2025 will see the introduction of several new pieces of legislation that will apply to those operating in the food and drink sector.
Steve Panton, who leads the firm’s regulatory compliance and enforcement practice, summarises the legal requirements coming into force over the next 12 months or so.
Separation and Segregation of Waste (including Food Waste)
From 31 March 2025, all businesses, workplaces and non-domestic premises in England will need to separate and present the following waste types for collection;
- dry recyclable materials, such as plastic, metal, glass, paper and cardboard;
- food waste, and
- black bin waste (residual/non-recyclable waste)
Compliance notices and enforcement action can be taken in the event of a failure to comply. DEFRA will be updating its guidance on how the general public and others can report non-compliance.
Businesses with less than 10 full-time employees in total, irrespective of the number of business locations they have, will need to comply with the new separation and segregation of waste requirements by 31 March 2027.
Minimising Food Fraud & Reputational Risk in Your Supply Chain
UK food safety legislation already requires dutyholders to ensure food and food products offered for sale to be Whilst not imposing any specific additional duties.
Food fraud is defined as the intentional mislabelling, misdescription, processing and adulteration for financial gain. Food safety in the UK has been consistently rated as safe but we are still vulnerable and the risk to health, reputational and financial harm can be significant.
From 1 September 2025, under the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 a new duty on large organisations and partnerships to prevent fraud by employees and those who provide services to and on your behalf, will come into effect. The duty will extend to food fraud and HM Government statutory guidance, which was published at the end of last year, suggests that the benchmark will require high standards and behaviours to be maintained.
European Union Deforestation Regulations (EUDR) 2023
The EUDR will be come into force at the end of December 2025 for large and medium companies and in June 2026 for other organisations.
The Regulations will apply to all UK companies (including those in Northern Ireland) intending to import to and export foodstuffs and products from the EU, and importantly, extend to those in the supply chain. These include; coffee, cattle, palm oil, soybean, rubber and wood.
The Regulations set out the due diligence requirements aimed at minimising the risk of non-compliance with the EUDR by dutyholders and within their supply chain, and the information that needs to be contained in the “due diligence statements” that must be prepared and made available to the authorities, traders and sections of the general public.
EUDR will be of particular relevance to those organisations where sustainability and supply chain integrity is central to their brand, stated value and core customer base.
Martyn’s Law Update – The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill: Public Premises & Venues
Martyn’s Law, which is aimed at enhancing safety in certain “qualifying” publicly accessible premises and events, is anticipated to come into force with the next 12 months. The purpose is to reduce the risk of a successful terrorist attack and the amount of harm caused if an attack happened.
Relevant premises and events include hotels, festivals, concerts, sporting and fund-raising events, holiday parks, shops and shopping complexes, exhibitions, conferences, places of worship and education. The regulator, who will be tasked with issuing guidance but also have the power to issue civil penalties and to prosecute, will be the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
Current proposals are that Martyn’s Law will apply to;
- Premises where 200 or more members of the public can reasonably be expected to be present at the same time. Those with responsibility for, or control of, premises falling within the 200-799 person category will have to comply with a series of “standard tier” duties, including procedures for lockdown, invacuation (i.e. bringing people onto the premises to shield them), evacuation and communicating necessary information to people at the premises.
- Premises and events with actual or predicted attendance levels of 800+ people will fall within the “enhanced tier” and will owe a number of additional duties, including putting in place reasonably practicable measures to;
- reduce the vulnerability of the premises or event to an act of terrorism occurring at the location and the risk of physical harm being caused to individuals if an attack were to occur there or nearby;
- produce a document setting out the public protection procedures and measures in place, or proposed to put in place, and to provide this document to the SIA, and
- appoint a senior individual who will have responsibility for ensuring that the person responsible complies with the requirements of Martyn’s Law.
There will also be notification/registration requirements for standard tier premises and enhanced tier premises and events that will need to be adhered to.
Even if you do not control or are responsible for the premises or an event, you may still be involved in some way. Such as by having a presence, stand or food or drink outlet/pop-up, or involved in the set up or management of the qualifying premises or event. If so, as an employer, you will need to know what arrangements and controls are in place for your staff to understand and follow.
If you would like more information on any of the topic areas covered or discuss how these may be relevant to or impact on your business, please contact s.panton@stephens-scown.co.uk