Part 2Risk-based measures
General: Preliminary
20Overview of this Part
This Part contains provisions relating to risk-based measures, which are the main means under this Act for ensuring food businesses achieve safe and suitable food.
This Part—
- classifies food sectors into 3 risk classes based on, among other things, the level of risk that their activities pose to public health and assigns a risk-based measure to food businesses in a class where appropriate; and
- provides, in Schedule 1, a description of food sectors that are generally subject to a food control plan; and
- categorises national programmes into 3 levels based on, among other things, the risks involved and provides, in Schedule 2, a description of food sectors that are generally subject, in descending order of risk, to a level 3, level 2, or level 1 national programme; and
- provides, in Schedule 3, a description of food sectors that are not required to operate under a food control plan or a national programme; and
- specifies which risk-based measure generally applies if a food sector is not specified in any of Schedules 1 to 3 or if a food sector is described in more than 1 of those schedules; and
- requires a person who trades in food and whose food business is in a food sector to which a risk-based measure applies to operate the food business under that risk-based measure, unless the person is exempted from that requirement under the provisions of this Part; and
- sets out requirements about the nature, content, and effect of a food control plan and a national programme; and
- sets out the circumstances in which a monitoring programme may be imposed.
This Part also contains provisions that exempt or enable the exemption of persons, groups of persons, or food businesses from operating under food control plans or national programmes (for example, sections 31 to 33).