FOOD Title and commencement 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Extraction Solvents in Food Regulations 1993 and shall come into force on 29th July 1993. Interpretation 2 1 In these Regulations, except where the context requires otherwise– “ the Act ” means the Food Safety Act 1990; “extraction procedure” means either– the extraction from a food of any ingredient or other component part of that food, including any contaminant which is in or on that food, or the extraction of food from any other article or substance; “extraction solvent” means any solvent which is used or intended to be used in an extraction procedure and includes in any particular case, further to its use in such a procedure, any substance other than such a solvent but deriving exclusively from such a solvent; “permitted extraction solvent” means– any extraction solvent described in Column 1 (as read, where applicable, with the corresponding entry in Column 2) of Part I of Schedule 1 which satisfies the general purity criteria in relation to extraction solvents specified in the first Note to that Part of that Schedule and, so far as is not otherwise provided in relation to particular extraction solvents, any mixture of two or more such extraction solvents, and any substance or material described in Column 1 of Part II of Schedule 1 when used (where applicable) in accordance with the conditions specified in Column 2 of that Part; “residue” includes any residual substance other than an extraction solvent but deriving exclusively from an extraction solvent; “solvent” means any substance which is capable of dissolving food, or any ingredient or other component part of food, including any contaminant which is in or on a food. 2 Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule shall, unless the reference is to a regulation of, or a Schedule to, specified Regulations, be construed as a reference to the regulation or Schedule bearing that number in these Regulations. Exemption 3 The provisions of these Regulations shall not apply to any extraction solvent used in the production of any of– a food additives, or b vitamins, or c any other nutritional additive, save where any such food additive, vitamin or other nutritional additive is specified anywhere in either Schedule 1 or 2. Sale of food containing extraction solvents and of extraction solvents 4 1 Subject as hereinafter provided, no person shall sell, or import into Great Britain from outside the European Economic Community– a any food having in it or on it any added extraction solvent other than a permitted extraction solvent, or b any extraction solvent other than a permitted extraction solvent. 2 No person shall sell, or import into Great Britain from outside the European Economic Community, any food having in it or on it any added permitted extraction solvent specified in Column 1 of Part I or II of Schedule 1 unless– a it is a food having in it or on it any added permitted extraction solvent listed in items 1 to 8 (or, in the case of olive-pomace oil, any added permitted extraction solvent listed in items 1 to 6 and 8) in Column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1, and the use of such extraction solvent has resulted in the presence in or on that food only of residues of that extraction solvent in technically unavoidable quantities that present no danger to human health; or b it is a food having in it or on it either or both of the permitted extraction solvents listed in items 9 and 10 in Column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1, and the use of such extraction solvent or extraction solvents has resulted in the presence in or on that food of a residue of such extraction solvent (or a combined residue of such extraction solvents) of not more than 10 milligrams per kilogram of the food; or c it is a food having in it or on it any added permitted extraction solvent listed in Column 1 of Part II of Schedule 1; or d in respect of any food specified in Column 1 of Schedule 2 having in it or on it any added permitted extraction solvent listed in items 11 to 14 in Column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1, such extraction solvent– i is that (or, if applicable, those) specified in Column 2 of Schedule 2 in relation to that food, and ii has been used only for the purpose described in Column 3 of Schedule 2 in relation to that food, and iii has resulted in residues in or on that food (or, where so specified, in any food in which that food is an ingredient) of the added permitted extraction solvent specified in relation to it (or, as the case may be, to a food in which it is an ingredient) in an amount not exceeding that specified in Column 4 of Schedule 2, or e in respect of any food containing or consisting of flavourings prepared from natural flavouring materials prepared by using any added permitted extraction solvent listed in items 11 to 19 in Column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1, such use has resulted in the presence in such food of residues of such extraction solvent (or extraction solvents) in an amount not exceeding that specified in Column 2 of Schedule 3 in relation to each such specified extraction solvent, subject (where appropriate) to the Notes to Part I of Schedule 1. 3 No person shall sell, or import into Great Britain from outside the European Economic Community, any permitted extraction solvent described in Column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1 unless the information concerning it that is specified in Part I of Schedule 4 is given in accordance with the provisions of Part II of Schedule 4. Penalties and enforcment 5 1 If any person contravenes or fails to comply with any of the foregoing provisions of these Regulations he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. 2 Subject to paragraph (3) below, each food authority shall enforce within its area the provisions of these Regulations. 3 In this regulation “food authority” does not include– a the council of a district in a non-metropolitan county in England and Wales, and b the appropriate Treasurer referred to in section 5(1)(c) of the Act (which deals with the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple). Defence in relation to exports 6 In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that the food or, as the case may be, the extraction solvent in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed was intended for export outside the European Economic Community and complied with the importing country’s domestic legislation relevant to the alleged offence. Application of various provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 7 The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as they apply for the purposes of section 14 or 15 of the Act and, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in them to the Act shall be construed for the purposes of these Regulations as a reference to these Regulations– a section 2 (extended meaning of “sale” etc. ); b section 3 (presumption that food is intended for human consumption); c section 20 (offence due to fault of another person); d section 21 (defence of due diligence); e section 30(8) (which relates to documentary evidence); f section 33 (obstruction etc. of officers); g section 36 (offences by bodies corporate); h section 44 (protection of officers acting in good faith). Transitional provision 8 It shall not be an offence under these Regulations– a to sell, or import into Great Britain from outside the European Economic Community– i any food having in it or on it any added extraction solvent, or ii any extraction solvent, or b in respect of any permitted extraction solvent, to fail to give the required information specified in Schedule 4, where the food or extraction solvent in question was put into the packaging in which it is to be sold or imported before 29th July 1993. In witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on Gillian Shephard Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 28th June 1993. Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health: Cumberlege Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health 23rd June 1993 John Redwood Secretary of State for Wales 23rd June 1993 Hector Monro Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office 25th June 1993