Poisons Act 1972

9 Inspection and enforcement.E+W+S

F1(1). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F1(2). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F1(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F2(4)An inspector appointed by [F3the General Pharmaceutical Council under article 8(1) of the Pharmacy Order 2010]—

[F4(a)shall, for the purpose of securing compliance by pharmacists and persons carrying on a retail pharmacy business with the preceding provisions of this Act and with the Poisons Rules, have power at all reasonable times to enter any registered pharmacy, and]

(b)shall, for the purpose of securing compliance by [F5persons other than pharmacists and persons carrying on a retail pharmacy business] with the preceding provisions of this Act and with the Poisons Rules, so far as those provisions and Rules relate to substances included in Part I of the Poisons List, have power to enter any premises in which he has reasonable cause to suspect that a breach of the law has been committed in relation to any such substances,

and F6... shall have power to make such examination and inquiry and to do such other things (including the taking, on payment, of samples) as may be necessary for ascertaining whether those provisions and Rules are being complied with.]

[F2(4)An inspector appointed by the General Pharmaceutical Council under article 8(1) of the Pharmacy Order 2010 may at all reasonable times—

(a)enter any registered pharmacy to ascertain whether an offence under section 3A, 3B, 3C or 7(4) has been committed by a pharmacist or a person carrying on a retail pharmacy business;

(b)enter any suspicious premises to ascertain whether either of the following offences has been committed—

(i)an offence under section 3B, or

(ii)an offence under section 7(4) in relation to contravention of any regulations that relate solely to regulated poisons.

(4A)“Suspicious premises” are premises in which the inspector has reasonable cause to suspect that an offence mentioned in subsection (4)(b) has been committed.

(4B)An inspector appointed by the General Pharmaceutical Council under article 8(1) of the Pharmacy Order 2010 may also make such examination and inquiry and do such other things (including the taking, on payment, of samples) as may be necessary for ascertaining any of the things mentioned in subsection (4)(a) and (b).]

(5)[F7It shall be the duty of every local authority by means of inspection and otherwise to take all reasonable steps—

(a)to secure compliance by persons, not being persons lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business, with the preceding provisions of this Act and with the Poisons Rules so far as those provisions and Rules relate to substances included in Part II of the Poisons List, and

(b)to secure compliance with those provisions and Rules by persons lawfully conducting a retail pharmacy business, in so far as that business is carried on at premises which are not a registered pharmacy,

and for those purposes to appoint inspectors F8....

[F9(5A)A local authority may, with the consent of the General Pharmaceutical Council, appoint an inspector appointed by the General Pharmaceutical Council under article 8(1) of the Pharmacy Order 2010 to be also an inspector for the purposes of subsection (5).]

(6)An inspector appointed by the local authority shall, for the purposes of subsection (5) above, have power at all reasonable times to enter any premises on which any person whose name is entered in a local authority’s list carries on business, and any premises on which the inspector has reasonable cause to suspect that a breach of the law has been committed in respect of any substances included in Part II of the Poisons List, and in either case shall have power to make such examination and inquiry and to do such other things (including the taking, on payment, of samples) as may be necessary for the purposes of the inspection.

(7)An inspector appointed by a local authority in England or Wales for the purposes of subsection (5) above shall have power with the consent of the local authority to institute proceedings under this Act before a court of summary jurisdiction in the name of the authority, and to conduct any proceedings so instituted by him F10....]

(8)If a person—

(a)wilfully delays or obstructs an inspector in the exercise of any powers under this section, or

(b)refuses to allow any sample to be taken in accordance with the provisions of this section, or

(c)fails without reasonable excuse to give any information which he is duly required under this section to give,

he shall in respect of each offence be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F11level 2 on the standard scale].

(9)Nothing in this section shall authorise any inspector to enter or inspect the premises, not being a shop, of a doctor, a dentist, a veterinary surgeon or a veterinary practitioner.