UK Offence Report

The Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 2000

UK Statutory Instrument 2000 No. 51 — creates 3 criminal offences.

3offences created
0recorded in force
0revoked
Made
12 January 2000
In force from
8 February 2000
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries
Made under
Fisheries Act 1981

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

This Order revokes the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) Order 1994 (“the 1994 Order”) and the Sea Fishing (Enforcement of Community Control Measures) (Amendment) Order 1996 insofar as they extend to England and Northern Ireland. In providing for the enforcement of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (O.J. No. L261, 20.10.93, p.1) (“the Control Regulation”) in consequence of it having been amended by Council Regulation (EC) 2846/98 (O.J. No. L192, 8.7.98, p.4), this Order largely re-enacts the provisions of the 1994 Order as well as introducing some new provisions. The Order creates offences in respect of breaches of the provisions referred to in column 1 (and briefly described in column 3) of the Schedule to this Order and in article 3 of this Order. The amendments to the Control Regulation made by Council Regulation (EC) No. 2846/98 include in particular— the requirement to keep a logbook in respect of amounts of fish of over 50kgs; the requirement for vessels wishing to land catches into a Member State other than the flag Member State to comply with the requirements of a designated ports scheme (if any) or give four hours advance notification of their intention to land to the competent authorities of the Member State of landing; new rules in respect of the submission of sales notes, transport declarations and take-over declarations; and the extension of a number of requirements to third country fishing vessels. Penalties for contravention of the Community provisions are to be found in article 4 of, and the Schedule to, the Order. For the purpose of enforcing the Community control measures specified in the Schedule, this Order confers on British sea-fishery officers powers to enter premises, to go on board fishing boats, to stop and search vehicles transporting fish, to examine fish, to require the production of documents, to search for and seize documents, to take a boat to the nearest convenient port and to seize fish and fishing gear (articles 6, 7 and 8 of the Order). Provision is also made for the prosecution of offenders in England and Northern Ireland and for the punishment of anyone found guilty of furnishing false information or obstructing a British sea-fishery officer (articles 3 and 10 of the Order). The statutory maximum penalty specified in the Schedule is currently £5,000. The Order provides powers for the recovery of fines imposed by a magistrates' court in England or Northern Ireland (article 5 of the Order). Articles 9, 11 and 12 contain ancillary provisions. The Order does not form part of the law of Scotland. It does not apply in relation to fishing activities within the territorial sea of Wales. A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to Council Regulation (EC) No. 2846/98 has been prepared and placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from Fisheries IV Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Room 432, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.

Offences created by this instrument

What Parliament said about it

Hansard was searched for this instrument by name and returned nothing. That is the ordinary outcome: an instrument laid under the negative procedure is usually never debated, and becomes law without a word said about it in either House.

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

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