STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 172 of 1999.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (PROTECTIVE MEASURES WITH REGARDS TO CONTAMINATION BY DIOXINS IN BELGIAN FOODSTUFFS) REGULATIONS, 1999.

S.I. No. 172 of 1999.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (PROTECTIVE MEASURES WITH REGARDS TO CONTAMINATION BY DIOXINS IN BELGIAN FOODSTUFFS) REGULATIONS, 1999.

I, TOM MOFFATT, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, 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 Commission Decision 1999/363/EC¹ on protective measures with regards to contaminations by dioxins of certain products intended for human or animal consumption and Commission Decision 1999/368/EC² on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of products intended for human or animal consumption derived from bovine animals and pigs hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins in Belgian foodstuffs) Regulations, 1999.

2. In these Regulations--

(1) ‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Minister or of a health board authorised under the European Communities (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1998 ( S.I. No. 85 of 1998 ).

‘health board’ means a health board established under Section 4(1) of the Health Act, 1970 (No. 1 of 1970) ;

‘the Commission Decisions’ means Commission Decision 1999/363/EC³ on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of certain products intended for human or animal consumption and Commission Decision 1999/368/EC⁴ on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of products intended for human or animal consumption derived from bovine animals and pigs;

‘sell’ includes to offer for sale or to sell or to supply whether or not for profit and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

‘the Minister’ means the Minister for Health and Children.

(2) A word or expression which is used in these Regulations and which is also used in the Commission Decisions has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Commission Decisions.

3. (1) A person shall not sell or attempt to sell any product from Belgium referred to in Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/363/EC or Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/368/EC.

(2) An Authorised Officer may trace and place under restriction all products arising from pigs, bovine animals, animals and hatching eggs which have been reared or produced in holding put under restriction by the Belgian authorities.

(3) An Authorised Officer may trace back all products derived from animals fed with foodstuffs suspected to be contaminated with dioxins and products destined to human or animal consumption which contain those products.

(4) An Authorised Officer may trace back all products of Belgian origin to which the Commission Decisions apply (inclusive of the products set out in Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/363/EC and Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/368/EC) and products destined to human or animal consumption containing those products.

(5) An Authorised Officer may ensure that the products referred to in the Commission Decisions are destroyed unless it can be proved they are not contaminated with dioxins.

4. These Regulations shall be enforced and executed by each health board in respect of its functional area through its authorised officers and/or the officers of the Minister for Health and Children who are authorised officers.

5. For the purposes of ensuring compliance with these Regulations, the provisions of the European Communities (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1998 ( S.I. No. 85 of 1998 ) shall apply.

6. (1) Any person who contravenes these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(2) Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate or by a person acting on behalf of a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent, connivance or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or any other officer of such body or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, such person shall also be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the first mentioned offence.

7. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by--

(a) the Minister, or

(b) a health board within whose functional area the offence was committed.

8. Where a person contravenes a provision of these Regulations the Minister or the health board in whose functional area the contravention has occurred may, institute in the High Court proceedings for an order requiring the person to comply with the provision.

9. (1) When exercising any power conferred by these Regulations, an authorised officer shall, if so requested by a person affected, produce the certificate of appointment for the inspection of the person.

(2) It shall be an offence for a person falsely to represent himself to be an authorised officer.

10. A health board shall:

(a) forward to the Minister such information as he may request in respect of the exercise of the functions conferred on it by or under these Regulations;

(b) comply with any directions given by the Minister from time to time as the exercise of its powers or the performance of its function and duties under these Regulations.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations give effect to Commission Decision 1999/363/EC on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of certain products intended for human or animal consumption and Commission Decision 1999/368/EC on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of products intended for human or animal consumption derived from bovine animals and pigs.

The effect of these Regulations is to prohibit the sale of these products in Ireland.

These Regulations should be read together with the Commission Decisions.

¹ O.J. No. L 141, 04.06.99, p. 24.

² O.J. No. L 142, 05.06.99, p. 46.

³ O.J. No. L 141, 04.06.99, p. 24.

⁴ O.J. No. L 142, 05.06.99, p. 46.