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Retail, Food & Hospitality updates
Supreme court rule on the meaning of man, woman and sex: In an appeal by Women Scotland Ltd against a decision by Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court has considered whethera person with a full gender recognition certificate (“GRC”) which recognises that their gender is female, is a “woman” for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010? The court unanimouslyheld that the terms “man”, “woman” and “sex” in the EA 2010 refer to biological sex. In making this judgment the court stated that this interpretation of the EA 2010 does not remove protection from trans people, with or without a GRC from discrimination. Trans people are protected from discrimination on the ground of gender reassignment. They are also able to invoke the provisions on direct discrimination and harassment, and indirect discrimination on the basis of sex. Supreme Court >
Advertising watchdog publishes two rulings on alcohol advertising:
The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint regarding an advertisement by Global Brands Ltd T/A VK which stated ‘Doing dry January – ‘One won’t hurt’. The ASA considered this to be socially irresponsible during the Dry January period. View >
The ASA has also upheld a complaint about the Innovative Brewing Company T/A Prime Time Lager which claimed ‘with 63% less carbs and 4.2% alcohol why wouldn’t you’. The ASA upheld complaints that this nutritional claim was not permitted for standard alcohol products and also that emphasis of alcohol content for standards products was not permitted under the advertising codes.View >
OECD Publish report on Regulatory policy outlook for 2025 including on the UK: The OECD has published a fourth detailed report looking at how regulation works across member countries. The report concludes that the UK would benefit from further focusing on and strengthening the quality of the better regulation agenda and Regulatory impact assessments, which are crucial for ensuring that regulatory measures are effective and beneficial to all.OECD >Government >
EU updates
EU Commission publish annual ‘Safety Gate’ product safety report: The Dg for Justice and Consumers has published the annual report for 2024 on notifications by member states of unsafe non-food products to the EU via the portal. Headline figures are that the top three reported product categories are cosmetics (36%), toys (10%) and electrical items (8%). Excluding cosmetics 61% of notified products originated in the Republic of China. 97% of the cosmetics notified were reported to contain BMHCA, a banned synthetic fragrance, which can harm the reproductive system and cause skin irritation.The EU Commission has highlighted that in the past year, its eSurveillance webcrawler has processed nearly 4000 Safety Gate alerts, analysed almost 1.6 million websites, and identified about 5300 web shops potentially offering reported products.Report > BEUC >Press release >
EU Commission adopt work plan on eco-design and sustainable products and energy labelling regulations: The plan provides a list of products that should be prioritised to introduce eco-design requirements and energy labelling over the next five years. The priority products for eco-design and energy labelling requirements are steel and aluminium, textiles (with a focus on apparel), furniture, tyres and mattresses. In addition, the Commission will introduce horizontal measures to requirements on repairability for products such as consumer electronics and small household appliances. This will include the introduction of a repairability score for products with the most potential, and requirements on recyclability of electrical and electronic equipment. Future eco-design and energy labelling requirements for the selected products are to cover product performance and product information. View >
EU Regulations:
- On feed additives: sodium and potassium ferrocyanides >
European Food Safety Authority opinions:
- On feed additives: Eggerthellaceae family >Enterococcus lactis DSM7134 >Kieselguhr >patchouli essential oil >trans-anethole and eugenol >
Developments to watch
DEFRA: Publish update on Avian flu epidemic – 16th April. View >
DEFRA: Publish pesticides in food monitoring report for third quarter 2024. View >
Dept for Science, Innovation and Technology: Publish response to Regulatory Horizons Council paper on the regulation of engineering biology. View >
For your information
Non-food product safety alerts: Office for Product Safety and Standards >EU Safety Gate >US Consumer Product Safety Commission >
Re-Appointment: by Department for Work and Pensions. Sarah Newton, Chair, Health and Safety Executive. View >
Animal and Plant Health Agency: Appoint Richard Lewis as Chief Executive. View >
Pubs Code Adjudicator: Launch information website for tied tenants. View >
