STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 186 of 1999.

HEALTH (PREVENTION OF DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH) REGULATIONS, 1999.

S.I. No. 186 of 1999.

HEALTH (PREVENTION OF DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH) REGULATIONS, 1999.

I, BRIAN COWEN, Minister for Health and Children, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 5, 54, Parts V and IX of the Health Act 1947 ( No. 28 of 1947 ) (as amended), after consultation with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for Agriculture and Food and for the prevention of danger to the public health arising from the importation, distribution or exposure for sale of food intended for sale for human consumption and for the protection of consumer interests, hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Health (Prevention of Danger to Public Health) Regulations, 1999.

2. In these Regulations--

‘authorised officer’ means an officer of the Minister who is authorised by the Minister in writing to enforce and execute these Regulations or a person authorised by the Chief Executive Officer of a health board in writing to enforce and execute these Regulations in the functional area of the said health board.

‘health board’ means a health board established under Section 4(1) of the Health Act, 1970 (No. 1 of 1970) ;

‘the Commission Decisions’ means Commission Decision 1999/363/EC¹ on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of certain animal products intended for human or animal consumption (as amended by Commission Decision 1999/390/EC² ) and Commission Decision 1999/389/EC³ on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of products intended for human or animal consumption derived from bovine animals and pigs and revoking Decision 1999/368/EC (as amended by Commission Decision 1999/390/EC² );

‘import’ means the importation into the State;

‘the Minister’ means the Minister for Health and Children.

3. (1) Any and all foods derived from the products listed in Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/363/EC (as amended by Commission Decision 1999/390/EC) and Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/389/EC (as amended by Commission Decision 1999/390/EC) shall not be imported, distributed, exposed for sale, sold or offered or kept for sale.

(2) Regulation 3(1) shall not apply:-

(a) where the products referred to therein are not derived from animals reared in holdings put under restriction by the Belgian authorities for the purpose of the Commission Decisions or

(b) the results of analysis demonstrate that the products are not contaminated with dioxin.

(3) For the purposes of satisfying Regulations 3(2) and prior to dispatch from Belgium, an importer seeking to import food or foods referred to in Regulation 3(1) herein must satisfy an authorised officer in respect of the food or foods sought to be imported by presentation of certification to The Food Unit, Department of Health and Children, Hawkins House, Dublin 2 which:-

(i) is issued by the Belgian Ministry of Small Enterprises, Traders and Agriculture or the Belgian Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and the Environment;

(ii) declares that the products (as referred to in Regulation 3(1) herein) from which the food or foods are derived, are not derived from animals reared in holdings put under restriction by the Belgian Authorities for the purposes of the Commission Decisions or declares that the results of analysis demonstrate that the products are not contaminated with dioxin;

(iii) is signed by an inspector approved by the Belgian Ministry of Small Enterprises, Traders and Agriculture or the Belgian Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and the Environment;

(iv) bears the official stamp of the Belgian Ministry of Small Enterprises, Traders and Agriculture or the Belgium Ministry of Social Affairs, Public Health and the Environment;

(v) is dated after June 9 1999.

(4) An authorised officer may seize, remove, detain, destroy and/or suitably dispose of food or foods referred to in Regulation 3(1) intended for human consumption which do not comply with these Regulations or are otherwise unfit for human consumption.

(5) Any person aggrieved by the seizure, removal and or detention of food or foods may request the Authorised Officer who has carried out the seizure, removal or detention to have the carrying out of same reviewed by the District Court and thereupon the said Authorised Officer shall make arrangements to have the carrying out of same reviewed by a Justice of the District Court and shall notify the person aggrieved of these arrangements.

(6) An Authorised Officer who has seized, removed and/or detained food or foods in accordance with Regulation 3(4) may, on giving notice in writing to the owner or person responsible for the food or foods, apply to a Judge of the District Court in whose district court district the food or foods were seized, removed and/or detained, for an Order directing that the food or foods be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as a food or foods which do not comply with these Regulations and/or otherwise unfit for human consumption.

(7) A Judge of the District Court to whom an application is made under Regulation 3(6) shall, if satisfied that such food or foods does not comply with these Regulations and/or is unfit for human consumption, order that it be destroyed or otherwise disposed of after such period, as may be specified in the Order, not exceeding 14 days.

4. These Regulations shall be enforced and executed by authorised officers pursuant to the Health Act, 1947 (as amended).

5. (1) Any person who contravenes these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(2) Where an offence under these Regulations is 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 director, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, the director, secretary or other officer or any person purporting to act in such capacity shall, as well as the body corporate, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

7. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by-

(a) the Minister, or

(b) a health board within whose functional area the offence was committed.

8. (1) When exercising any power conferred by these Regulations, an authorised officer shall, if so requested by a person affected, produce the certificate for the inspection of the person.

(2) It shall be an offence for a person falsely to represent himself to be an authorised officer.

(3) A person who has gained access to information by virtue of the enforcement of these Regulations shall not disclose such information unless it is necessary to do so for the purposes of enforcement of these Regulations. Any person who contravenes this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide for the prevention of danger to the public health and the protection of consumer interests arising from the importation, distribution or sale for human consumption of food derived from the products listed in Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/363/EC on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of certain animal products intended for human or animal consumption (as amended by Commission Decision 1999/390/EC) and in Article 1(1) of Commission Decision 1999/389/EC on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of products intended for human or animal consumption derived from bovine animals and pigs and revoking Decision 1999/368/EC (as amended by Commission Decision 1999/390/EC).

The effect of these Regulations is to prohibit the importation, distribution or sale of food derived from these products in Ireland in certain circumstances.

The certification referred to in Regulation 3(3) should be sent to the Food Unit of the Department of Health and Children.

These Regulations should be read together with the Commission Decisions.

¹ O.J. No. L 141, 04.06.99, p. 24.

² O.J. No. L 147, 12.06.99, p. 29.

³ O.J. No. L 147, 12.06.99, p. 26.

² O.J. No. L 147, 12.06.99, p. 29.