UK Offence Report

Control of animal feeds containing undesirable substances

regulation 9(4) of The Animal Feed (Wales) Regulations 2010

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

4 Any person who places on the market or uses any feed which is not sound and genuine and of merchantable quality is 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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
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 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 9(4)?

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 places on the market or uses any feed which is not sound and genuine and of merchantable quality.
  2. Selling the goods under the Animal Feed (Wales) Regulations 2010 where the instrument prohibits the sale outright.
  3. Supplying without carrying out a check the instrument requires first, even where the sale would otherwise be lawful.
  4. Offering for sale counts as well as selling: displaying stock is enough where the provision reaches an offer.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated in this instrument; it may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence.

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
25 October 2010
In force from
23 November 2010
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 Wales— revoke the Feeding Stuffs (Wales) Regulations 2006 as amended and re-enact certain of their provisions; provide for the execution and enforcement of a comprehensive new EU Regulation on the marketing and use of feed detailed in paragraph 2, and for the continuing enforcement of the EU Regulation on feed additives mentioned in paragraph 3; maintain the implementation of EU Directives concerning dietetic feeds and contaminants in feed; prescribe offences and penalties for breaches of the Regulations; make amendments and modifications to Part IV of the Agriculture Act 1970; and amend certain other Regulations. In Part 2, these Regulations provide for the execution of Regulation (EC) No. 767/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the placing on the market and use of feed, amending European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003 and repealing Council Directive 79/373/EEC, Commission Directive 80/511/EEC, Council Directives 82/471/EEC, 83/228/EEC, 93/74/EEC, 93/113/EC and 96/25/EC and Commission Decision 2004/217/EC (OJ No. L229, 1.9.2009, p.1), (regulations 3-5 and Schedule 1). References in regulation 4(2) to the Annex to Directive 82/475 and in Schedule 1 to the Annex to Regulation 242/2010 or the Annexes to Regulation 767/2009 are references to those Annexes as they may be amended from time to time (regulation 2(3)). In Part 3, the Regulations provide for the continuing execution of Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on additives for use in animal nutrition (OJ No. L268, 18.10.2003, p.29), (regulations 6 and 7). In Part 4, the Regulations implement Directive 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on undesirable substances in animal feed (OJ No. L140, 30.5.2002, p.10), (regulations 8 and 9). Directive 2002/32 has already been amended a number of times, and any reference to an Annex to this Directive is a reference to that Annex as it may be further amended from time to time (regulation 2(3)). In Part 5, the Regulations implement Commission Directive 2008/38/EC establishing a list of intended uses of animal feedingstuffs for particular nutritional purposes (OJ No. L62, 6.3.2008, p.9), (regulations 10 and 11). Any reference to an Annex to this Directive is a reference to that Annex as it may be amended from time to time (regulation 2(3)). Part 6 of these Regulations makes provision for a breach of specified requirements to constitute an offence, sets out the maximum penalty applicable on conviction for such an offence and fixes local feed authorities with the duty to enforce these Regulations and the EU Regulations mentioned above (regulations 12 and 13). In Part 7, the Regulations make amendments or modifications to the Agriculture Act 1970 where the relevant sections of the Act would otherwise duplicate, gloss or be incompatible with provisions of Regulation 767/2009 (regulation 14). In Part 8, the Regulations make consequential and other amendments to the Feed (Hygiene and Enforcement) (Wales) Regulations 2005 and the Official Feed and Food Controls (Wales) Regulations 2009 (regulations 15 and 16). A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations and is available from the Food Standards Agency, 11th Floor, Southgate House, Cardiff, CF10 1EW.

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