What would breach regulation 2(3) of The Egg Products Regulations 1993?

On these words it is an offence to sell under these Regulations as it applies to food which fails to comply with food safety requirements. Selling the goods under the Egg Products Regulations 1993 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

Interpretation and application

Q: Is regulation 2(3) of The Egg Products Regulations 1993 a strict liability offence?

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.

regulation 2(3) of The Egg Products Regulations 1993

Status not determined
Strict liability
Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted sales

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

3 Section 8(3) (which makes presumptions in the case of batches of food) of the Act shall apply to food which it is an offence to sell under these Regulations as it applies to food which fails to comply with food safety requirements.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: selling or supplying something the instrument restricts
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 2(3)?

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.

On these words it is an offence to sell under these Regulations as it applies to food which fails to comply with food safety requirements.
Selling the goods under the Egg Products Regulations 1993 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 10 June 1993
In force from: 14 July 1993
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

These Regulations revoke the Liquid Egg (Pasteurisation) Regulations 1963 and the Liquid Egg (Pasteurisation) (Scotland) Regulations 1963 and implement in part Council Directive 89/437/EEC (OJ No. L212, 22.7.89, p.87) as amended by Council Directive 89/662/EEC (OJ No. L395, 30.12.89, p.13) and Council Directive 91/684/EEC (OJ No. L376, 31.12.91, p.38) (collectively referred to as “the Directive”) on hygiene and health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of egg products. In general the Regulations make provision in Great Britain for the preparation and manufacture of egg products used in food intended for sale for human consumption, including the process of pasteurisation, and prohibit the manufacture of egg products otherwise than in an approved establishment. The Regulations require egg products sold or used in the preparation of food to comply with specified requirements as to heat treatment, sampling, storage and transport (regulation 3; articles 3 and 11 of the Directive). A record must be kept of results of heat treatment tests applied to egg products (regulation 4; article 4 of the Directive). On and after 14th October 1993 the manufacture and heat treatment of egg products for the purpose of sale for human consumption may be carried out only at an establishment approved by a food authority (regulation 5; articles 4 and 6 of the Directive). Each food authority is responsible for establishments which it has approved (regulation 8). Only the Minister can revoke any approval granted by a food authority (regulation 6). The Regulations also require egg products which are moved between approved establishments to be properly stored, transported and labelled (regulation 7) and make provision for penalties and enforcement by each food authority within its area (regulation 9). Information as to British Standards referred to in these Regulations can be obtained by post from the British Standards Institution at Milton Keynes or from any of the Institution’s sales outlets.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Interpretation and applicationregulation 2(4)
Penalties and enforcementregulation 9(1)

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 0.90.

Basis: the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence: 0.90 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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Egg Products Regulations 1993 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted salesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 1993