UK Offence Report

Suspension of activities involving the colour E128 Red 2G

regulation 3(1) of The Food (Suspension of the Use of E 128 Red 2G as Food Colour) (England) Regulations 2007 (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 Notwithstanding the provisions of the Colours in Food Regulations 1995, any person who contravenes or fails to comply with the following provisions of the Commission Regulation shall be guilty of an offence—

a Article 1(1) (suspending the use of the colour E 128 Red 2G in food);

b Article 1(2) (suspending the placing on the market of food containing the colour E 128 Red 2G); or

c Article 1(3) (suspending the import of food containing the colour E 128 Red 2G).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
importing or exporting without authority
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 3(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. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes or fails to comply with the following provisions of the Commission Regulation.
  2. Moving the goods across the border under the Food (Suspension of the Use of E 128 Red 2G as Food Colour) (England) Regulations 2007 without the licence the instrument requires.
  3. Holding a licence for one consignment and using it for another.
  4. Sending goods in transit through the United Kingdom, where the provision catches transit as well as import and export.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£5,000
Standard scale
Level 5
Maximum prison (summary)
3 months

this is the level 5 value when the instrument came into force (2007-08-02); 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
30 July 2007
In force from
2 August 2007
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 provide for the execution and enforcement in relation to England of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 884/2007 on emergency measures suspending the use of E 128 Red 2G as food colour (OJ No. L195, 27.7.2007, p.8). By virtue of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/36/EC (OJ No. L237, 10.9.1994, p.13, as amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ No. L284, 31.10.2003, p.1), the colour E 128 Red 2G is legally authorised for use in all member States. That Directive has been implemented by the Colours in Food Regulations 1995 (S.I. 1995/3124, as amended). However, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 884/2007 suspends with immediate effect the use of the colour E 128 Red 2G in food and the placing on the market and the import of food containing the colour E 128 Red 2G. These Regulations– provide that a person who contravenes or fails to comply with certain provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 884/2007 (relating to suspending the use of the colour E 128 Red 2G in food; suspending the placing on the market of food containing the colour E 128 Red 2G; and suspending the import of food containing the colour E 128 Red 2G) is guilty of an offence (regulation 3(1)); provide penalties for offences under regulation 3(1) (regulation 3(2)); provide for their execution and enforcement (regulation 4); and apply with modifications certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 (1990 c. 16) for the purposes of the Regulations (regulation 5). A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Novel Foods, Additives and Supplements Division of the Food Standards Agency, Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.

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