[Report 1973] / County Analyst, Lancashire County Council.

  • Lancashire (England). County Council.
Date:
1973
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1973] / County Analyst, Lancashire County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    products, their origin, and the quality class. At the retail outlet, the variety, origin and quality should be made known. The letter also stated that although there was a possibility of overlap of duties with local authorities, the proper enforcement officers for the regulations were MAFF Horti¬ cultural Marketing Inspectors who could be reached at eight regional offices. Questions about who does what had been partially clarified in 1972 in SI 1972 No. 1811. The European Communities (Designation) Order 1972, but for most purposes other than for EEC Common Agricultural Policy and Medicinal products, where the MAFF is also involved, there seemed to be no reason for listing twelve separate categories, since the whole of the powers designated in the Order are given to the Secretary of State. Among his earliest exercise of those powers, the Secretary of State chose to issue Statutory Instruments 1973 numbers 50 and 51. These are the Trade Descriptions (Indication of Origin) Exemption Directions 1973 numbers 3 and 4. In them the provisions in Trade Descriptions Act 1972 section 1(2), (which required that when United Kingdom marks applied to imported goods, then the County of Origin should also be stated), were made to lapse for certain chemicals, and fertilisers, and for cocktail sticks, hair nets, nails and screws, plastic rain-hoods, PVC insulation tape and stitch unpickers. Pesticides, fungicides and herbicides might also be called “Scottish” for example, without also being labelled “made in Israel” (or wherever they might have been made) until the end of 1973. Public Analysts were mentioned in Regulation 8 of the Imported Food Regulations, 1968, so they have to be interested in amendments to those regulations. The Imported Food (Amendment) Regulations, 1973 (S.I. 1973 No. 1351) however, amend Part 111 of the 1968 regulations, and not the analyst’s section of interest, namely Part II. Part II, regulation 6, makes it an offence under Section 13 of the Food and Drugs Act to import food which is “Unfit”. Part III is concerned with hygiene aspects of meat handling which would also render meat ‘Unfit’. The Amendment Regulations are therefore regulations which bring the matters to do with slaughter, etc., in line with EEC requirements. European draft legislation is still a little confusing, in that food items may be dealt with by two separate bodies, namely one which is responsible for Agricultural matters (namely the Directorate General 6), and one which is responsible for Industrial matters, (namely the Directorate General 3). It rather looks as if a similar division of interests may persist in United Kingdom Statutory Instruments. Thus two Statutory Instruments which affect foods, both made under the Authority of Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972, are headed with the word AGRICULTURE. The first is SI 1973 No. 15 the Eggs (Marketing Standards) Regulations 1973, enforceable by the