UK Offence Report

Re-dispatch or destruction of illegal imports

regulation 6(8) of The Food (Pistachios from Iran) (Emergency Control) (England) Regulations 2003 (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

8 Any person who breaches the terms of

a notice served under paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for

a tem not exceeding three months.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
breaching the provision
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 6(8)?

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 breaches the terms of a notice served under paragraph (1).
  2. Doing what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Food (Pistachios from Iran) (Emergency Control) (England) Regulations 2003.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2003-07-31); the standard scale is keyed to the date the offence was committed, and for conduct today the same words mean an unlimited fine.

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
29 July 2003
In force from
31 July 2003
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 in relation to England only, revoke and re-enact with changes the Food (Pistachios from Iran) (Emergency Control) Order 1997 (S.I. 1997/2238, as amended by S.I. 1997/3046), which extends to the whole of Great Britain. The revocation is effected by regulation 7. That Order implemented Commission Decision 97/613/EC on the temporary suspension of imports of pistachios and certain products derived from pistachios originating in or consigned from Iran (OJ No. L248, 11.9.97, p.33), and in its amended form implemented Commission Decision 1997/830/EC repealing Commission Decision 97/613/EC and imposing special conditions on the import of pistachios and certain products derived from pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran (OJ No 343, 13.12.97, p. 30). These Regulations implement Commission Decision 1997/830/EC as amended by Commission Decision 1998/400/EC (OJ No. L176, 20.6.98, p.37), Commission Decision 2000/238/EC (OJ No. L75, 24.3.2000, p.59) and Commission Decision 2003/551/EC (OJ No. L187, 26.7.2003, p.43). The categories of products which are subject to the special conditions referred to above are specified in Article 2(1) of Commission Decision 1997/830/EC. These Regulations — a prohibit the importation of “Iranian pistachios” (defined in regulation 2(1)), except where — i they are accompanied by an Iranian Government health certificate and the results of official sampling and analysis, the importation takes place only though a specified point of entry and each consignment is identified with a code corresponding with that specified on the health certificate and the accompanying report containing the sampling and analysis results; ii they are subject to specified documentary checks; and iii each consignment is subjected to analysis of aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin levels before release onto the market (regulation 3); b provide for their enforcement (regulation 4); c apply with modifications certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of the Regulations and provide for sampling and analysis (regulation 5); and d provide for the re-dispatch or destruction of illegal imports of Iranian pistachios (regulation 6). The principal changes effected by these Regulations are that — a the previous requirement that each consignment of Iranian pistachios be subjected to systematic sampling and analysis in order to ensure compliance with Commission Decision 1997/830/EC is modified by providing that — i a sample of each consignment must be analysed for aflatoxin and total aflatoxin before release onto the market from the point of entry into the Community, ii the period of detention should not exceed 15 working days, and iii an authorised officer of the relevant enforcement authority must issue a notice in writing stating that sampling has taken place and the results of the analysis of the sample; and b an authorised officer of the relevant enforcement authority is empowered (subject to a right of appeal to a magistrates' court) to issue a notice ordering the re-dispatch of illegal imports of Iranian pistachios. The CN codes referred to in the definition of “Iranian pistachios” are the code numbers of the combined nomenclature established by Council Regulation 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Customs tariff (OJ No. L256, 7.9.87, p.1). No regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in relation to these Regulations.

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