UK Offence Report

Contraventions

regulation 64 of The Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (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

64 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; or

b 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 64?

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) 2007 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
23 March 2007
In force from
13 April 2007
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 2006 S.R. 2006 No.291. 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)) shall comply with the requirements listed, by reference to the relevant Community legislation, in Schedule 1. Regulation 4 provides that Part 3, with the exception of regulation 25, and Parts 4 to 10 do not apply to products intended for personal use that comply with the conditions laid down in that regulation. Regulation 5 defines the authorities that enforce the Regulations. Usually, these will be official veterinary surgeons and authorised officers approved by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Food Standards Agency and district councils to conduct veterinary checks at each border inspection post in their area (regulation 6). Regulation 5 has been revised to include the provision that the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs enforce regulation 16 at points of entry other than border inspection posts. A further revision at regulation 5(4) amends enforcement provisions in relation to illegally imported products found inland so that authority enforcement officers who are not authorised officers under the Regulations can take hold of any products of animal origin they suspect of having been illegally imported until an authorised officer can take charge of it. Regulation 5(9) creates a new offence relating to the unlawful disclosure of information received from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. Regulations 7, 8 and 9 confer the necessary enforcement powers on the enforcement authorities. Regulation 13 has been revised to enable the approval of Border Inspection Posts to be suspended in part (previously only a full suspension of approval was permitted). 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 shall be brought at border inspection posts, advance notice of their introduction shall be given and they shall be made available for inspection, together with required documentation, at a border inspection post (regulations 16 to 19). Regulation 17 has been revised in order to bring requirements for pre-notification of imported consignments to Border Inspection Posts into line with Commission Regulation 136/2004 laying down procedures for veterinary checks at Community Border Inspection Posts on products imported from third countries. Regulations 21 to 28 deal with products, which are rejected at inspection, are brought 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). Regulations 48 and 49 are new provisions, which implement procedures for the direct movement of consignments, intended as food for passengers or crew, that do not meet EU import requirements from Border Inspection Posts to ships operating internationally. 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. Part I of Schedule 3 has been amended in relation to Salmonella testing to enable Border Inspection Posts to charge for such tests carried out in accordance with Community legislation. Schedules 1 and 3 have been revised with minor technical amendments reflecting the constantly changing disease situation in third countries.

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