S.I. No. 293/1991:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (EGG PRODUCTS) REGULATIONS, 1991.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (EGG PRODUCTS) REGULATIONS, 1991.

I, MICHAEL WOODS, Minister for Agriculture and Food, 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. 89/437/EEC⁽¹⁾ of 20 June, 1989, hereby make the following Regulations:--

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L212, 22.7.1989, p. 87.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Egg Products) Regulations, 1991.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of December, 1991.

2. (1) In these Regulations--

"authorised officer" means a person authorised in writing by the Minister to exercise for the purposes of these Regulations and the Council Directive the powers conferred on an authorised officer by these Regulations;

"the Council Directive" means Council Directive No. 89/437/EEC of 20 June 1989;

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

"Sell" includes agree to sell, offer, expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy or (except in Regulation 3) distribute for reward and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.

(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) (a) In these Regulations a reference to a Regulation is to a Regulation of these Regulations, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.

(b) In these Regulations a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph is to the paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

3. These Regulations do not apply to egg products that are obtained in small scale enterprises (that is to say, enterprises the daily production of which does not involve the use of more than 7 kilogrammes of whole eggs for the manufacture of foodstuffs intended for sale by the manufacturer direct to the ultimate consumer at the place of manufacture or a place not more than 2 kilometres from that place).

4. Subject to Regulation 6, a person shall not produce as a foodstuff or use in the manufacture of a foodstuff any egg product unless it complies with the provisions of the Council Directive and manufacturers of egg products shall comply with the Council Directive.

5. (1) Egg products shall not be stored otherwise than in accordance with the Council Directive.

(2) Egg products shall not be transported otherwise than in accordance with the Council Directive.

6. (1) The Minister may, where it is necessary to do so for technological reasons associated with the preparation of certain foodstuffs obtained from egg products and on the basis of criteria to be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 14 of the Council Directive, exempt from the application of Article 3 (e) of the Council Directive specified egg products.

(2) The manufacturer concerned shall use without delay in the establishment where they are intended for the manufacture of other foodstuffs egg products that are subject of an exemption under paragraph (1).

7. (1) (a) A person shall not--

(i) produce an egg product for use as a foodstuff,

(ii) produce an egg product for use in the manufacture of a foodstuff,

(iii) package any such egg product,

unless the establishment in which such production or packaging is carried out is approved of by the Minister for the purposes of this Regulation.

(b) Notwithstanding Regulation 1 (2), paragraph (a) shall come into operation in relation to establishments carrying on business as producers or packers of egg products immediately before the commencement of these Regulations on the 1st day of January, 1992.

(2) (a) The Minister may for the purpose of Article 6 of the Council Directive and paragraph 1 approve of an establishment for one or more of the following purposes:

(i) the production of an egg product for use as a foodstuff;

(ii) the production of an egg product for use in the manufacture of a foodstuff;

(iii) the packaging of such egg products;

if he is satisfied that the Council Directive will be complied with.

(b) When the Minister approves of an establishment under paragraph (a), he shall allocate a serial number to the establishment and shall notify the owner or person in charge of the establishment in writing of the approval and of the serial number.

(3) The Minister may attach conditions to an approval under this Regulation at the time of the grant of the approval or subsequently and may amend or revoke a condition attached to the approval and shall notify the owner or person in charge of the establishment concerned in writing of the conditions, amendment or revocation concerned.

(4) The Minister may, if he is not satisfied that the relevant provisions of the Council Directive are being or will be complied with in relation to an establishment, refuse to approve of the establishment under this Regulation or revoke any approval of the establishment given under this Regulation and shall notify the owner or person in charge of the establishment in writing of the refusal or revocation.

(5) The Minister shall not--

(a) revoke an approval given under this Regulation, or

(b) refuse to approve of an establishment under this Regulation, or

(c) attach a condition to an approval under this Regulation or amend or revoke such an approval, without--

(i) notifying the holder of, or applicant for, the approval of his intention to refuse the applicant, or attach, amend or revoke the condition, as the case may be,

(ii) specifying his reasons for the revocation or refusal, or the attaching, amendment or revocation of the condition, or

(iii) affording the holder of, or applicant for, the approval an opportunity of making representations or having representations made on his behalf to the Minister in relation to the proposed revocation or refusal or the attaching amendment or revocation of the condition, as the case may be, within 14 days of the receipt by that person of the notification referred to in subparagraph (i) and having had regard to any such representations.

8. (1) An authorised officer, on production of the officer's authorisation, if so required by any person affected, may, for the purposes of these Regulations and the Council Directive--

(a) at all reasonable times enter any premises or place, including any land, vehicle, wagon, vessel, aircraft or other means of transport where he reasonably suspects that egg products are being produced, used in the manufacture of a foodstuff, packaged, sold, imported, exported, stored or transported or any establishment in respect of which an application for an approval under Regulation 7 has been made to the Minister,

(b) there or at any other place, carry out or have carried out such examinations, tests, checks and inspections of the premises or place and any equipment, machinery or plant thereat and any article, substance or liquid found thereat as he reasonably considers necessary or expedient for the purposes of his functions under these Regulations and the Council Directive,

(c) take, without payment, such samples of any substance at the premises or place as he may reasonably require for the purposes of such functions and carry out or have carried out on the samples such examination checks and inspections according with any relevant provisions of the Council Directive as he considers necessary or expedient for the purpose of such functions,

(d) require any person at the premises or place and the owner or person in charge thereof and any person employed in connection therewith to give to him such information and to produce to him such books, documents and other records within the power or procurement of the person as he may reasonably require for the purposes of such functions,

(e) examine and take copies of, or of extracts from, any such records as aforesaid,

(f) seize and detain anything which is an egg or which he reasonably believes to be an egg product or any foodstuff manufactured from an egg or egg product and to have been produced in contravention of these Regulations or the Council Directive.

