Concerns have been raised over how a proposed new food licensing regime will work in practice.

The Environment, Housing & Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel is reviewing draft regulations intended to modernise Jersey’s food laws – including the introduction of mandatory allergen labelling, and a new licensing system to replace the current registration process.

While allergen labelling has been widely welcomed, the panel has raised red flags about the lack of detail surrounding the proposed licensing framework.

Under the plans, all food businesses – whether commercial, charitable or public – would need an annual licence, with operators categorised as low, medium or high risk.

Fees would be linked to those risk levels, though the exact charges have yet to be set.

Although the regulations suggest that some occasional, small-scale and very low-risk activities may fall outside the system, the Scrutiny panel says it remains unclear who would qualify for exemptions and how risk would be defined in practice.

Panel chair Deputy Hilary Jeune raised concerns about “unintended consequences” for food businesses and charities.

She said: “The Draft Food Regulations are, without doubt, a necessity to bring Jersey up to date with modern practices of labelling food for allergens.

“However, it’s important to ensure that all the changes, including the proposed licensing scheme and accompanying fee structure, do not cause any unintended consequences for food businesses, charities and ultimately the wider economy. 

“As a panel we still do not have clarity on who will need to be licensed and the definitions of low, medium, and high risk.

“This needs to be proportionate in protecting public health and we will be questioning the Minister further to ensure that the public are not confused as to whether they come under the scope of these Regulations.”

The panel is urging anyone involved in providing food services to complete an anonymised survey before 30 January, as Scrutiny members prepare to question the Environment Minister further on how the scheme would work in practice.

More information can be found on the the review webpage.