S.I. No. 359/1983:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (INDICATION OF PRICES OF FOODSTUFFS) REGULATIONS, 1983.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (INDICATION OF PRICES OF FOODSTUFFS) REGULATIONS, 1983.

I, FRANK CLUSKEY, Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 79/581/EEC of 19 June, 1979,* hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Indication of Prices of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1983, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of June, 1984.

2. (1) In these Regulations:

"authorised officer" means a person appointed in writing by the Minister to be an authorised officer for the purposes of these Regulations;

"the Council Directive" means Council Directive No. 79/581/EEC;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism.

(2) Any indication required by the Council Directive or these Regulations of a price for any foodstuffs shall be inclusive of all taxes, repayable deposits and other charges in respect of such foodstuffs.

(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Directive.

* OJ No. L158. 26.6.1979. p. 19.

3. (1) A person shall not sell any foodstuffs unless the provisions of the Council Directive and these Regulations are complied with in relation to such foodstuffs.

(2) A person who contravenes paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £800 or, at the discretion of the court, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

4. The Council Directive and these Regulations shall not apply to--

( a ) agricultural or horticultural foodstuffs sold by the producer on the farm where it was produced, or

( b ) foodstuffs carried in a vehicle as part of a regular delivery service and sold in the course of such delivery to domestic premises.

5. Where any foodstuffs marketed in bulk are sold by the piece or by number, the selling price need only be indicated where such foodstuffs are normally so sold.

6. The requirement in Article 3 (1) of the Council Directive in relation to the unit price of foodstuffs shall not apply to foodstuffs which are sold in any of the following ways:

( a ) by the piece or by number;

( b ) from automatic vending machines;

( c ) as prepared dishes or dishes for preparation contained in a single package;

( d ) in the form of a figure, animal, cigarette or egg or any other fancy form;

( e ) in quantities of less than five grams or more than ten kilograms;

( f ) in quantities of less than five millilitres or more than ten litres;

( g ) prepackaged in pre-established quantities.

7. A price indication for any foodstuffs required by the Council Directive to be at the place of sale shall be on or adjacent to the foodstuffs or be in such a position as to be capable of being easily read by an intending purchaser of the foodstuffs while he is at that place.

8. (1) The unit price of foodstuffs shall, subject to Regulation 6 of these Regulations, be indicated in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 (1) of the Council Directive or Regulation 9 of these Regulations, as may be appropriate, and may, in addition to being so indicated, be indicated by reference to the units of mass or volume (as the case may be) of the imperial system of measurement.

(2) Where the unit price of foodstuffs is indicated by reference to the units of mass or volume of the imperial system of measurement, it shall be placed between brackets and--

(a) the dimensions of the letters and figures in the indication shall be smaller than those in the indication of the unit price provided for by the said Article 6 (1) or the said Regulation 9, and

(b) the position and colour of the letters and figures shall not be such as to confer a prominence on them that is greater than that of the indication of the unit price so provided for.

9. Where foodstuffs are not normally marketed in quantities of more than 100 grams or 100 millilitres, the unit price shall be indicated by reference to 100 grams or 100 millilitres as the case may be.

10. Where an authorised officer has reasonable grounds for believing that foodstuffs are being sold in any premises or other place to which the Council Directive applies, he may at all reasonable times--

(a) enter and inspect those premises or other place, and

(b) make such examination or enquiry as may be necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of these Regulations are being complied with.

11. An authorised officer shall be furnished with the warrant of his appointment as an authorised officer and when exercising any power conferred on him by these Regulations shall, if requested by any person concerned, produce the warrant to that person.

12. A person who fails or refuses to comply with a request of, or to answer a question asked by, or who obstructs or interferes with, an authorised officer in the course of exercising a power conferred on him by these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

13. (1) An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

(2) Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and the offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, member of the committee of management or other controlling authority of the body concerned, or the manager, secretary or other officer of the body, that person shall also be deemed to have committed the offence and may be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(3) Notwithstanding section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, proceedings for an offence under these Regulations may be instituted at any time within the period of one year beginning on the day on which the offence was committed.

14. Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as affecting the operation of the Retail Prices (Food) Display Order, 1977 ( S.I. No. 127 of 1977 ).

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 1st day of December, 1983.

FRANK CLUSKEY,

Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations give effect to Council Directive 79/581/EEC on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of foodstuffs and should be read in conjunction with the Council Directive. They apply to foodstuffs which are supplied direct to the final consumer. The Regulations require, with certain general and specific exemptions,

(i) That the selling price of all foodstuffs must be displayed and

(ii) That the unit price of foodstuffs

(a) prepackaged in variable quantities, or

(b) not prepackaged and/or not measured or weighed for sale except in the presence of the final consumer

must be shown also.