Meat (Enhanced Enforcement Powers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Amendments to the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995

3.—(1) The Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995(1) shall be amended in accordance with the following paragraphs.

(2) In paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) for the definition of “authorised person” there shall be substituted the following definition—

““authorised person” means any person who is authorised, either generally or specially, by the Agency or, as the case may be, a district council, to act in relation to matters arising under these Regulations;”.

(3) In paragraph (1) of regulation 2 (interpretation) the following definitions shall be inserted in the appropriate alphabetical positions—

• ““associate”, in relation to a person entitled to exercise or control the exercise of voting power in relation to a body corporate, means—

  (a)

  if the person so entitled is a natural person—

  (i)

  his husband, wife, son or daughter (including a stepson or step-daughter),

  (ii)

  any body corporate of which he is a director,

  (iii)

  any person who is his employee or partner;

  (b)

  if the person so entitled is a body corporate—

  (i)

  any of its directors,

  (ii)

  any body corporate which is a subsidiary of it,

  (iii)

  any employee or director of any such subsidiary,

  (iv)

  (if it is itself a subsidiary) any other subsidiary of the holding company they have in common,

  (v)

  any employee or director of any such subsidiary; and

  (c)

  (whether the person so entitled is a natural person or a body corporate) if that person has with any other person an agreement or arrangement—

  (i)

  with respect to the acquisition, holding or disposal of shares or other interests in the body corporate first-mentioned in this definition, or

  (ii)

  under which both the parties to the agreement or arrangement undertake to act in exercising their voting power in relation to the said body corporate,

  that other person;”;

• ““controller”, in relation to the occupier of any licensed premises which is a body corporate, means a person—

  (a)

  in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of that body corporate or of any other body corporate which is its controller are accustomed to act; or

  (b)

  who, either alone or with any associate, is entitled to exercise, or control the exercise of, at least one-third of the voting power at any general meeting of that body corporate or of any other body corporate which is its controller;”;

• ““director” means—

  (a)

  in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by a board of directors or similar body, a member of that board or body;

  (b)

  in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by a single director or similar person, that director or person;

  (c)

  in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by the members themselves, a member of the body corporate;”;

““manager” means a person who exercises managerial functions in relation to any premises;”;

• ““subsidiary” and “holding company” mean respectively a “subsidiary” and a “holding company” within the meaning of Article 4 of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986(2);”.

(4) Paragraph (1) of regulation 4 (issue of licences) shall be replaced with the following—

“(1) A person shall not carry on the business of a slaughterhouse, a cutting premises, a cold store or a re-wrapping centre unless—

(a)the premises concerned are licensed for the business concerned by the Agency;

(b)that person complies with any conditions to which the licence is subject; and

(c)that person—

(i)applies for the licence for those premises on or after the date of coming into operation of the Meat (Enhanced Enforcement Powers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000;

(ii)was the occupier of those premises on the date of coming into operation of those Regulations and has not failed to comply with the obligation in regulation 7A,

(iii)(subsequent to the grant of the licence or the date of coming into operation of those Regulations, whichever is later) notified the Agency in accordance with regulation 4A(3) of his intention to carry on that business there, or

(iv)(where the previous occupier of those premises was a natural person) is the personal representative or a member of the family of the previous occupier, and that previous occupier died less than one month previously.”.

(5) The following paragraph shall be inserted between paragraphs (3) and (4) of regulation 4—

“(3A) Each application for a licence under this regulation shall include the name and principal business address of each person who is a manager and (if applicable) director or controller of the applicant.”.

(6) The following regulation shall be inserted between regulation 4 and regulation 5 (revocation of licences)—

“Change of directors, managers and controllers of occupiers of licensed premises and change of occupier of such premises

4A.—(1) The occupier of licensed premises shall notify the Agency of any change in the identity or principal business address of his directors, managers or controllers as soon as is reasonably practicable after that change occurs, and in any event within one month of that change.

(2) An occupier of licensed premises shall not transfer possession of or allow another person to occupy those premises for the purposes of carrying on any activity permitted by the licence unless he notifies the Agency of that person’s name and principal business address at least 21 days before the transfer or occupation concerned.

(3) Any person who intends to occupy licensed premises (whether alone or jointly) for the purposes of carrying on any business for which those premises are licensed shall notify the Agency at least 21 days before he occupies them of his intention to do so, and of his name and principal business address.

(4) Where the occupier (being a natural person) dies, paragraph (3) shall not apply to occupation of those premises by the deceased’s personal representatives or by any member of his family, but the successor shall notify the Agency of his name and principal business address within one month of the death.

(5) Any notification pursuant to paragraph (2), (3) or (4) shall record the respective identities and principal business addresses of each manager and (if applicable) director and controller of the new occupier.”.

(7) In paragraph (1)(b) of regulation 5 the words “as to hygiene” shall be revoked.

(8) Paragraph (1)(d) of regulation 5 shall be replaced with the following—

“(d)any condition attached to the licence has not been complied with;”.

(9) The following regulation shall be inserted between regulation 5 and regulation 6 (appeals)—

“Suspension of licences

5A.—(1) The Agency may suspend a licence granted in respect of any premises where—

(a)it appears to it that—

(i)any requirement of these Regulations in relation to the premises is being breached, or

(ii)adequate health inspection in accordance with these Regulations is being hampered there; or

(b)a notice has been served on those premises pursuant to regulation 9(1), and—

(i)the Agency is not satisfied that the action specified in the notice has been taken within the time specified there, and

(ii)as a result of the failure to take the action specified in the notice, any requirement of these Regulations is still being breached, or adequate health inspection is still being hampered, there.

(2) Where the Agency intends to suspend a licence pursuant to paragraph (1), it shall give notice in writing to the occupier of the premises, informing him of—

(a)its decision to suspend the licence;

(b)the date on which it intends the suspension to take effect (which may be the date on which the notice is issued);

(c)the matters which must be remedied in order for the suspension to be lifted;

(d)his right to appeal under regulation 6, and of the time within such an appeal must be made.

(3) Insofar as a licence has been suspended pursuant to paragraph (1), the premises in respect of which that licence was granted shall be treated for the purposes of these Regulations as if they were not licensed premises.

(4) The Agency shall lift the suspension of any licence where it is satisfied that the matters specified in the notice referred to in paragraph (2) have been remedied and may lift the suspension of any licence in any other case.

(5) Where the Agency lifts a suspension pursuant to paragraph (4), it shall do so by notice specifying the date on which it is lifted.”.

(10) Paragraph (1) of regulation 6 shall be replaced with the following—

“(1) Where the Agency—

(a)has refused to license any premises;

(b)has granted a licence subject to conditions, or has subsequently imposed conditions on a licence;

(c)has suspended the licence of any premises; or

(d)has revoked the licence of any premises,

the occupier of those premises may within 21 days of being notified of that decision, appeal to a court of summary jurisdiction.”.

(11) Paragraphs (3) and (4) of regulation 6 shall be replaced with the following—

“(3) Where on an appeal under paragraph (1) a court of summary jurisdiction determines that—

(a)the grant of a licence should not have been refused;

(b)conditions have unreasonably been attached to a licence;

(c)a licence should not have been suspended; or

(d)a licence should not have been revoked,

the Agency shall give effect to the determination of the court.”.

(12) Paragraph (5) of regulation 6 shall be replaced with the following—

“(4) Where the Agency has revoked the licence of any premises under regulation 5, a person who, immediately before such revocation, had been using those premises may continue to use them, subject to any reasonable conditions imposed by the Agency for the protection of public health, unless—

(a)the time for appealing against the Agency’s decision has expired without an appeal having been lodged; and

(b)(where an appeal has been lodged within the 21-day period stipulated in paragraph (1)) the appeal has been finally disposed of or abandoned.

(5) Nothing in paragraph (4) shall permit premises to be used if—

(a)a prohibition order, an emergency prohibition notice, emergency prohibition order or emergency control order has been imposed on the premises pursuant to Article 10, 11 or 12 of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991; or

(b)the Agency has suspended the licence of the premises pursuant to regulation 5A.”.

(13) The following regulation shall be inserted into Part II, after regulation 7—

“Provision of information by current occupiers of licensed premises

7A.  Every person who is the occupier of licensed premises on the date of coming into operation of the Meat (Enhanced Enforcement Powers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 shall notify the Agency of—

(a)his identity and principal business address;

(b)the identity and principal business address of each of his managers and (if applicable) directors, and controllers; and

(c)the address of those licensed premises (where different from the address required to be notified under paragraph (a)),

within 3 months of the date of coming into operation of the Meat (Enhanced Enforcement Powers) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000”.

(14) In paragraph (1) of regulation 8 (supervision of premises), the following sub-paragraph shall be inserted between sub-paragraphs (a) and (b)—

“(aA)the inspection of the records required to be kept by the occupier pursuant to regulation 17(1)(a) and (e)(i) and otherwise monitoring the occupier’s compliance with his duties under regulation 17;”.

(15) In paragraph (1)(a) of regulation 9 (powers of official veterinary surgeons) the words “as to hygiene” shall be revoked.

(16) Subdivision (ii) of regulation 9(1) shall be replaced by the following—

“(ii)impose conditions upon or prohibit the carrying out of any process, or

(iii)require the rate of operation to be reduced to such extent as is specified in the notice, or to be stopped completely,”.

(17) In paragraph (1) of regulation 13 (general conditions) sub-paragraph (a) shall be replaced with the following—

“(a)without prejudice to the specific conditions set out in the following sub-paragraphs, each operation in relation to that meat required to have been carried out in compliance with these Regulations has been so carried out;”.

(18) Paragraph (1)(a) of regulation 17 (duties of occupier) shall be replaced with the following—

“(a)make (and retain for a period of at least one year from the date of making) a record sufficient to show—

(i)the number of birds and rabbits and where appropriate the mass (measured in tonnes) of meat entering the premises in each week, in each case identified by species; and

(ii)the mass (measured in tonnes) of fresh meat dispatched from those premises in each week;”.

(19) In regulation 21 (offences and penalties)—

(a)paragraph (1) shall be revoked;

(b)paragraph (2)(a) shall be replaced with the following—

“(a)any provision of these Regulations;”; and

(c)in paragraph (3) the phrase “Neither paragraph (1) nor paragraph (2) applies” shall be replaced by the phrase “Nothing in paragraph (2) shall apply”.

(20) Regulation 23 (enforcement) shall be replaced by the following—

“Enforcement

23.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) these Regulations shall be executed and enforced—

(a)in relation to licensed premises by the Agency; and

(b)in relation to any place other than licensed premises by the Agency or any district council or by the Agency and any district council acting jointly.

(2) Each district council shall execute and enforce regulation 3(3) and (4).

(3) On an inspection of any meat in licensed premises an official veterinary surgeon may certify that the meat concerned has not been produced, stored or transported in accordance with these Regulations.

(4) On an inspection of any meat at any place other than licensed premises an official veterinary surgeon or a person authorised by a district council may certify that the meat has not been produced, stored or transported in accordance with these Regulations.

(5) Where any meat is certified as mentioned in paragraph (3) or (4) it may be treated for the purposes of Article 8 of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 as failing to comply with food safety requirements.”.