UK Offence Report

Controls on contaminants in food

regulation 5(1) of The Contaminants in Food (Scotland) Regulations 2013

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

1 Subject to the transitional arrangements contained in—

a Article

11 of Regulation 1881/2006;

b Article

2 of Regulation 629/2008; or

c Article

2 of Regulation 165/2010,

a person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the EU provisions specified in paragraph (2) is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
contravening a requirement of the instrument
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; other provisions of the same instrument use a mens rea word while this one does not (the Cundy v Le Cocq contrast).

What would breach regulation 5(1)?

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 contravenes or fails to comply with any of the EU provisions specified in paragraph (2).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Contaminants in Food (Scotland) Regulations 2013, 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
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
25 June 2013
In force from
1 October 2013
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, in Scotland, revoke (regulation 10 and the Schedule) and remake, with amendments, the Contaminants in Food (Scotland) Regulations 2010. Paragraph 1A of Schedule 2 to the European Communities Act 1972 is cited in the enabling powers for these Regulations because reference is made in regulation 2 to certain EU instruments which are defined in the Regulations as meaning those EU instruments as amended from time to time. These Regulations make provision for— a the continuing implementation of Council Directive 76/621/EEC relating to the fixing of the maximum level of erucic acid in oils and fats intended as such for human consumption and in foodstuffs containing added oils or fats and of Commission Directive 80/891/EEC relating to the Community method of analysis for determining the erucic acid content in oils and fats intended to be used as such for human consumption and in foodstuffs containing added oils or fats; and b the continuing execution and enforcement of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 setting maximum levels for contaminants in foodstuffs (“the Commission Regulation”). These Regulations also provide for the execution and enforcement of Commission Regulation (EC) No 124/2009 (“Regulation 124/2009”), which concerns maximum permitted levels for certain feed additives that may, in specified circumstances, occur in food, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 610/2012. The Regulations— a provide that it is an offence (except in certain cases relating to food placed on the market before a date specified in the relevant EU legislation)— i to place specified foods on the market containing erucic acid in excess of permitted levels (regulations 3 and 4); ii to place on the market certain foods if they contain contaminants of any kind specified in the Commission Regulation or in Regulation 124/2009 at levels exceeding those specified (regulation 5); iii to use food containing contaminants at levels in excess of those permitted by the Commission Regulation as ingredients in the production of certain foods (regulation 5); iv to mix foods that do not comply with the maximum levels prescribed by the Commission Regulation or Regulation 124/2009 with foods which do comply (regulation 5); v to mix foods to which the Commission Regulation relates and which are intended for direct consumption or as food ingredients with foods to which the Commission Regulation relates and which are intended to be sorted or otherwise treated prior to consumption (regulation 5); or vi to detoxify by chemical treatment food containing mycotoxins in excess of the limits specified in the Commission Regulation (regulation 5); b provide for penalties on conviction for an offence under these Regulations (regulation 6) and specify the enforcement authorities (regulation 7); c provide for the application of specified provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of these Regulations (regulation 8); and d make a consequential amendment to the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 (regulation 9). The Commission Regulation specifies the European Union methods of sampling and analysis that are required to be used for the official control of levels of the substances covered by it. Those methods are set out in— a Commission Regulation (EC) No 401/2006 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of mycotoxins in foodstuffs, as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 178/2010; b Commission Regulation (EC) No 1882/2006 laying down methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of levels of nitrates in certain foodstuffs; c Commission Regulation (EC) No 333/2007 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, inorganic tin, 3-MCPD and benzo(a)pyrene in foodstuffs, amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 836/2011; and d Commission Regulation (EU) No 252/2012 laying down methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of levels of dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and non-dioxin-like PCBs in certain foodstuffs and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1883/2006. The Regulations also revoke (regulation 10 and the Schedule) and remake with changes the Erucic Acid in Food (Scotland) Regulations 1977 (as amended) and revoke the Mineral Hydrocarbons in Food (Scotland) Regulations 1966. A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies may be obtained from the Food Standards Agency (Scotland), 6th Floor, St Magnus House, 25 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6NJ and online at www.legislation.gov.uk.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same 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