UK Offence Report

3 It is an offence for a person, knowing a consignment to be a controlled consignment— a to move it or cause…

regulation 18(3) of The Organic Products Regulations 2009

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

3 It is an offence for

a person, knowing

a consignment to be

a controlled consignment—

a to move it or cause it to be moved otherwise than in accordance with the written consent of an authorised officer; or

b to remove or cause to be removed from it

a label which has been affixed under regulation 7(6).

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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 18(3)?

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 Organic Products Regulations 2009.

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 (2009-04-27); 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
31 March 2009
In force from
27 April 2009
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 replace the Organic Products (Imports from Third Countries) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/2821) and the Organic Products Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/1604). They extend to the United Kingdom. These Regulations provide for the administration and enforcement of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products (OJ No L 189, 20.7.07, p 1), Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ No L 250, 18.9.08, p 1), and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 laying down detailed rules for implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 as regards the arrangements for imports of organic products from third countries (OJ No L 334, 12.12.08, p 25), each as amended from time to time. Part 1 sets out introductory provisions and interpretation. Part 2 contains designations and exemptions. Part 3 sets out notification requirements and controls of the movement of consignments of organic products imported from third countries. Part 4 makes provision for fees. Part 5 creates offences and makes provision for enforcement. They are enforced by the local authority or, in relation to imports of products from third countries, the port health authority (where there is one). Part 6 contains supplementary provisions and revocations. The Schedule lists provisions of the Council Regulation and two Commission Regulations referred to above for the purposes of offences and enforcement. An Impact Assessment has been prepared and a copy placed in the library of each House of Parliament. Copies can be obtained from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Organic Farming Branch, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL or from the Department’s website, and from the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TY.

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 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens
Confidence
0.90 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