The Common Agricultural Policy (Wine) (Wales) Regulations 2001

PART IV E+WOFFENCES AND PENALTIES

Offences and penaltiesE+W

19.—(1) If any person contravenes, or fails to comply with, regulation 6 or any obligation contained in any of the relevant Community provisions referred to in column 1 or 2 of Parts I, II, III, V or IX of Schedule 2, he or she shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a)on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale; or

(b)on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

(2) If any person—

(a)contravenes, or fails to comply with, any obligation or condition contained in any of the relevant Community provisions referred to in column 1 or 2 of Parts IV, VI, VII or VIII of Schedule 2, or

(b)discloses to any other person any information obtained by him or her in pursuance of his or her duties under these Regulations, unless the disclosure is made in, or for the purposes of, the performance by him or her or any other person of any functions under these Regulations, or in pursuance of a Community obligation,he or she shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Movement of a controlled wine-sector productE+W

20.—(1) Any person who, knowing a wine-sector product to be a controlled wine-sector product—

(a)moves it, or

(b)causes it to be moved,without the written consent of an authorised officer shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) Any person who, knowing a wine-sector product to be a controlled wine-sector product—

(a)removes from it, or

(b)causes to be removed from it,a label which has been affixed under regulation 8(5) shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) Any person who fails to comply with an undertaking given by him or her for the purposes of regulation 9(2) shall be guilty of an offence.

(4) It shall be a defence for a person charged with any offence under this regulation to prove that—

(a)when the power conferred by regulation 8(1) was exercised, no offence had been, was being or was likely to be committed in respect of the wine-sector product concerned; and

(b)there was a reasonable excuse for the act or omission in respect of which that person has been charged.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this regulation shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

ObstructionE+W

21.  Any person who—

(a)intentionally obstructs an authorised officer acting in the execution of these Regulations, or

(b)fails to give to any such officer any assistance or information or to provide any facilities which that officer may reasonably require of him or her for the purposes of his or her functions under these Regulations,shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

Offences by officers of bodies corporateE+W

22.—(1) Where an offence under these Regulations which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or a similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he or she as well as the body corporate shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, the provisions of paragraph (1) above shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his or her functions of management as if he or she were a director of the body corporate.

Defence of due diligenceE+W

23.  In any proceedings for an offence under regulation 19 or 21(b) it shall be a defence for the person charged to prove that he or she took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence by himself or by a person under his or her control.

Offences under the Common Agricultural Policy (Wine) Regulations 1993, 1994, 1995 or 1996E+W

24.  Where an offence under any of the Common Agricultural Policy (Wine) Regulations 1993, 1994, 1995 or 1996 has been committed, it shall, notwithstanding the revocation of those Regulations, be punishable in accordance with the terms of those Regulations.