European Food Law Association of the UK

Following the formation of the European Food Law Association (EFLA) with headquarters in Brussels, national bodies linked with it were formed in a number of European countries. Among them, in 1980 the UK Section of EFLA was jointly established and continues to be jointly sponsored by the four professions most directly concerned with food law; the Association of Public Analysts (APA), the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST), the Chartered Institution of Environmental Health (CIEH) and the Institute of Trading Standards Administration (ITSA), with the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) as a more recent sponsoring professional body.

The aims are

• to advance and contribute to better understanding of food law and its application in Europe;
• to identify and reconcile considerations affecting the development and application thereof in the UK; and
• to represent the views of EFLA UK within EFLA and other related European and international bodies.

In January 1995 the UK Section became independent of the parent body and changed its name to the European Food Law Association of the United Kingdom. This change gives EFLA UK greater freedom to organise its own affairs whilst maintaining strong links with the pan-European headquarters of EFLA.

EFLA (UK) publishes its own Newsletter and organises seminars (two or three a year). These are concerned with topical matters of current UK legislative changes and new or forthcoming EU legislation and its impact on the UK. It is a forum for members of professions directly concerned with forming, interpreting, complying with and enforcing food law to discuss relevant matters in a friendly atmosphere.