UK Offence Report

Contraventions

regulation 60 of Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 (revoked)

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

60 Any person who –

a contravenes

a provision of these Regulations, other than –

i the provisions contained in regulations 8(2) and 19(3) referring to payment of costs; and

ii the provisions contained in regulations 23(7), 28, 43(5), 45(2) and 55;

b or fails to comply with

a notice served upon him under these Regulations, shall be guilty of an offence.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
failing to comply with a notice or direction
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach regulation 60?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Being served with a notice under the Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004 and doing nothing by the date it specifies.
  2. Doing part of what the notice requires, where it required all of it.
  3. Disagreeing with the notice and ignoring it, rather than using whatever appeal the instrument provides.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
4 November 2004
In force from
6 December 2004
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations.) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations revoke and re-enact with changes the Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2002 (S.R. 2002 No. 340) (as amended by S.R. 2003 No. 215). They implement for Northern Ireland Council Directive 97/78/EC (laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries) (O.J. No. L24, 30.1.98, p. 9). Commission Decision 2002/349/EC (laying down the list of products to be examined at border inspection posts under Council Directive 97/78/EC) (O.J. No. L121, 8.5.2002, p. 6) specifies the products of animal origin to which the Directive applies – meat, fish (including shellfish), milk and products made from these, together with egg products and a large number of animal by-products, including casings, skins, bones and blood – from third countries. The products to which the Regulations apply (defined in regulation 2(1)) must comply with the requirements listed, by reference to the relevant Community legislation, in Schedule 1. Trade samples and products intended for exhibition or study or analysis are exempt from the Regulations (regulation 3(1)). Products intended for personal use which comply with the conditions in regulation 3(3), are exempt from all but a few of the regulations. Regulations 4 and 16 define the authorities that enforce the Regulations. The Regulations make provision for their execution and enforcement by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Food Standards Agency and district councils. Regulations 7, 8 and 9 confer the necessary enforcement powers. Part 3 establishes the inspection system which will apply to the generality of products. The introduction into Northern Ireland of products which do not comply with the Schedule 1 requirements is prohibited, unless they are being transported across Northern Ireland (regulation 15). Products must be introduced at border inspection posts, advance notice of their introduction must be given and they must be made available for inspection, together with required documentation, at a border inspection post (regulations 16 to 19). Regulations 21 to 28 deal with products which are rejected at inspection, are introduced illegally, or present a risk to animal or public health. Parts 4 to 9 lay down special provisions which apply to particular categories of product (on-board catering supplies, products intended for free circulation in the Community, products in transit across Northern Ireland, products intended for warehousing under particular customs regimes and products exported from the Community and then returned to it). Part 10 deals with the calculation and payment of charges for the veterinary checks provided for in the Regulations; Part 11 confers on the Department and the Food Standards Agency power to prohibit the introduction of products into Northern Ireland from non-EEA countries in which there is an outbreak of animal disease; Part 12 establishes offences and penalties and Part 13 deals with notices and with the notification of decisions. These Regulations provide for the use of the common veterinary entry document introduced by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 136/2004 (laying down procedures for veterinary checks at Community border inspection posts on products imported from third countries) (O.J. No. L21, 28.1.2004, p. 11), rather than the certificate of veterinary clearance. Part 1 of this document is used to give notice of the introduction of a product in accordance with regulation 17, and Part 2 is completed and issued by an official veterinary surgeon or an authorised officer. Andorra and San Marino are included in the definition of ‘relevant territories’ (regulation 2(1)) in line with Commission Regulation (EC) No. 745/2004 (laying down measures with regard to imports of products of animal origin for personal consumption) (O.J. No. L122, 26.4.2004, p. 1). Regulation 3(3) now reflects the changes to the exemptions for personal imports introduced by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 745/2004. Schedules 1 and 2 have been updated in order to implement Community instruments that have come into force since the Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 came into operation. The Regulations also implement the amendments made to Community instruments by the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded (O.J. No. L236, 23.9.2003, p. 33).

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source