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Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland >> The Genetically Modified Organisms (Traceability and Labelling) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 No. 271 URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/legis/num_reg/2005/20050271.html |
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| Made | 24th May 2005 | ||
| Coming into operation | 30th June 2005 |
| 1. | Citation and commencement |
| 2. | Interpretation |
| 3. | Enforcement |
| 4. | Powers of Inspectors |
| 5. | Obtaining Information from Persons |
| 6. | Incorrectly Labelled Products |
| 7. | Offences |
| 8. | Offences by Third Parties |
| 9. | Offences by Bodies Corporate |
| 10. | Penalties |
| 11. | Time Limits |
| SCHEDULE - | Specified Community Provisions |
(2) Expressions in these Regulations which are not defined in paragraph (1) and which appear in or are referred to in the Council Regulation have the same meaning in these Regulations as they have for the purposes of the Council Regulation.
(3) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[4] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Enforcement
3.
- (1) Subject to paragraph (2) each district council shall, in its area, enforce and execute these Regulations and the Council Regulation.
(2) The Department may, in relation to any case or to cases of a particular description, direct that the duty of a district council under paragraph (1) be discharged -
(3) A district council or the Department may appoint as inspectors such persons as it or they consider necessary for the purpose of enforcing these Regulations and the Council Regulation.
(4) Any appointment of an inspector under Article 11 of the Genetically Modified Organisms (Northern Ireland) Order 1991[5] having effect at the coming into operation of these Regulations shall have effect as if it were an appointment of the inspector as an inspector by the Department for the purpose of these Regulations.
Powers of inspectors
4.
- (1) An inspector may, on production of his authority, if so required, exercise any of the powers specified in paragraph (3) for the purposes of the enforcement and execution of these Regulations and the specified Community provisions.
(2) For these purposes, those powers are exercisable in relation to any premises other than premises used wholly or mainly for domestic purposes.
(3) The powers of an inspector are -
(b) to carry out such tests and inspections (and to make such recordings), as may in any circumstances be necessary;
(c) to direct that any, or any part of, premises which he has power to enter, or anything in or on such premises, shall be left undisturbed (whether generally or in particular respects) for so long as is reasonably necessary for the purpose of any test or inspection;
(d) to take samples of any organisms, articles or substances found in or on any premises which he has power to enter;
(e) in the case of any product found on premises which he has power to enter which appears -
to take possession of it and detain it for so long as is necessary for all or any of the following purposes -
(f) to require any person whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be able to give any information relevant to any test or inspection under this paragraph to answer (in the absence of persons other than a person nominated to be present and any persons whom the inspector may allow to be present) such questions as the inspector thinks fit to ask and to sign a declaration of the truth of his answers;
(g) to require the production of, or where the information is recorded in computerised form, the furnishing of extracts from, any records which are required to be kept for the purpose of complying with any specified Community provisions or it is necessary for him to see for the purposes of any test or inspection and to inspect, and take copies of, or of any entry in, the records; and
(h) to require any person to afford him such facilities and assistance with respect to any matters or things within that person's control or in relation to which that person has responsibilities as are necessary to enable the inspector to exercise any of the powers conferred on him by this paragraph.
(4) Where under the power conferred by paragraph (3)(e) an inspector takes possession of anything found on any premises, he shall leave there, either with a responsible person or, if that is impracticable, fixed in a conspicuous position, a notice giving particulars sufficient to identify what he has seized and stating that he has taken possession of it under that power; and before taking possession under that power of -
an inspector shall, if it is practical and safe for him to do so, take a sample of it and give to a responsible person at the premises a portion of the sample marked in a manner sufficient to identify it.
Obtaining information from persons
5.
- (1) For the purpose of the execution and enforcement of these Regulations and the specified Community provisions, a district council or the Department, as the case may be, may by notice in writing served on any person who appears -
(b) to be about to become, or to have been, involved in either of those activities,
require that person to furnish such relevant information available to him as is specified in the notice, in such form and within such period following service of the notice as is so specified.
(2) For the purposes of this regulation "relevant information" means information concerning any aspects of the activities in question.
Incorrectly labelled products
6.
- (1) Where an inspector is satisfied that a product consisting of or containing genetically modified organisms has not been labelled in accordance with Article 4(6) of the Council Regulation he may by notice in writing served on the operator -
(2) The notice may contain such conditions as the inspector is satisfied are reasonable and may be amended, suspended or revoked by further notice in writing at any time.
(3) A notice under this regulation shall be complied with at the expense of the person on whom the notice is served.
(4) If a notice under this regulation, or an action required to be taken by the notice, is not complied with, an inspector may arrange for it to be complied with, and all reasonable costs of compliance shall be recoverable by the district council or the Department, as the case may be, as the debt from the person on whom the notice is served.
Offences
7.
- (1) It shall be an offence for a person -
(f) intentionally to make a false entry in any record required to be kept under a specified Community provision.
(2) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under regulation 7(1)(a) to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence by himself or by a person under his control.
Offences by third parties
8.
Where the commission by any person of an offence under regulation 7 is due to the act or default of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence, and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this regulation whether or not proceedings are taken against the first mentioned person.
Offences by bodies corporate
9.
For the purposes of these Regulations section 20(2) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 applies with the omission of the words "the liability of whose members is limited" and where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, applies in relation to the acts or defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
Penalties
10.
A person guilty of an offence under these Regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.
Time limits
11.
- (1) Proceedings for an offence under regulation 7 may, subject to paragraph (2), be commenced within the period of six months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to warrant proceedings comes to his knowledge.
(2) No such proceedings shall be commenced by virtue of this regulation more than three years after the commission of the offence.
(3) For the purpose of this regulation, a certificate signed by or on behalf of the prosecutor and stating the date on which evidence sufficient in his opinion to warrant the proceedings came to his knowledge shall be conclusive evidence of that fact.
(4) A certificate stating that matter and purporting to be so signed shall be deemed to be so signed unless the contrary is proved.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on
24th May 2005.
L.S.
Judena Goldring
A senior officer of the Department of the Environment
| Provision of the Council Regulation | Subject Matter |
| Article 4(1) | Obligation to ensure, at the first stage of placing on the market of a product consisting of or containing GMOs, that the information specified in Article 4(1) is transmitted in writing to the operator receiving the product. |
| Article 4(2) | Obligation to ensure, at subsequent stages of placing on the market, that the information specified in Article 4(1) is transmitted in writing to the operator receiving the product. |
| Article 4(3) | Obligation to ensure that products consisting of or containing GMOs to be used only and directly as food or feed or for processing are accompanied either by the information specified in Article 4(1)(b) or by a declaration of use, accompanied by a list of the unique identifiers for all those GMOs used to constitute the mixture. |
| Article 4(4) | Obligation to keep records of the information referred to in paragraphs (1), (2), (3) and (4) of Article 4 for a period of five years. |
| Article 4(6) | Obligation to ensure that the information specified in Article 4(6) appears on the labels of products consisting of or containing GMOs. |
| Article 5(1) | Obligation to ensure, when placing products produced from GMOs on the market, that the information specified in Article 5(1) is transmitted in writing to the operator receiving the product. |
| Article 5(2) | Obligation to keep records of the information referred to in Article 5(1) for a period of five years. |
[3] O.J. No. L268, 18.10.2003 p. 24back
[5] S.I. 1991/1714 (N.1. 19)back
