Food Businesses
Guidance for how the EU Exit may affect your food business
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Nutrition Related Labelling
The Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland means that European Union (EU) legislation relating to nutrition related labelling, composition, and standards (as detailed in Annex 2 to the Protocol) continues to be directly applicable in Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period.
Businesses should note, however, that under the Protocol, in Northern Ireland, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is not able to submit:
- applications for new nutrition and health claims, to be added to the EU Register of nutrition and health claims made on foods
- scientific dossiers concerning the modification of:
- the Community Register on the addition of vitamins and minerals and of certain other substances to foods
- substances that can be added to FSG
- the Annex of Directive 2002/46/EC to the European Commission for consideration
Find more information on Nutrition Related Labelling, Composition and Standards on NI Business Info.
Importing Fruit and Vegetables
A small sample of imports from the EU are selected for checks to ensure they're complying with GB (England, Scotland and Wales) marketing standards.
If your consignment is selected for checks, you'll be notified if it requires a GB-issued certificate of conformity (CoC). You'll need to submit an application for that consignment through the Procedure for Electronic Application for Certificates from the Horticultural Marketing Inspectorate (PEACH) system or by contacting Science & Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA).
An EU-issued CoC is required for release into free circulation in GB.
The process for EU Member States to request GB Approved Inspection Services (AIS) status will be published before 1 January 2023.
Importing green bananas
An inspection certificate is needed for imports of green bananas from the EU to GB.
If you're an exempt trader, you:
- are exempt for the period that your exemption certificate remains valid
- do not require a GB inspection certificate when importing green bananas
You need to provide notifications about your consignment on PEACH in the same way as for non-EU imports. Both exempt traders and traders that are not exempt must do this.
Importing fruit and vegetables from the EU to Northern Ireland (NI)
There is no change to the marketing standards requirements for importing fruit and vegetables from the EU to NI.
Moving fruit and vegetables from NI to Great Britain
There is no change to the requirements for moving fruit and vegetables from NI to GB.