Greater clarity needed on food safety rules under the Internal Market Bill
11 November 2020
The House of Lords Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee has written to Emily Miles, Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), seeking greater clarity on how the Food and Feed Safety and Hygiene (FFSH) framework will operate alongside the UK Internal Market Bill.
- Letter from the Committee to Emily Miles, 11 November 2020
- Letter from the Emily Miles (FSA) to the Committee, 3 November 2020
- Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee
Background information
Following its consideration of the FFSH Frameworks Summary, the Committee wrote to the FSA on 14 October seeking answers on a number of issues it had identified. Based on the FSA's response of 3 November, the Committee’s view is that with the Provisional Framework expected imminently, the FSA has not provided sufficient clarity on its relationship with the UK Internal Market Bill.
In its letter to the FSA, the Committee asks for greater clarity on:
- how market access principles in the Bill will operate alongside the framework
- the operation of the dispute settlement process to deal with issues of divergence
- suggested mechanisms for resolving disputes that relate to the Northern Ireland Protocol
- the timetable for parliamentary scrutiny of framework