UK Offence Report

Offences and penalties

regulation 18(1) of The Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995

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 If— a a person (other than an approving authority or the Minister) contravenes any provision of these Regulations; or b the occupier of any production holding or dairy establishment fails to take all reasonable steps to secure the compliance by any person employed by him or any person admitted to that production holding or dairy establishment with any provision of these Regulations, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable— i on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; or ii on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
Objective fault
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened and that it fell below the standard the provision sets. That is an objective test - what a reasonable person in the same position would have done, not what this defendant actually thought.

What a person personally believed or intended is not the question; the standard is what was reasonable.

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

Classifier’s reasoning: objective standard in the offence-creating words: fails to take all reasonable steps.

What would breach regulation 18(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. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Dairy Products (Hygiene) Regulations 1995, whatever the reason for doing it.
  2. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

expressed as the statutory maximum (the prescribed sum): the same words mean £5,000 in England and Wales and £10,000 in Scotland.

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
14 April 1995
In force from
9 May 1995
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, which apply to England and Wales give effect to the provisions of Council Directive 92/46/EEC, as defined in regulation 2(1), laying down the health rules for the production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products. They also revoke and replace the Regulations specified in Schedule 12 and re-enact provisions that are compatible with Council Directive 92/46/EEC. The Regulations also amend the Drinking Milk Regulations 1976 (S.I. 1976/1883) to make it an offence to use a name to describe food in breach of article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1411/71 (OJ No. L148, 3.7.71, p.213) (OJ/SE 1971 vol. II. p.412), the relevant amendment to which is specified in footnote (d) to regulation 24(2). The principal changes the Regulations make are— a the provision of detailed requirements for the approval of dairy establishments; b the extension of the health rules applicable for the production of cows' milk, to the milk of sheep, goats and buffaloes; c the provision of microbiological standards for the manufacture of dairy products; and d subject to specified exemptions, a requirement for the health marking of all dairy products. The Regulations do not apply to a production holding or dairy establishment where dairy products are produced exclusively for the consumption of the occupier and others in his household, or in the case of a dairy establishment where products are not sold in the course of a business, neither do they apply to a catering establishment or retail premises selling dairy products, or to persons engaged in the production, handling or sale of such products in a catering establishment or retail premises, (with the exception of specified requirements relating to cream, ice-cream and raw cows' milk). Farm premises where raw dairy products are sold exclusively direct to the ultimate consumer are also exempt from the approval, labelling and other specified requirements (regulation 3). The Regulations— a prohibit the use of any premises as a production holding for the production of raw milk unless they are registered and make provision for the registration, on application, by the Minister (regulation 4); b provide for the allotment of a registration number for each registered production holding and the keeping of a list of such holdings by the Minister (regulation 5); c prohibit the use of any premises as a dairy establishment unless they are approved and make provision for the approval, on application, by the approving authority; they also make special provision for the approval of low capacity dairy establishments which may not comply with all the requirements applicable to other dairy establishments (regulation 6); d provide for the allotment of an approval number for each approved dairy establishment and make provision for the keeping of a list of such establishments by the approving authority (regulation 7); e provide for the cancellation of registrations and revocation of approvals and for a right of appeal (regulation 8); f specify the conditions to be complied with in relation to the sale for human consumption of raw, thermised or heat-treated drinking milk, or heat-treated milk intended for the manufacture of milk-based products or milk-based products, and prohibit the sale of any such dairy products unless those conditions are complied with (regulation 9); g specify the methods of analysis and testing for dairy products (regulation 10); h specify the conditions to be complied with in relation to the handling, storing, transporting, wrapping, packaging, health marking and labelling of dairy products; require the retention and production of specified documents; prohibit the use of a mark resembling a health mark and specify of a temporary exemption (regulation 11); i specify restrictions to be complied with in relation to the sale of raw cows' milk as drinking milk (regulation 12); j specify the duties of an occupier and of any person who buys raw milk for re-sale (regulation 13); k provide for a dairy farm registered under the Milk and Dairies (General) Regulations 1959 (S.I. 1959/277) to be deemed to be a registered production holding under these Regulations (regulation 14); l provide for a temporary exemption for specified dairy establishments and also enable the approving authority to prohibit dairy products prepared in such establishments from bearing a health mark (regulation 15); m make provision for the enforcement and execution of the Regulations and supervision of specified premises by the Minister and the approving authority (regulation 16); n require the approving authorities to provide specified information to the Minister (regulation 17); o create offences and prescribe penalties (regulation 18); p authorise the approving authority to grant derogations in relation to specified requirements (regulation 19); q specify various sections of the Act incorporated into the Regulations (regulation 20); r make provision for the sale of dairy products from Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (regulation 21) s specify import requirements (regulation 22); and t specify revocation (regulation 23), and amend the Ice Cream (Heat Treatment etc.) Regulations 1959 (S.I. 1959/734), the Drinking Milk Regulations 1976 (S.I. 1976/1883), the Food Labelling Regulations 1984 (S.I. 1984/1305) and the Food Premises (Registration) Regulations 1991 (regulation 24). The Contracting Parties to the EEA Agreement are the fifteen Member States of the European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. (See also the definition of “EEA State” in regulation 2(1)). Information as to International Dairy Federation Standards referred to in these Regulations can be obtained by post from the International Dairy Federation, 41 Square Vergote, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium. Information as to International Organisation for Standardisation Standards referred to in these Regulations can be obtained by post from the International Organisation for Standardisation. 1 Rue de Varembe, Case Postale 56, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland The AOAC methods referred to in Schedule 11 are used by the International Dairy Federation and the International Organisation for Standardisation and are published by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Copies can be obtained by post from the Assistant Business Manager, Publications, Association of Official Analytical Chemists, 1111 N 19th Street (Suite 210), Arlington, VA 22209, USA. A Compliance Cost Assessment in relation to these Regulations has been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament. Copies may be obtained from: Milk and Milk Products Division Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Room 514, Whitehall Place (East Block) London SW1A 2HH.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

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