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UK government sets food businesses free from red tape
Plans to scrap or simplify more than 60 regulations, freeing the public and businesses from overly burdensome, bureaucratic or completely redundant rules have been confirmed by Tourism Minister, John Penrose.
The proposals come from nearly 600 comments from the public and businesses as part of the government’s rigorous Red Tape Challenge. They will see significant changes to legislation that will make life easier for businesses and promote personal freedoms.
The government has launched an assault on the unnecessary regulation that holds the hospitality industry back.
This includes proposals to:
- Reduce bureaucracy in licensing by making application forms simpler and, following consultation, give local areas more flexibility over late night refreshment licensing, the process for obtaining a Temporary Event Notice (TENs) and reducing the administrative burdens on businesses with minimal alcohol sales, such as B&Bs. The government will support responsible businesses and empower local communities to help prevent and tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder.
- Scrap the regulations covering the location and design of no smoking signs.
- Change regulations to make clear that properties rented out for less than four months in a year do not need Energy Performance Certificates. Guidance will also make clear that an EPC is not required where a property is used for short term holiday lets as long as certain conditions are met; and
- Tackle excess charges for inspection of private water supplies through increased transparency.
The government has also launched a major programme of improvement for food regulations that will particularly benefit smaller businesses and new entrants.
Specific measures include:
- A rationalisation of food labelling and composition regulations, reducing the number from 34 to 17, and a new food labelling map, making it much easier for businesses to know the rules they need to follow.
- A streamlining of food safety regulations, reducing the number of regulations from 34 to 11. This will include the scrapping of a number of regulations where protection is provided under other legislation such as rules on arsenic, chloroform, and ungraded eggs. Remaining legislation will be consolidated so that most food businesses will only need to look at one regulation.
- The removal of unnecessary ‘gold plating’ of European regulations that cost businesses money such as requirements on minimum hardness of bottled water and the fortification of margarine.
- A consultation on requirements for child minders and groups in village halls to register separately as food businesses, including the option of removing the requirements.
Tourism Minister John Penrose, who has led the work on this part of the Red Tape Challenge, said: “Rules and regulations grow like bindweed through industry and business, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Hospitality, Food and Drink sectors. Wading through bumph, filling in pointless and repetitive forms is a spirit-sapping experience which too often chokes off enterprise and endeavour. The Red Tape Challenge has shone a spotlight on all this, and I am delighted with our progress.”
Clare Thomas, head of food and drink at law firm, Addleshaw Goddard, said: “Consolidating the number of food regulations can only be positive news for the industry. Food labelling legislation is currently very complex and so the fewer pieces of legislation businesses need to refer to the better.
“Whilst a reduction in the number of regulations will not reduce the number of obstacles businesses face, I feel that this reduction, in combination with the much needed food labelling map, should provide businesses with a clearer picture of the rules they need to follow. In turn, this should lead to a reduction in wasted costs being incurred on a label production re-run or, worse case scenario, a product recall.”
Source: Randalls
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