S.I. No. 419/1979:

SPIRITS AND WINE (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1979.

SPIRITS AND WINE (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1979.

The Revenue Commissioners, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 159 of the Spirits Act, 1880, section 6 of the Finance Act, 1895, section 8 (2) of the Finance Act, 1902, section 4 of the Finance Act, 1907, sections 3 and 7 of the Revenue Act, 1906, the Excise Transfer Order, 1909 (S.R. & O., No. 197 of 1909), section 8 (2) of the Finance Act, 1915, section 16 of the Finance Act, 1921, the Revenue Commissioners Order 1923 (S.R. & O., No. 2 of 1923) and section 15 of the Finance Act, 1966 (No. 17 of 1966), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Spirits and Wine (Amendment) Regulations, 1979.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1980.

3. In the Regulations referred to in Regulations 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 of these Regulations--

"% vol" means alcoholic strength by volume;

"alcohol" means pure ethyl alcohol;

"alcoholic strength by volume" means the ratio of the volume of alcohol present in a product at a temperature of 20°C to the total volume of the product at the same temperature, the said ratio being expressed as a percentage.

4. The Regulations relating to the use in manufacture of spirits on which duty has not been paid which were made by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue on the 1st day of October, 1902, under section 8 of the Finance Act, 1902, are hereby amended by the substitution, in Regulations 4 and 5, of "450 bulk litres" for "100 bulk gallons".

5. The Regulations relating to the manufacture and sale of spirits and to spirits received for use in the arts and manufactures which were made by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue on the 11th day of August, 1906, under section 159 of the Spirits Act, 1880, and section 6 of the Finance Act, 1895, are hereby amended by--

( a ) the substitution of "computed in litres of alcohol" for "computed at proof" in Regulation 1 and for "at proof" in Regulation 4,

( b ) the substitution of "of alcohol contained in that bulk" for "at proof" in Regulation 7,

( c ) the substitution in Regulation 9 of--

(i) "litres" for "gallons" in paragraph (a),

(ii) "45 litres" for "10 gallons" in paragraph (b),

(iii) "45 bulk litres" for "10 bulk gallons" wherever it occurs, and "complete litres" for "complete gallons", in paragraph (c),

( d ) the substitution of "910 litres" for "200 gallons" and "18.5 litres" for "4 gallons" wherever it occurs, in Regulation 11,

( e ) the substitution of "alcohol in the spirits which has" for "spirits at proof which have" in Regulation 16,

( f ) the substitution of "Bulk Litres", "% vol" and "Litres of Alcohol" for "Bulk Gallons", "Strength O.P." and "Gallons at Proof", respectively, wherever they occur in the First Schedule, and

( g ) the substitution of "Litres" and "Litre" for "Gallons" and "Gallon", respectively, wherever they occur in the Second Schedule.

6. The Regulations relating to the use of spirits without payment of duty in universities and other institutions, which were made by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise in May, 1911, under section 8 of the Finance Act, 1902, are hereby amended by--

( a ) the substitution of "230 litres" for "50 gallons" in Regulation 1,

( b ) the substitution of "85% vol" for "50 degrees over proof (i.e., containing not less than 80 per cent. by weight of absolute alcohol)" in Regulation 3,

( c ) the substitution of "40 bulk litres" for "9 bulk gallons" in Regulation 4,

( d ) the substitution of "bulk litres and litres of alcohol in that bulk" for "bulk and proof gallons" wherever it occurs in Regulation 9, and

( e ) the substitution of "90 litres" for "20 gallons" in Regulation 10.

7. The Strength of Spirits Ascertainment Regulations, 1916, are hereby revoked.

8. The Spirits of Wine (Warehousing) Regulations, 1917 (S.R. & O. No. 596 of 1917), are hereby amended by--

( a ) the substitution of "99% vol" for "seventy-four degrees over proof" in Regulation 1 (2),

and

( b ) the substitution in Regulation 2 of--

(i) "40 bulk litres" for "nine bulk gallons" in paragraph (2),

(ii) "20 bulk litres" for "four and a half bulk gallons" in paragraph (3),

(iii) "1 litre" and "9 bulk litres" for "an imperial quart" and "two bulk gallons", respectively in paragraph 6, and

(iv) "certain specified quantities" and "a certain specified quantity" for "one gallon or two gallons" and "nine gallons", respectively, in paragraph (10).

9. The Tinctures and Spirits of Wine Regulations, 1920, (S. R. & O., No. 2344 of 1920) are hereby amended by--

( a ) the substitution of "99% vol" for "seventy-four degrees overproof" in Regulation (1),

( b ) the substitution in Regulation (3) of--

(i) "4 bulk litres" for "one bulk gallon",

(ii) "2 bulk litres" for "half a bulk gallon",

(iii) "not less than 9 and not more than 45 litres" for "not less than two, and not more than ten bulk gallons", and

(iv) "not less than one half of a bulk litre" for "not less than .125 of a bulk gallon",

( c ) the substitution of "4 bulk litres" and "9 bulk litres" for "one bulk gallon" and "two bulk gallons", respectively, in Regulations (4) and (5),

( d ) the substitution of "9 bulk litres" for "two bulk gallons" in Regulations (6), (8) and (11),

( e ) the deletion of "proof" in Regulation (10), and

( f ) the deletion of "imperial" in Regulation (13).

10. The Power Methylated Spirits Regulations, 1937, (S. R. & O., No. 95 of 1937), are hereby amended by--

( a ) the substitution of "1.5 grams to every 1,000 litres" for "one-quarter of an ounce by weight to every one thousand gallons" in Regulation 3,

( b ) the substitution of "94% vol" for "66 per cent over proof" in Regulation 4,

( c ) the substitution of "40 litres" for "nine gallons" in Regulation 13 (iv),

( d ) the substitution of "11,000 litres" for "2,500 bulk gallons" in Regulation 20,

( e ) the substitution of "of alcohol contained in that bulk" for "at proof" in Regulation 24 and paragraphs (1) and (2) of Regulation 36,

( f ) the substitution of "alcohol in the spirits which has" for "spirits at proof which have" in Regulation 27,

( g ) the substitution of "900 litres" for "two hundred bulk gallons" in Regulation 29, and

( h ) the substitution of--

(i) "% vol" for "Strength O.P." and "Strength o.p.",

(ii) "Litres of Alcohol" for "Galls. at Proof" and "Gallons at Proof",

(iii) "Bulk Litres" for "Bulk Gallons" and "Bulk Galls.",

wherever they occur in Forms A, B and C in the First Schedule.

11. Regulation 3 (2) of the Wine Duty Regulations, 1966 ( S.I. No. 160 of 1966 ), is hereby amended by the substitution of "litres" for "bulk gallons" in subparagraph (c) and for "gallons" in subparagraph (j).

GIVEN this 21st day of December, 1979.

S. MAC GARBHAIGH,

Revenue Commissioner.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations amend a number of Custom and Excise Regulations by substituting appropriate metric quantities for imperial quantities and by replacing references to the strength of spirits in terms of "proof" by references to alcohol or alcoholic strength by volume; they also revoke the Strength of Spirits Ascertainment Regulations, 1916.