDE/WSH/03.04/06: 
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_h ealth/dwq/chemicals/hardness.pdf
. 
 Catling, L., Abubakar, I., Lake, I., Swift, L. and Hunter, P. (University of East 
Anglia and Drinking Water Inspectora te), 2005, Review of evidence for 
relationship between incidence of cardiovascular disease and water hardness, Final 
Report for DWI/70/2/176:  
http://www.dwi.gov.uk/research/Water% 20hardness%20final%20report1.pdf
. 
 Cardiovascular Review Group - Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy 
(COMA), 1994, Nutritional Aspects of cardiovascular Disease, Report on Health 
and Social Subjects, 46, (Section 6.91), p. 143, HMSO, UK. 
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }1 October 2006 (England) 
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 
Regulations will be adopted/come into force subsequently to the England Regulations. 
10. Final date for comments:   4 August 2006  G/TBT/N/GBR/14 
 Page 3 
 
 
  11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:   
Dr Jenny Lyn, Food Standards Agency, Room 115B Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, 
London WC2B 6NH;  Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7276 8158; E-mail:  water@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk;
 
http://www.food.gov.uk/Consultations/c onsulteng/2006/mine ralwaterregs06  
Department of Trade and Industry, UK TBT E nquiry Point, Bay 4140, 1 Victoria Street, 
London SW1H 0ET;  E-mail:  marilyn.swain@dti.gsi.gov.uk