The Food Standards Agency has sent a communication to all authorities after obtaining approval from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, Jo Churchill, to permit deviations from the direction given to local authorities in the Food Law Code of Practice (England). The permitted deviation in regard to the Feed Law Code of Practice (England) has been agreed with National Trading Standards.

The permitted deviations are time bound for a period from 18 July 2020 to 30 September 2020.

The permitted deviations to the Codes will help minimize regulatory footfall in business establishments and enable local authorities to divert potentially diminished resources to urgent reactive work and other wider public health actions required locally during the COVID-19 pandemic. They take account of central government advice on COVID-19 and aim to ensure food safety and the protection of public and animal health during the pandemic.