(2) A person who obstructs or otherwise interferes with an authorised officer in the performance of is functions under this Regulation or who, in purported compliance with such a requirement under paragraph (1) (d), gives information to an authorised officer that he knows to be false or misleading in a material respect shall be guilty of an offence.

9. Where an authorised officer finds or comes into possession of any article substance or liquid which he reasonably believes to be evidence of the commission of an offence under these Regulations, he may seize it and detain it for use in evidence in a prosecution under these Regulations for such period from the date of the seizure as is reasonable or, if proceedings are commenced in which the article, substance or liquid is required for use in evidence, until the conclusion of the proceedings, and thereafter the Police (Property) Act, 1897, shall apply to the thing so seized in the same manner as that Act applies to property which has come into the possession of the Garda Síochána under that Act.

10. (1) An authorised officer may by notice in writing given to the owner or to the person who appears to be in charge or control of any article, substance or liquid which has been seized and detained under Regulation 9--

(a) require anything specified in the notice to be done by the person to whom the notice is given before the article, substance or thing is released by an authorised officer,

(b) either--

(i) require the disposal of the article, substance or liquid by the person to whom the notice is given, upon its release by the authorised officer, in the manner specified in the notice and at the expense of the owner, or

(ii) indicate the authorised officer's intention to dispose of the article, substance or liquid in a specified manner and at the expense of the owner,

the manner of disposal in either case being such as to prevent the article, substance or liquid from being used in contravention of these Regulations, and where a notice under this paragraph requires a specified thing to be done, an authorised officer may retain control of the article, substance or liquid to which the notice relates until the requirements of the notice have been complied with.

(2) Where a notice is given under paragraph (1) (a) a person shall not, without the consent of the authorised officer by whom the notice was given, move, dispose of, interfere with or otherwise deal with the article, substance or liquid concerned pending compliance with the requirements of the notice.

(3) Any person who is aggrieved by a notice under this Regulation may, not later than 21 days after the date of the notice, or such further period (if any) as the District Court may allow, appeal against the notice to the District Court.

(4) Notice of an appeal under paragraph (3) shall be given to the Minister by the person bringing the appeal at least 7 days prior to the hearing of the appeal.

(5) (a) Where an appeal is brought under paragraph (3) the District Court shall make such order as it considers just (including an order directing that the article, substance or liquid concerned be disposed of, at the expense of the owner, in such manner as it may specify).

(b) The cost of a disposal by an authorised officer under this Regulation or pursuant to an order of the District Court under this Regulation shall be recoverable by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction from the person who was the owner of the article, substance or liquid concerned at the time of its seizure and detention under these Regulations.

(6) A notice under this Regulation shall not come into force until--

(a) in case there is an appeal to the District Court against the notice, the appeal and any appeal therefrom has been determined, or

(b) in any other case, the period during which such an appeal may be taken has expired.

(7) (a) The jurisdiction conferred on the District Court by this Regulation shall be exercised by the judge of that court for the time being assigned to the district court district in which the article, substance or liquid concerned was seized or in which the owner or person then in charge or control thereof ordinarily resides or carries on any profession, business or occupation.

(b) For the purposes of subparagraph (a), a substance, article or liquid shall be deemed to be situated in a district court district if it is situated on a premises which is situated wholly or partly in such district.

11. An officer of customs and excise may seize and detain any egg products being exported to or imported from another Member State as respects which he reasonably believes that there is a failure to comply with a provision of these Regulations and may for that purpose open any package containing or suspected by the officer to contain egg products, and the provisions of The Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, relating to the condemnation and disposal of goods seized under that Act shall apply and have effect in relation to goods seized under this Regulation as if the goods has been seized under that Act.

12. If any person, with intent to deceive--

(a) so tampers with an egg product that a sample of it taken under these Regulations does not accurately represent the egg product, or

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

he shall be guilty of an offence.

13. (1) A person who contravenes a provision of these Regulations or a condition under Regulation 7 (3) shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(3) Where an offence under these Regulations has been committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a person, being a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

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

15. (1) (a) There shall be charged by the Minister in respect of an approval under Regulation 7 such fees as the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

(b) A fee charged under this Regulation shall be payable by the owner or person in charge of the establishment to which the approval concerned relates and the Minister may refuse to give an approval until the fee under this Regulation in respect thereof has been paid.

(2) Fees under this Regulation shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance.

(3) A fee payable under this Regulation may be recovered by the Minister from the person by whom it is payable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(4) A fee charged under this Regulation shall not exceed an amount equal to the costs, estimated by the Minister, incurred in relation to the approval concerned and the performance of functions under the Regulations in relation to the establishment concerned by authorised officers for the purposes of the approval.

(5) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of fees under this Regulation.

16. The powers conferred by Regulation 11 of the Food Hygiene Regulations, 1950 ( S.I. No. 205 of 1950 ), shall not be exercised on or in respect of premises which for the time being stand approved of under Regulation 7 (2) and neither Regulation 25 nor Part IV of those Regulations shall apply in respect of such premises.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 28th day of November, 1991.

MICHAEL WOODS,

Minister for Agriculture and Food.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations implement EC Council Directive (89/437/EEC) of 20 June, 1989 on hygiene and health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of egg products.

They also provide for: (a) approval of establishments for the purpose of these Regulations; (b) authorised officers to enforce the Regulations and (c) the prosecution of offences.