Part 1: Main Provisions Section 29: Meaning of "food supply chain" and related expressions
This section defines the term "food supply chain" and related terms.
	It defines a food supply chain as supplying individuals with food or drink for personal consumption which have been produced to any extent through agriculture, fishing or aquaculture.
	The definition captures both those in and those closely connected with a food supply chain. It is intended to catch suppliers at every point along a food supply chain before the product reaches the consumer, supplying either food products directly to industry/consumers, or critical dependencies into the food supply chain.
	Those within a food supply chain include producers, slaughterhouses, packaging centres, distributors and retailers. The term ‘closely connected’ with a food supply chain is intended to capture suppliers who provide critical dependencies (or inputs) into the food supply chain (i.e. not directly supplying food). This may include those who supply seeds, fertiliser, chemicals, stock, equipment or similar items for use in agriculture, fishing or aquaculture; and those who provide goods or services either to producers or further up the supply chain which relate to the safety or quality of food or drink or the welfare of animals. This would include, for example, suppliers of CO₂ to slaughterhouses, suppliers of food packaging materials to packaging centres or companies which provide cleaning services to food processing plants.
	The definition also captures trade bodies which represent those in or closely connected to a food supply chain. Defra works closely with many of these bodies in the response to any food supply chain disruption through the Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group.
	The territorial extent and application of this section is England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.