Guidance on using the Register of Applications

Introduction

This electronic register is for information purposes. It sets out a list of product applications which have been received for approval by the FSA and is for information purposes only. It lists applications which have passed initial checks to ensure they contain all the necessary information.

Understanding the register fields

Applications will contain the following:

RP ID - unique reference number assigned to all applications.
Product Type - certain food and feed products, called regulated products, must go through a risk analysis process, and require authorisation before they can be sold in the UK. Information about the different types of regulated products can be found on the FSA’s Business Guidance web page .
Product Name – the name of the product as provided by the applicant.
Summary (short) – a brief overview about the product and intended use, created by the FSA.
Public summary – text provided by the applicant with information about the product, intended use and how the application meets the regulatory requirements.
Status – the status of the application within the current phase:

Status Name	Description of status
In progress	An application that is in Risk Assessment, Risk Management, or Authorisation stages.
Authorised	When an application has received a decision in principle from the ministers to authorise and the legislation has come into force.
Rejected	An application that has been rejected at any stage past validation. This also includes applications which are not valid.
Withdrawn	An application that has been withdrawn at any stage past validation.

Phase – indicates where the application is in the Regulated Products Process. The steps of the process from Validation to authorisation are:

Phase Name	Description of phase
Risk assessment	This phase is used to decide if the product or process is safe to be placed on the market in England, Wales and Scotland. This will involve risk assessment by one of our Joint Expert Groups and/or Scientific Advisory Committee and a consideration of other legitimate factors (for example, risks to the environment). These will be combined to form an evidence package.
Risk management	This phase is used to consider possible risk management options and make a recommendation to ministers.
Authorisation	This is the final stage of assessment where ministers will decide whether the product should be authorised for use in Great Britain.

FSA/FSS safety assessment: following the Risk Assessment this document details the opinion of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) & Food Standards Scotland (FSS).
Consultation – it is our duty to ensure that decisions are properly informed, and consulting with those that have an interest is necessary to ensure that our decisions take account of relevant opinions and are evidence based. We consult on changes to food and feed law, including assimilated law, and on policy proposals, including regulatory guidance, that directly impact stakeholders.
Last updated – The date the register was last updated.

Summary page

Individual applications may be expanded into a summary page with additional information (e.g. links to scientific information, links to consultations).

Infographic

Each application has an infographic on the summary page, which visualises where it is in the applications process for the phase, and the status of the phase. E.g. this application has been through the ‘Risk Assessment’ phase and is currently in the ‘Risk management’ phase:

Search

The register enables a free-text search of entries with the option to also filter by the following fields where included, for individual feed additive entries:

Applicant
Phase of assessment
Product type
Status

Link to authorisation

Once authorised, a link will be added that enables clicking through to the authorisation information on the Register of Regulated Products . Currently this is only available for Smoke Flavourings, but we are working on adding this to all applications that have been authorised.