UK Offence Report

The Control of Explosives Precursors Regulations 2014 (revoked)

UK Statutory Instrument 2014 No. 1942 — creates 5 criminal offences.

5offences created
0recorded in force
0revoked
Made
18 July 2014
In force from
2 September 2014
Extent
Not stated
Subject
Health and safety, environment, waste and fisheries
Made under
European Communities Act 1972, Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 1972

Explanatory note

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

These Regulations make provision to implement Regulation (EU) No 98/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15th January 2013 on the marketing and use of explosives precursors (“the EU Regulation”) in England and Wales and Scotland. Separate regulations make provision to implement the EU Regulation in Northern Ireland. These Regulations come into force on 2nd September 2014. This is subject to regulation 4(4), which postpones controls on the possession and use of substances until March 2016. Regulation 3 defines the substances to which these Regulations apply. There are two categories of substance: a The first category is referred to in the Regulations as “regulated explosives precursors”. This covers the substances listed in Annex I of the EU Regulation and includes mixtures and other substances that include those substances. Save in relation to the reporting duties in regulation 6, this category only applies to a substance if it is present in a concentration higher than the level specified in Annex I of the EU Regulation. b The second category is referred to as “reportable explosives precursors”. This covers the substances listed in Annex II of the EU Regulation. It is only relevant for the purposes of the reporting duties in regulation 6. Again, it includes mixtures and other substances that include a listed substance. Regulation 4 gives effect to Articles 4(1) and (6) of the EU Regulation. The government has chosen to establish a licensing regime in accordance with Article 4(2) of the EU Regulation. Regulation 4(1) therefore makes it an offence for members of the general public to import, acquire, possess or use a regulated explosives precursor without having a licence issued by the Home Office under regulation 7 or a licence recognised under regulation 10 (referred to as a “recognised non-GB licence”). In accordance with Article 16 of the EU Regulation, regulation 4 will not apply to the possession or use of a substance until 3rd March 2016, but it will apply to importation and acquisition of a substance from 2nd September 2014. Regulation 5(1) implements Article 4(7) of the EU Regulation by making it a criminal offence to supply a regulated explosives precursor to a member of the general public without first verifying that the member of the general public has the requisite licence to acquire and possess (or acquire, possess and use) the substance in question. Regulation 5(3) requires suppliers to enter details of each transaction on the customer’s licence. This is to assist suppliers in identifying suspicious transactions. Licences issued by the Home Office under regulation 7 will include a section in which details of transactions can be recorded. Regulation 5(4) implements Article 5 of the EU Regulation by making it a criminal offence to supply a regulated explosives precursor to a member of the general public without affixing a “warning label” to the packaging in which it is supplied, warning people that it is an offence to acquire, possess or use it without a licence. This is in addition to any other legal requirements about the labelling of dangerous substances. Regulation 6 implements Article 9 of the EU Regulation by requiring those who supply substances (at any stage in the supply chain, including supply to businesses) to report suspicious transactions and by requiring businesses to report significant disappearances or losses of substances. Failure to comply with these reporting requirements will be a criminal offence. This regulation extends to a larger group of substances than the other regulations – it covers both “regulated” and “reportable” explosives precursors and, in the case of regulated explosives precursors, there is no minimum concentration level. Regulations 7 to 9 establish the new licensing regime in accordance with Article 7 of the EU Regulation. Regulation 9 gives people the right to request an internal review of licensing decisions taken by the Secretary of State. Failing that, people may be entitled to apply for a judicial review of the decision, subject to the requirements of general public law. Regulation 10 provides for the recognition of licences issued by the competent authorities of other member States recognised by the UK in accordance with Article 7(6) of the EU Regulation and for the recognition of licences issued in Northern Ireland. Regulations 11 to 14 contain provision for the investigation, enforcement and prosecution of offences created by these Regulations. These provisions mirror certain provisions of the Poisons Act 1972. Regulation 15 removes the entries for nitric acid and sulphuric acid from the Poisons List made under the Poisons Act 1972. Those substances appear in Annex I and Annex II respectively of the EU Regulation and will now be regulated in accordance with the EU Regulation. Regulations 17 and 18 allow for spent cautions and convictions to be disclosed in connection with decisions to grant, amend, suspend, vary or revoke licences under regulation 7. A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Home Office, and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website. A copy of the transposition note in relation to the implementation of the EU Regulation is also available from the Home Office, and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.

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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