UK Offence Report

Contravention of The Condensed Milk and Dried Milk (England) Regulations 2015

the instrument as a whole of The Condensed Milk and Dried Milk (England) Regulations 2015

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

Contravening this instrument is an offence under sections 10(2), 33 and 35 of the Food Safety Act 1990. The instrument itself contains no offence-creating words.

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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
selling or supplying something the instrument restricts
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
Not determined

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.

Classifier’s reasoning: contravention offences of this kind are strict as to the breach; the fault position is governed by the parent Act and was not read from it.

What would breach the instrument as a whole?

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 Condensed Milk and Dried Milk (England) Regulations 2015 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
Set by another provision — the instrument states the penalty by reference to an Act or to another regulation
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

The instrument does not state a penalty itself. It sets one by reference to sections 10(2), 33 and 35 of the Food Safety Act 1990.

the penalty is in the parent Act, not in this instrument.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

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
10 March 2015
In force from
6 April 2015
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 replace the Condensed Milk and Dried Milk (England) Regulations 2003 (S.I. 2003/1596) and revoke the Condensed Milk and Dried Milk (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/85). They implement Council Directive 2001/114/EC relating to certain partly or wholly dehydrated preserved milk products intended for human consumption (OJ No L 15, 17.1.02, p 19). Regulation 2 and Schedules 1 and 2 define condensed milk and dried milk products and the reserved descriptions that apply to them. Regulation 3 prohibits the labelling with reserved descriptions of food other than the designated condensed and dried milk products to which they relate. Regulation 4 sets out the labelling requirements for designated condensed and dried milk products. Regulation 5 sets out the manner of marking or labelling in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers (OJ No L 304, 22.11.11, p 18) which will apply to the way in which the particulars required by regulation 4 must be presented. Regulation 6 and Schedule 3 apply certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 (1990 c. 16) with modifications. This includes the application of section 10(1) (with modifications) and (2), enabling an improvement notice to be served to require compliance with regulations 3, 4 and 5. The provisions, as applied, make the failure to comply with an improvement notice an offence under section 10(2). Regulation 7 imposes an obligation on food authorities to enforce these Regulations. Regulation 8 revokes previous Regulations (as set out above). Regulation 9 requires the Secretary of State to review the operation and effect of these Regulations and publish a report within five years after they come into force and within every five years after that. Following a review it will fall to the Secretary of State to consider whether the Regulations should remain as they are, or be revoked or be amended. A further instrument would be needed to revoke the Regulations or to amend them. No impact assessment has been prepared for this instrument as no impact, or no significant impact, on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk.

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 0.59.

Basis
the penalty comes from the enabling Act rather than from this instrument
Confidence
0.59 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