Made | 4th October 2004 | ||
Laid before the Scottish Parliament | 5th October 2004 | ||
Coming into force | 15th November 2004 |
Submission of applications for authorisation to market products
3.
The national competent authority for the purposes of an application under Chapter III of the Community Regulation shall be the Food Standards Agency.
Enforcement
4.
- (1) Each enforcement authority shall enforce and execute these Regulations and Chapter III of the Community Regulation within its area.
(2) An enforcement authority may appoint as inspectors such persons as it considers necessary for the purpose of enforcing these Regulations and Chapter III of the Community Regulation.
(3) Any appointment of an inspector under section 67(3) of the Act which has effect at the date of coming into force of these Regulations has effect as if it was an appointment of that inspector as an inspector for the purpose of these Regulations.
Offences and Penalties
5.
- (1) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the specified Community provisions referred to in Part I of the Schedule shall be guilty of an offence and liable-
(2) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the specified Community provisions referred to in Part II of the Schedule shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.
(3) Any person who obstructs an inspector in the execution of these Regulations or the Community Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.
(4) Any person guilty of an offence under regulation 8(2) shall be liable on summary conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.
Application of various provisions of the Act
6.
- (1) The following provisions of the Act shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations and any reference in those provisions to the Act or Part thereof, shall be a reference to these Regulations and Chapter III of the Community Regulation and any reference to a feeding stuff shall be a reference to feed:-
(b) section 76 (inspector's power to enter premises and take samples), with the modification that for subsection (2)(b)(i) substitute "any relevant documentation including extracts from information recorded in computerised form relating to the feed"; and
(c) section 110 (offences by bodies corporate) with the modification that a body corporate includes a partnership in Scotland, and, in relation to such a partnership, a reference to a director or other officer of a body corporate is a reference to a partner.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)-
Application of various provisions of the Sampling and Analysis Regulations
7.
- (1) The provisions of the Sampling and Analysis Regulations listed in paragraph (2) shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations and Chapter III of the Community Regulation subject to the modifications set out in that paragraph and as if any reference in those provisions to a feeding stuff were a reference to feed.
(2) The provisions referred to in paragraph (1) are-
Inspection detention and seizure of suspect animal feed
8.
- (1) An inspector may at all reasonable times inspect any material intended for use as feed which-
and paragraphs (2) to (9) shall apply where, taking account of all of the information available to the inspector, or upon analysis of samples taken, it appears that the material may fail to comply with a specified Community provision.
(2) The inspector may either-
(b) seize the material and remove it in order to have it dealt with by the sheriff;
and any person who knowingly contravenes the requirements of a notice under paragraph (a) shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) Where the inspector exercises the powers conferred by paragraph (2)(a), the inspector shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event within 21 days, determine whether or not the inspector is satisfied that the material complies with the specified Community provisions and-
(4) Where an inspector exercises the powers conferred by paragraphs (2)(b) or (3)(b), the inspector shall inform the person in charge of the material of the intention to have it dealt with by the sheriff and any person who might be liable to prosecution under these Regulations in respect of the material shall, if that person attends before the sheriff by whom the material falls to be dealt with, be entitled to be heard and to call witnesses.
(5) Subject to paragraph (6), if it appears to the sheriff, on the basis of such evidence as the sheriff considers appropriate in the circumstances, that any material fails to comply with a specified Community provision, the sheriff shall condemn the material and order it to be destroyed or so disposed of as to prevent it from being used for human consumption or for feed.
(6) Where the material is the subject of an authorisation issued under the Council Regulation and has been produced in accordance with any conditions relating to that authorisation but is not labelled as required by Article 25 the sheriff may-
(7) Any expenses incurred in connection with the detention, labelling, destruction or disposal of the material pursuant to paragraphs (2), (5) or (6) shall be borne by the operator.
(8) If a notice under paragraph (2)(a) is withdrawn, or the sheriff by whom any material falls to be dealt with under paragraphs (5) or (6) refuses to condemn it or order it to be labelled in accordance with these paragraphs, the enforcement authority shall compensate the owner of the material for any depreciation in its value resulting from the action taken by the inspector.
(9) Any disputed question as to the right to or the amount of any compensation payable under paragraph (8) shall be determined by a single arbiter appointed, failing agreement by the parties, by the sheriff.
9.
- (1) Any notice to be given under regulation 8-
(d) where it is not practicable after reasonable enquiry to ascertain the name and address of the person to whom the notice should be given, or where the premises in which material intended for use as feed is kept are unoccupied, may be addressed to the "owner" or "occupier" of the premises in which the material is situated, stating the postal address of those premises and delivered to some person on those premises, or if there is no person on the premises to whom it can be delivered, by affixing it or a copy of it to some conspicuous part of the premises; and
(e) may be served by electronic communications on the person in charge of the material where that person has consented to receive such a notice by electronic communications.
(2) Where a notice is served using electronic communications, the service is deemed to have been effected by properly addressing and transmitting the notice.
Time limit for prosecutions
10.
- (1) Proceedings for an offence under regulation 5 or 8(2) may, subject to paragraph (2), be commenced within a period of one year from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to warrant proceedings comes to the knowledge of the prosecutor.
(2) No such proceedings shall be commenced by virtue of this regulation more than three years after the commission of the offence.
(3) For the purposes of this regulation, a certificate signed by or on behalf of the prosecutor and stating the date on which evidence sufficient to warrant the proceedings came to the knowledge of the prosecutor shall be conclusive evidence of that fact.
(4) A certificate stating that matter and purporting to be so signed shall be deemed to be so signed unless the contrary is proved.
TOM McCABE
Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers
St Andrew's House, Edinburgh
4th October 2004
Provision of the Community Regulation | Subject Matter |
Article 16.2 | Prohibition on placing on the market feed referred to in Article 15.1 unless it is covered by an authorisation and satisfies relevant conditions of the authorisation. |
Provision of the Community Regulation | Subject Matter |
Article 20.6 | Requirement that products in respect of which the Commission have adopted a measure under Article 20.6 shall be withdrawn from the market. |
Article 21 | Requirement that the authorisation holder and the parties concerned must comply with conditions or restrictions imposed on an authorisation for that product, and the authorisation holder must comply with post-market monitoring requirements |
Article 21.3 | Requirement to inform the Commission of any new scientific or technical information relating to a product, which might influence the evaluation of the safety in use of the feed, or any prohibition or restriction on the feed in a third country. |
Article 25 | Requirement for certain labelling indications. |
A Regulatory Impact Assessment, which includes a compliance cost assessment of the effect these Regulations would have on business costs, has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies may be obtained from the Food Standards Agency, 6th Floor, St Magnus House, 25 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6NJ.
[3] S.I. 1999/1663; relevant amending instruments are S.S.I. 2001/104, 2002/285, 2003/277.back
[6] O.J. No. L 268, 18.10.03, p.1.back