UK Offence Report

Restriction on first placing on the market of rice products

regulation 3(2) of The Rice Products from the United States of America (Restriction on First Placing on the Market) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 (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

2 Any person who knowingly contravenes the prohibition in paragraph (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale, to imprisonment for

a term not exceeding three months or to both.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly).

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

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly.

What would breach regulation 3(2)?

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. On these words an offence is committed where a person knowingly contravenes the prohibition in paragraph (1).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Rice Products from the United States of America (Restriction on First Placing on the Market) (Scotland) Regulations 2008, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

in Scotland a reference to a level is construed as referring to the standard scale as it currently stands (CP(S)A 1995 s.225(2)), not as it stood when the instrument was made.

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
5 March 2008
In force from
7 March 2008
Extent
S

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 which extend to Scotland only, implement Commission Decision 2006/601/EC on emergency measures regarding the non-authorised genetically modified organism “LL RICE 601” in rice products (O.J. No. L 244, 7.9.2006, p.27) as amended by Commission Decision 2006/754/EC amending Decision 2006/601/EC on emergency measures regarding the non-authorised genetically modified organism “LL RICE 601” in rice products and by Commission Decision 2008/162/EC amending Decision 2006/601/EC on emergency measures regarding the non-authorised genetically modified organism “LL RICE 601” in rice products (O.J. No. L 52, 27.2.2008, p.25). They revoke and replace the Rice Products (Restriction on First Placing on the Market) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (S.S.I. 2006/542). These Regulations– a provide that no person shall first place on the market any “rice product” (defined in regulation 2(1)), except where– i it is accompanied by– aa a statement from the food business operator responsible for the consignment that the product only contains rice, from the 2007 or a subsequent harvest, that was subject to the plan of the USA Rice Federation aiming to remove “LL Rice 601” from the US export channels, and bb and the original of an analytical report issued by a laboratory referred to in Annex II to the Commission Decision confirming that the product does not contain the genetically modified rice “LL RICE 601”; that report must itself be accompanied by an official document issued by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration of the United States Department of Agriculture in accordance with the protocol described in that Annex, and ii specified requirements for split consignments are complied with (regulation 3(1)); b provide that a person who knowingly contravenes that prohibition is guilty of an offence and prescribe penalties for that offence (regulation 3(2)); c provide for their enforcement (regulation 4); d provide for the recovery of costs incurred from issuing the accompanying documents pursuant to article 2(2) of the Commission Decision (regulation 5); and e apply with modifications certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of the Regulations (regulation 6). No regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations.

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