The Food Information (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2014 Regulations are required to enable local authorities across the UK to enforce the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (EU FIC). As such, these Regulations provide for the enforcement of the EU "food information" Regulation in Northern Ireland, and establish the enforcement measures for food information law in Northern Ireland, allowing NI consumers to make informed choices and to make safe use of food.
The Regulations also consolidate existing general food and nutrition labelling Regulations in Northern Ireland. In addition, the Regulations take advantage of derogations contained in EU FIC and carry forward some (EU permitted) national measures.
The EU FIC was published in the Official Journal of the EU in 2011. The FIC brings together European rules on general and nutrition labelling into a single directly applicable regulation to simplify and consolidate existing food labelling legislation. Although the FIC is directly applicable in all EU Member States, legislation to provide for its execution and enforcement is needed in Northern Ireland and the other countries of the UK and also to give effect to the national flexibilities available within the EU Regulation.
