Regulatory approach
The Food Standards Agency has a statutory objective to protect public health and consumers' other interests in relation to food and drink. However, we are aware that excessive or unclear regulations can place a burden on business, the public sector and civil society groups (such voluntary groups, charities and not for profit organisations) and so hinder effective delivery of the intended benefits.
We implement regulations using our Framework for Policy Making, which sets out the factors the FSA considers when deciding on regulatory intervention and the different options available. We continually evaluate our performance against this framework – more details can be found below.
Reducing Regulation Programme
The FSA reducing regulation programme is about making regulations easier for business, the public sector and civil society groups to understand and comply with without compromising public health. The Government has set out its approach to reducing regulation in its publication 'Reducing Regulation Made Simple'. We recognise the importance of this agenda and, in October 2010, the FSA Board agreed to participate in the One-in One-out initiative, and in January 2011 to sunsetting of FSA legislation.
Statement of New Regulation
The FSA's current statement of new regulation lists all new domestic regulations being implemented between 1 July and 31 December 2011. It also reports on the FSA’s overall One-in, One-out position as at the end of December 2011, where we are forecasting a net reduction of the burden on business of £130,000.
Framework for Policy Making in the FSA
The FSA's 'Framework for Regulatory Decision Making', which we originally published in December 2006, was revised in March 2010 in line with feedback from FSA policy makers and respondents to two public consultations. We are grateful to everyone who gave us feedback.
The document has been shortened but still retains all the key principles. The title has also been revised to 'A Framework for Policy Making in the Food Standards Agency'.
We will review the document again in 2012.
Regulators' Compliance Code
The Government's Statutory Code of Practice for Regulators (the Regulators’ Compliance Code) came into force in England on 6 April 2008. The Code seeks to embed a risk-based, proportionate, targeted approach to regulatory inspection and enforcement. The FSA has published a Statement of Compliance that we believe reflects how we comply with the Code.
Red Tape Challenge
On 7 April 2011, the Government launched the Red Tape Challenge website to get comments from business and the public on the stock of legislation. The aim of the Red Tape Challenge is to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses by reducing the number of statutory rules and regulations in force. The Red Tape Challenge website can be found via the link below.
On 6 May 2011, most of the FSA’s legislation was published on the Red Tape Challenge website and remained there until 2 June 2011.
The FSA has a number of initiatives being delivered under the Red Tape Challenge, which can be found in the 'Red Tape Challenge initiatives' section below.
Related links
(pdf 29KB)External links The Food Standards Agency has no responsibility for the content of external websites
Better Regulation Advisory Group
The Better Regulation Advisory Group (BRAG) was set up in 2006 to undertake independent external scrutiny and challenge of the Food Standard Agency's better regulation initiatives.
Impact Assessments
An Impact Assessment (IA) is a policy tool which assesses the impact in terms of costs, benefits and risks of an proposed regulation which could affect business, the public sector and civil society groups.
Reviews of FSA guidance and forms
Details of reviews of FSA guidance and forms.
Common commencement dates
Common Commencement Dates (CCDs) came from a recommendation of the Better Regulation Task Force (now the Better Regulation Commission), requiring Departments and Agencies to consolidate the commencement dates of new or amended regulation to either 6 April or 1 October.
A Framework for Policy Making in the FSA
The FSA’s Framework for Regulatory Decision Making, which we originally published in December 2006, has been revised in line with feedback from FSA policy makers and respondents to two public consultations. We are grateful to everyone who gave us feedback.
Red Tape Challenge initiatives
The aim of the Government’s Red Tape Challenge is to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses by reducing the number of statutory rules and regulations in force. The FSA has a number of initiatives being delivered under the Red Tape Challenge. For devolved issues, such as food safety, the Red Tape Challenge applies to England only.
Statement of new regulation
Every six months, the Food Standards Agency publishes a list of all new domestic regulations being implemented during the six month period of the statement. It also reports on the FSA’s overall One-in, One-out position at the end of June or December.