S.I. No. 20/1973:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (FRUIT AND VEGETABLES) REGULATIONS, 1973.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (FRUIT AND VEGETABLES) REGULATIONS, 1973.

I, JAMES GIBBONS, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Fruit and Vegetables) Regulations, 1973, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of February, 1973.

2. In these Regulations--

"authorised officer" means a person appointed by the Minister to be an authorised officer for the purposes of these Regulations;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries;

"the EEC Regulation" means Council Regulation 1035/72/EEC.^*

3. A person who contravenes Title I of the EEC Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

4. (1) An authorised officer may--

( a ) at all reasonable times enter any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that there are any books, documents or records relating to any business concerned with importing, exporting or selling, by wholesale or retail, any fruit or vegetables specified in Annex I to the EEC Regulation,

( b ) require any person found on the premises to produce to him any books, documents or records which are in the person's control, possession or procurement and which the officer has reasonable grounds for believing to be records, books or documents of the kind aforesaid and to give him such information as he may reasonably require in regard to any entries in any such records, books or documents, and

^*OJ No. L118/1 of 20.5.72.

( c ) inspect and copy or take extracts from any such records, books or documents.

(2) A person fails to comply with a requirement under paragraph (1) (b) or obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer when he is exercising a power conferred by this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.

5. (1) An authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter and inspect any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that there is carried on the business of importing, exporting or selling, by wholesale or retail, any fruit or vegetable specified in Annex I to the EEC Regulation and test and (where appropriate) take reasonable samples of any such fruit or vegetable which he finds in the course of his inspection.

(2) A person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer when he is exercising a power conferred by this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.

6. If any person fraudulently--

( a ) tampers with any fruit or vegetables mentioned in Annex I to the EEC Regulation so as to procure that any sample of them taken under these Regulations does not correctly represent them, or

( b ) tampers or interferes with any sample taken under these Regulations,

he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months.

7. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 25th day of January, 1973.

JAMES GIBBONS,

Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Regulations supplement the provisions in the EEC Regulations relating to the application of quality standards for fresh fruit and vegetables, by providing the necessary powers for authorised officers and by prescribing penalties for offences.