Food information for consumers: power to amend retained EU law
Existing EU regulations were converted into domestic law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This Act enables technical changes to be made to food labelling and presentation requirements to reflect the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU.
	The retained Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers ("Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011") was incorporated into domestic law, carried forward and modified according to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. It sets out requirements on the provision of food information to consumers which includes the labelling of prepacked food and drink in the UK. Due to its status as retained direct principal EU legislation, primary legislation is often required to amend or otherwise modify the provisions contained within Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011. The Act provides the Secretary of State and Ministers of Scotland and Wales with powers to amend and modify retained Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 using secondary legislation, via an affirmative process. This section therefore allows the Government (and/or, where appropriate, a devolved authority) to make regulations to implement any new policies regarding food information and labelling.
	The intention of the power is to broaden the reach of any modifications to Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 to those matters that fall within the scope of section 16(1)(e) of the Food Safety Act 1990. This section allows the Secretary of State and Ministers in Scotland and Wales to implement new policies regarding food information and labelling applicable to their relevant territories.
	For example, the Government’s obesity strategy "Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives" included a commitment to consult on front of pack nutrition labelling and whether to mandate alcohol calorie labelling to help support consumers to make healthier choices. If consultations indicate that changes to food and drink labelling and/or presentation are required, this provision will enable Ministers to introduce these policies, while retaining a level of scrutiny on any proposed changes. It will also support the alignment of labelling policies across the three nations, by allowing each nation to make changes applicable to their relevant territories.