S.I. No. 144/1977:

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (AEROSOL DISPENSERS) REGULATIONS, 1977.

THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (AEROSOL DISPENSERS) REGULATIONS, 1977.

I, JUSTIN KEATING, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 75/324/EEC¹, of 20 May 1975, hereby make the following Regulations:

¹ OJ No. L147 of 9.6.1975 p. 40.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Aerosol Dispensers) Regulations, 1977.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1977.

2. (1) In these Regulations--

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

"the Council Directive" means Council Directive No. 75/324/EEC of 20 May, 1975.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Council Directive.

3. (1) The symbol specified in Article 3 of the Council Directive shall not be affixed to an aerosol dispenser unless the dispenser is one to which the Directive applies and which satisfies the requirements of the Directive and the Annexe thereto.

(2) A marking or inscription which might be confused with the symbol specified in Article 3 of the Council Directive shall not be affixed to an aerosol dispenser, or to a label attached thereto.

4. (1) An aerosol dispenser to which the Council Directive applies and that satisfies the requirements of the Annexe to the Council Directive shall not be marketed unless it also satisfies the requirements of Articles 3 and 8 of the Council Directive.

(2) An aerosol dispenser to which the Council Directive applies and that satisfies the requirements of Articles 3 and 8 of and the Annexe to the Council Directive shall not be marketed in the State unless the particulars borne on the dispenser, or the label attached thereto, in pursuance of the said Article 8 are in the Irish language or the English language or in both such languages (whether or not they are in any other language or languages).

5. Where, in relation to an aerosol dispenser, there is a contravention of Regulation 3 or 4 of these Regulations, the person responsible for marketing the dispenser shall be guilty of an offence and, on summary conviction, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

6. An authorised officer shall be furnished with the warrant of his appointment as an authorised officer and when exercising any power conferred on an authorised officer by these Regulations, shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the warrant to that person.

7. (1) An authorised officer may, for the purposes of these Regulations and the Council Directive, at all reasonable times enter--

(a) any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that aerosol dispensers are kept for purposes of marketing, or

(b) any railway wagon, vehicle, ship, vessel or aircraft in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that aerosol dispensers are being transported for the purposes of marketing,

and make such examination, tests and inspections and take such reasonable samples of any such dispensers which he finds in the course of his inspection as he may consider appropriate.

(2) A person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer when he is exercising a power conferred by this Regulation shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

8. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister for Industry and Commerce.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 10th day of May, 1977.

JUSTIN KEATING,

Minister for Industry and

Commerce.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The purpose of these Regulations is to give legal effect to Council Directive 75/324/EEC which lays down conditions and standards governing the manufacture, filling, marketing and labelling of certain aerosol dispensers.