UK Offence Report

Additional provisions relating to the marking and identification of inorganic secondary nutrient fertilisers

regulation 7 of The EC Fertilisers (England and Wales) Regulations 2006

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

7 Any manufacturer who places on the market

a fertiliser—

a that is designated as an EC fertiliser;

b that is

a fertiliser of the type described in Article 20 (scope);

c that is not marked in accordance with Article 21 (identification); and

d for which

a declaration of calcium, magnesium, sodium and sulphur content is made otherwise than as specified in Article 6(2)(c), 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 manufacturer
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 manufacturer 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 7?

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. Selling the goods under the EC Fertilisers (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
  2. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
  3. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Either way — magistrates’ court or Crown Court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months
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
6 September 2006
In force from
11 October 2006
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 are made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972, implement in England and Wales Regulation (EC) No. 2003/2003 of the European Parliament and the Council relating to fertilisers (“the Community Regulation”). The Regulations create offences for breaches by manufacturers of the requirements of the Community Regulation regarding designation, compositional tolerances, identification, marking, labelling and packaging of fertilisers designated as EC fertilisers (regulations 3 to 8)). The term “manufacturer” is defined in Article 2 of the Community Regulation. Manufacturers are required to keep records described in Article 8 (regulation 9). Regulation 10 provides the Secretary of State (in England) or the National Assembly for Wales (in Wales) with the power to serve compliance notices. Further special provisions relating to these are set out in regulation 14. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing the Regulations and appointing inspectors for that purpose (regulation 11) and powers of entry, inspection and offences of obstruction of inspectors are contained in regulations 12, 13 and 15 respectively. Regulation 16 makes provision for the authorisation of laboratories competent to analyse samples and regulation 17 makes provision for the taking and analysis of samples for the purpose of the Regulations. Inspectors have powers to require remedial action to be taken regarding fertiliser designated as EC fertiliser in respect of which they think an offence under the Regulations is being committed, or to seize the fertiliser (regulation 18). Regulation 19 provides the Secretary of State (in England) and the National Assembly for Wales (in Wales) with a power to give directions for the mitigation or elimination of risk in circumstances where either of them has justifiable grounds for believing that an EC designated fertiliser, although complying with the requirements of the Community Regulation, constitutes a risk to safety or health of humans, animals or plants or a risk to the environment. Penalties for offences under the Regulations are set out in regulation 20. Regulations 21 and 22 disapply the provisions of— a Part IV of the Agriculture Act 1970 (1970 c.40); b the Fertilisers Regulations 1991 (S.I. 1991/2197 as amended); and c the Fertilisers (Sampling and Analysis) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/1342). No regulatory impact assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations as they have no impact on the cost of business. A transposition note has been prepared copies of which can be obtained from Defra – Nutrient Management Unit, Area 5C, 9 Millbank, C/O 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR. Email: Gary.beckwith@defra.gsi.gov.uk. A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament.

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