Feeding Stuffs and Feeding Stuffs (Sampling And Analysis) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2005

The two regulations amended are the Feeding Stuffs Regulations 2005 on the composition and marketing of animal feed and the Feeding Stuffs (Sampling and Analysis) Regulations 1999, which implement Community provisions on methods of sampling and analysis of animal feed.

The draft Feeding Stuffs and the Feeding Stuffs (Sampling and Analysis) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2005 implement three Commission Directives which introduce provisions to take account of expanded measurement uncertainty and correction for recovery in sampling and analysis of feed, and make technical amendments to the maximum permitted levels for certain naturally occurring contaminants (undesirable substances) in feed.

Stakeholders are invited to comment in general on the draft regulations, the partial RIA and on the issues raised in this consultation. We would be particularly interested to have stakeholder views on the following points:

• the economic, environmental and social benefits or costs which may flow from the implementation or non-implementation of the three measures
• the potential impact on small businesses of the implementation of the three measures
• the potential impact of the three measures on business competition in the feed industry
• the implications of the three measures for enforcement authorities

Commission Directives 2005/6/EC and 2005/7/EC
Commission Directive 2002/70/EC introduced requirements for laboratories, sample preparation, analytical procedures and the reporting of results, establishing the framework for harmonised methods of sampling and analysis. These procedures now need refining to introduce an estimate for uncertainty of measurement resulting from unavoidable errors in analysis and to allow correction for recovery due to incomplete extraction of the analyte from the sample.

Directive 2005/6 makes some technical amendments to existing methods of analysis for certain undesirable substances (i.e. environmental contaminants such as lead, mercury, fluorine, and process contaminants such as dioxins and aflatoxin B1). Directive 2005/7 amends the existing entries for the analysis of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs by introducing provisions which take into account expanded measurement uncertainty and correction for recovery.

Commission Directive 2005/8/EC
Directive 2005/8 amends the existing maximum permitted levels (MPLs) for mercury by introducing a new limit for the presence of this undesirable substance in calcium carbonate, a widely used mineral feedingstuff. It also amends the existing MPLs for the undesirable substance fluorine, by altering the entries for fluorine in mineral mixtures for ruminants and complementary feedingstuffs to link them to the phosphorus content of such feeds; and amends the entry for the MPL for lead in green fodder by adding an annotation to make clear what green fodder encompasses.

Regulatory Impact Assessment
Criterion 6 of the Cabinet Office's Code of Practice on Written Consultation states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including the carrying out of a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA). The partial RIA attached below contains further details of the three measures and our understanding of their implications for the feed industry and enforcement authorities.

Other information
The three Commission Directives in question were published in the Official Journal of the European Union, issue numbers L24 for 27 January 2005 (Directive 2005/6) and L27 for 29 January 2005 (Directives 2005/7 and 2005/8). An index to the Official Journal can be found on the Commission website.

There will be separate but parallel regulations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which will be subject to separate consultations.

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the HM Government Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

We are interested in what you thought of this consultation and would therefore welcome your general feedback on both the consultation package and overall consultation process. If you would like to assist us to improve the quality of future consultations, please feel free to share your thoughts with us by using the consultation feedback questionnaire.

Consultation feedback questionnaire (Word)

Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

In accordance with the FSA principle of openness our Information Centre at Aviation House will hold a copy of the completed consultation. Responses will be open to public access upon request. The FSA will also publish a summary of responses, which may include personal data, such as your full name and contact address details. If you do not want this information to be released, please complete and return the Publication of Personal Data Form. Return of this form does not mean that we will treat your response to the consultation as confidential, just your personal data.

Data protection form (Word)

Data protection form (pdf)

Within three months of a consultation ending we aim to publish a summary of responses received and provide a link to it from this page.

If, after three months, the summary is still not showing, please contact the person who was responsible for the original consultation. Alternatively, you can contact the FSA Consultation Co-ordinator by email: consultationcoordinator@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk