Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Bovine Products (Restriction on Placing on the Market) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 7th November 2005.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the Agency” means the Food Standards Agency;

“animal feed” and “human food” have the meanings that they respectively bear in Regulation 999/2001;

“authorised officer”, in relation to the relevant enforcement authority, means any person (whether or not an officer of the authority) authorised by it in writing, either generally or specially, to act in matters arising under these Regulations and includes—

“bovine animal” includes—

“the Commission Decision” means Commission Decision 2005/598/EC prohibiting the placing on the market of products derived from bovine animals born or reared within the United Kingdom before 1st August 1996 for any purpose and exempting such animals from certain control and eradication measures laid down in Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001(9);

“the Department” means the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety;

“fertilisers” has the meaning given to it in Article 3.1(k) of Regulation 999/2001;

“material” and “product” shall respectively be construed in accordance with the meanings that “materials” and “products” bear in the Commission Decision;

“place on the market” means sell, supply in any other way against payment or free of charge and store with a view to supplying against payment or free of charge;

“Regulation 999/2001” means Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies(10), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No. 932/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies as regards the extension of the period for transitional measures(11); and

“the relevant enforcement authority” means the body which by virtue of regulation 7 has the duty of executing and enforcing these Regulations.

(2) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954(12) shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Prohibition on the placing on the market of certain products derived from older bovine animals

3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), no person shall place on the market any product—

(a)consisting of or incorporating any material derived from a bovine animal born or reared within the United Kingdom before 1st August 1996; and

(b)intended for use in human food, animal feed or fertilisers.

(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) shall prevent milk derived from a bovine animal born or reared within the United Kingdom before 1st August 1996 from being placed on the market.

Application of various provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991

4.  The following provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(13) shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the modification that any reference in those provisions to that Order or Part thereof shall be construed as a reference to these Regulations—

(a)Article 19 (offences due to fault of another person);

(b)Article 20 (defence of due diligence)(14) with the modification that paragraphs (2) to (4) shall apply in relation to an offence under regulation 6(1) as they apply in relation to an offence under Article 13 or 14 and that in paragraph 4(b) the references to “sale or intended sale” shall be deemed to be references to “placing on the market” as defined in Article 3.1(b) of Regulation 999/2001;

(c)Article 33 (powers of entry);

(d)Article 34(1) (obstruction etc. of officers);

(e)Article 34(2), with the modification that the reference to “any such requirement as is mentioned in paragraph 1(b)” shall be deemed to be a reference to any such requirement as is mentioned in that paragraph as applied by sub-paragraph (d);

(f)Article 36(1) (punishment of offences), in so far as it relates to offences under Article 34(1) as applied by sub-paragraph (d);

(g)Article 36(2) and (3)(15), in so far as it relates to offences under Article 34(2) as applied by sub-paragraph (e).

Inspection and seizure of suspected products

5.—(1) An authorised officer of the relevant enforcement authority may at all reasonable times inspect any product that has been placed on the market and paragraphs (2) to (7) shall apply where, on such an inspection or for any other reasonable cause, it appears to the authorised officer that any person has failed to comply with regulation 3 in relation to any product.

(2) The authorised officer may either—

(a)give notice to the person in charge of the product that, until the notice is withdrawn, the product or any specified portion of it—

(i)is not to be further placed on the market for use in human food, animal feed or fertilisers, and

(ii)either is not to be removed or is not to be removed except to some place specified in the notice; or

(b)seize the product and remove it in order to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace.

(3) Where the authorised officer exercises the power conferred by paragraph (2)(a), he shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable and in any event before the expiration of 21 days from and including the date of notice, determine whether or not he is satisfied that regulation 3 has been complied with in relation to the product and—

(a)if he is so satisfied, shall forthwith withdraw the notice; and

(b)if he is not so satisfied, shall seize the product and remove it in order to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace.

(4) Where an authorised officer exercises the power conferred by paragraph (2)(b) or (3)(b), he shall inform the person in charge of the product of his intention to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace and—

(a)any person who under regulation 3 might be liable to a prosecution in respect of the product shall, if he attends before the justice of the peace by whom the product falls to be dealt with, be entitled to be heard and to call witnesses; and

(b)that justice of the peace may, but need not, be a member of the court before which any person is charged with an offence under that regulation in relation to that product.

(5) If it appears to a justice of the peace, on the basis of such evidence as he considers appropriate in the circumstances, that there has been a failure to comply with regulation 3 in relation to any product falling to be dealt with by him under this regulation, he shall condemn the product and order—

(a)the product to be destroyed or to be so disposed of as to prevent it from being further placed on the market; and

(b)any expenses reasonably incurred in connection with the destruction or disposal to be defrayed by the owner of the product.

(6) If a notice under paragraph (2)(a) is withdrawn, or the justice of the peace by whom any product falls to be dealt with under this regulation refuses to condemn it, the relevant enforcement authority shall compensate the owner of the product for any depreciation in its value resulting from the action taken by the authorised officer.

(7) Any disputed question as to the right to or the amount of any compensation payable under paragraph (6) shall be determined by a single arbitrator, appointed failing agreement between the parties, by the Department and the provisions of the Arbitration Act 1996(16) shall apply accordingly.

Offences and penalties

6.—(1) Any person who contravenes regulation 3 or knowingly contravenes the requirements of a notice given under paragraph (2)(a) of regulation 5 shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Any person guilty of an offence under this regulation shall be liable—

(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both; or

(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

(3) No prosecution for an offence consisting of a contravention of regulation 3 or of knowingly contravening the requirements of a notice given under paragraph (2)(a) of regulation 5 shall be begun after the expiry of—

(a)three years from the commission of the offence; or

(b)one year from its discovery by the prosecutor,

whichever is the earlier.

Enforcement

7.  These Regulations shall be executed and enforced by the Agency or any district council or by the Agency and any district council acting jointly in relation to use in human food and by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in relation to use in animal feed and fertilisers.

Amendment of the Animal By-Products (Identification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999

8.  For paragraph (3) of regulation 3 (meaning of animal by-product) of the Animal By-Products (Identification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999(17) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(3) In these Regulations the definition of “animal by-product” includes—

(a)any product subject to the prohibition imposed by regulation 3 of the Bovine Products (Restriction on Placing on the Market) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005; and

(b)any bovine carcase or body part in respect of which a direction for disposal has been given under regulation 10A(5) of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002(18).”.

Revocations

9.  The Fresh Meat (Beef Controls) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(19) are hereby revoked.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

1.  These Regulations give effect to Article 1.1 of Commission Decision 2005/598/EC prohibiting the placing on the market of products derived from bovine animals born or reared within the United Kingdom before 1st August 1996 for any purpose and exempting such animals from certain control and eradication measures laid down in Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 (O.J. No. L204, 5.8.2005. p. 22).

2.  Article 1.1 of Commission Decision 2005/598/EC provides that certain products derived from bovine animals born or reared within the United Kingdom before 1st August 1996 may not be placed on the market.

3.  That prohibition is given effect by regulation 3 of these Regulations.

4.  These Regulations also—

(a)apply with modifications certain provisions of the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (1991 No. 762 (N.I. 7)) for the purposes of these Regulations (regulation 4);

(b)provide for the inspection and seizure of products that are suspected of having been placed on the market in contravention of regulation 3 of these Regulations (regulation 5);

(c)create offences and penalties (regulation 6);

(d)make provision for their enforcement (regulation 7);

(e)make an amendment to regulation 3 of the Animal By-Products (Identification) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 (S.R. 1999 No. 418) that is consequential on regulation 3 of these Regulations and regulation 10A(5) of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 225), inserted by regulation 5 of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (Amendment No. 3) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 (S.R. 2005 No. 436) (regulation 8); and

(f)revoke the Fresh Meat (Beef Controls) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 (S.R. 1996 No. 404) (regulation 9).