UK Offence Report

Penalties

regulation 33(1) of The Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) (No. 2) Regulations 2004 (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

1 A person contravening any provision of these Regulations, except the provisions contained in paragraph

6 of Part I of Schedule

4 and paragraph

2 of Part I of Schedule 5, or any notice served under them shall be 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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.

What would breach regulation 33(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 what the provision prohibits, or failing to do what it requires under the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) (No. 2) Regulations 2004.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
Maximum prison (on indictment)
2 years

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2004-12-07); 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
3 November 2004
In force from
7 December 2004
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 revoke and re-enact with changes the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/853). They implement Council Directive 90/425/EEC (concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market) (OJ No. L224, 18.8.90, p. 29) and Council Directive 91/496/EEC (laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries) (OJ No. L268, 24.9.91, p. 56). They continue to include the following provisions— With respect to intra-Community trade, the Regulations make it an offence to export, import or transport for intra-Community trade any animal or animal product to which Directive 90/425/EEC applies except in accordance with that Directive (regulations 5, 6 and 7). The Regulations also set out the procedures and requirements for the registration of dealers in animals and animal products (regulation 8), the approval of centres and teams engaging in intra-Community trade in animals and animal products (regulation 9), and the approval of assembly centres (regulation 12). They place duties on consignees of animals and animal products (regulation 11), and specify the procedure to be followed in the case of illegal consignments (regulation 13). They give to inspectors the powers of inspection and examination specified in Directive 90/425/EEC, together with the necessary powers of entry (regulations 10 and 29). With respect to the importation of animals from third countries, the Regulations prohibit the importation of any animal unless the conditions of Council Directive 91/496/EEC are complied with (regulation 16). They specify the places at which animals may be imported (regulation 17), and the procedure for importation (regulation 18), provide for the payment of fees (regulation 19) and the procedures to be followed where a consignment constitutes a danger to health or is otherwise illegal (regulations 20 and 21) and specify that, at the place of destination, certain animals may not be released until authorised by an authorised officer of the Secretary of State (regulation 22). The Regulations also give powers to the Secretary of State to take action in the event of an outbreak of disease in another state (regulation 27) and make provision for the notification of decisions, powers of entry and penalties. Regulation 2(2) implements the requirement in Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No. 998/2003 (OJ L146, 13.6.2003, p. 1) that where any person is travelling with more than 5 pets of certain species from certain third countries, those animals shall be subject to the veterinary checks provided for in these Regulations, notwithstanding the general exemption for pets from veterinary checks in regulation 2(1). These Regulations provide a statutory basis for the Poultry Health Scheme, which is implemented by the Secretary of State in order to ensure compliance with the rules set out in Annex II to Council Directive 90/539/EEC (on animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in, and imports from third countries of, poultry and hatching eggs) (OJ No. L303, 31.10.90, p. 6) (regulations 5(5) and Schedule 4). Hatching eggs, day-old chicks and poultry to which Article 6 of that Directive applies may only be exported to another Member State if they come from an establishment that is a member of the Poultry Health Scheme. Applications for establishments to join the Scheme must be accompanied by a registration fee and members of the Scheme must pay an annual membership fee. The arrangements for the approval of laboratories to undertake Mycoplasma testing under the Poultry Health Scheme, including the details of the annual approval fee, are set out in regulation 9(4) and Schedule 5. These Regulations implement Council Directive 2003/50/EC (amending Directive 91/68/EEC as regards reinforcement of controls on movements of ovine and caprine animals) (OJ No. L169, 8.7.2003, p. 51). The amended provisions of Directive 91/68/EEC relating to health controls for assembly centres, dealers and transporters, in the case of sheep and goats, are reflected in regulations 7 and 12, and Parts II and III of Schedule 3 to these Regulations. Regulations 16(6), 18(1) and (3), 21(3) and 25 have been revised to reflect the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 282/2004 (introducing a document for the declaration of, and veterinary checks, on animals from third countries entering the Community) (OJ No. L49, 19.2.2004, p. 11), including the requirements relating to the new “common veterinary entry document”, which an importer must use to give notice of his intention to import an animal into the Community from a third country, and which the official veterinarian must use to record his decision on the consignment. Regulation 22 has been revised to reflect the requirements of Article 7(ii) of Commission Decision 2004/212/EC (OJ No. L73, 11.3.2004, p. 11). Elephants and animals of the order Artiodactyla imported from third countries for certain purposes must be kept at their place of destination for 30 days and may not be released unless authorised by an authorised officer of the Secretary of State. The order Artiodactyla includes animals commonly known as pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, camelids and hippopotamuses (this list is not exhaustive). Schedules 1, 3, 6 (previously Schedule 4) and 7 (previously Schedule 5) have been updated in order to implement Community instruments that have come into force since the Animals and Animal Products (Import and Export) Regulations 2004 were made. A regulatory impact assessment has not been prepared for 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