L E G I S L AT I O N
OBESITY STRATEGY HFSS RESTRICTIONS
HFSS restrictions delayed for six months The UK government has pushed back the planned implementation of restrictions on promotions
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and in-store siting restrictions on high fat, salt and sugar products.
he Department of Health and Social Care has delayed plans to introduce promotional and location restrictions on high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products in stores until October 2022. The measures, which are part of the government’s wider Obesity Strategy, include: Q Restricting where in a store HFSS products can be located, so that retailers would not be able to put these products: Within two metres of a checkout area, within two metres of a designated queueing area, in an end of aisle display, and at the entrance to the store.
Q Restricting volume promotions such as multibuys and ‘buy one get one’ promotions for products deemed to be in scope of the HFSS regulations. The regulations do not apply to businesses with fewer than 50 employees, but the proposals treat symbol group retailers as larger businesses so they are in scope of the regulations. All stores below 2,000sq ft, regardless of ownership, are exempt from the location restrictions in the regulations. Incidents of non-compliance will result in an ‘improvement notice’ being issued, which if not followed, could result in a fine. ACS chief executive, James Lowman, commented: “The extension to the timeframes ahead of implementation is welcome, but it’s still not a lot of time to make significant changes to stores when retailers are rightly still focusing on keeping colleagues and customers safe during a pandemic. We urge the government to look again at the implementation dates and put in place a more sensible timeline to allow retailers to prepare.” Lowman added: “Forcing shops to change their store layouts is an extreme measure that cannot achieve significant public health gains given that the convenience store sector accounts for less than a quarter of the grocery market. This is another significant burden on small shops, and there’s a growing sense that the government are throwing every idea and policy intervention at the problem without a clear idea of what will be effective.” NFRN national president, Stuart Reddish, said: “The last 18 months have been hard enough, without this extra burden on retailers. At least the government has listened to some degree regarding the timing of the new legislation by delaying it for six months.”
WEDNESDAY 28TH JULY 2021 / ISSUE 66 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 15
