Controls on erucic acid

Q: Is regulation 4(3) of The Contaminants in Food (Wales) Regulations 2013 a strict liability offence?

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.

regulation 4(3) of The Contaminants in Food (Wales) Regulations 2013

Status not determined
Strict liability
Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted sales

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 Any person who contravenes paragraph (1) 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 This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.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: contravening a requirement of the instrument
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 4(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.

On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes paragraph (1).
Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Contaminants in Food (Wales) Regulations 2013, whatever the reason for doing it.
Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

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.

Sentencing organisations: fines and the means of a corporate defendant All courts in England and Wales
How a fine on a company is arrived at from its turnover. Relevant far beyond the guidelines that state it, because a very large share of the offences in this corpus can only be committed by an organisation.
Health and safety offences, corporate manslaughter and food safety and hygiene offences: definitive guideline Magistrates' courts and the Crown Court in England and Wales · in force from 1 February 2016
Covers breaches of duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the regulations made under it, and food safety and food hygiene offences. Sentencing turns on culpability and on the seriousness and likelihood of harm risked, not only on the harm that happened.
Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 June 2017
The sliding scale of credit for pleading guilty, from one third at the first stage of proceedings downwards.
General guideline: overarching principles All courts in England and Wales · in force from 1 October 2019
The guideline a court uses when there is no offence-specific guideline, which is the position for the overwhelming majority of offences created by statutory instrument. It sets out how culpability and harm are assessed from first principles.
Totality: definitive guideline All courts in England and Wales
How to sentence more than one offence at once so that the total is just and proportionate - frequently in point here, because regulatory prosecutions commonly charge several breaches of the same instrument.

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: 27 September 2013
In force from: 31 October 2013
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

These Regulations, which apply in relation to Wales, revoke and re-enact with changes the Contaminants in Food (Wales) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2394 (W.206) ). They make provision for — the continuing implementation of Council Directive 76/621/EEC relating to the fixing of the maximum level of erucic acid in oils and fats intended as such for human consumption and in foodstuffs containing added oils or fats (OJ No. L202, 28.7.1976, p.35) and of Commission Directive 80/891/EEC relating to the Community method of analysis for determining the erucic acid content in oils and fats intended to be used as such for human consumption and foodstuffs containing added oils or fats (OJ No. L254, 27.9.1980, p.35); and the continuing execution and enforcement of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs (OJ No.L364, 20.12.2006, p.5) (“the Commission Regulation”). The Commission Regulation has been amended by— Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1126/2007 (OJ No. L255, 29.9.2007, p.14), which concerns maximum permitted levels for Fusarium toxins in maize and maize products; Commission Regulation (EC) No. 565/2008 (OJ No. L160, 19.6.2008, p.20), which concerns the establishment of a maximum level for dioxins and PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls) in fish liver; Commission Regulation (EC) No. 629/2008 (OJ No. L173, 3.7.2008, p.6), which concerns maximum permitted levels for certain heavy metals; Commission Regulation (EU) No. 105/2010 (OJ No. L35, 6.2.2010, p.7), which concerns maximum permitted levels for ochratoxin A; Commission Regulation (EU) No. 165/2010 (OJ No. L50, 27.2.2010, p.8), which concerns maximum levels for aflatoxins and the treatment of certain foods found to contain aflatoxins in excess of those levels; Commission Regulation (EU) No.420/2011 (OJ No. L111, 30.4.2011, p.3), which concerns the collection of occurrence data by Member States; Commission Regulation (EU) No. 835/2011 (OJ No. L215, 20.8.2011, p.4), which concerns maximum levels for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in foodstuffs; Commission Regulation (EU) No.1258/2011 (OJ No. L320, 3.12.2011, p.15), which concerns revised limits for nitrates in leafy vegetables; Commission Regulation (EU) No.1259/2011 (OJ No. L320, 3.12.2011, p.18), which concerns maximum permitted levels for dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and non dioxin-like PCBs in foodstuffs; Commission Regulation (EU) No. 594/2012 (OJ No. L176, 6.7.2012, p. 43) concerning maximum permitted levels of ochratoxin A, non dioxin-like PCBs and melamine in foodstuffs; and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1058/2012 (OJ No. L313, 13.11.2012, p.14), which concerns maximum permitted levels for aflatoxins in dried figs. These Regulations also provide for the execution and enforcement of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 124/2009 (OJ No. L40, 11.2.2009, p.7) (“Regulation 124/2009”), which concerns maximum permitted levels for certain feed additives that may, in specified circumstances, occur in food. This Regulation has been amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 610/2012 (OJ No. L178, 10.7.2012, p.1). The Regulations provide that it is an offence to place specified foods on the market containing erucic acid in excess of permitted levels (regulations 3 and 4). The Regulations also provide that it is an offence, (except in certain cases relating to food placed on the market before a date specified in the relevant EU legislation) — to place on the market certain foods if they contain contaminants of any kind specified in the Commission Regulation or in Regulation 124/2009 at levels exceeding those specified; to use food containing contaminants at levels in excess of those permitted by the Commission Regulation as ingredients in the production of certain foods; to mix foods that do not comply with the maximum levels prescribed by the Commission Regulation or Regulation 124/2009 with foods which do comply; to mix foods to which the Commission Regulation relates and which are intended for direct consumption or as food ingredients with foods to which the Commission Regulation relates and which are intended to be sorted or otherwise treated prior to consumption; to detoxify by chemical treatment food containing mycotoxins in excess of the limits specified in the Commission Regulation; to fail to observe particular labelling requirements for certain groundnuts, other oilseeds, derived products thereof and cereals; and to place on the market or mix certain foods containing specified coccidiostats and histomonstats in excess of prescribed limits (regulation 5). These Regulations additionally— provide for penalties on conviction for an offence under these Regulations (regulation 6) and specify the enforcement and competent authorities (regulation 7); provide for the application of specified provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of these Regulations (regulation 8); make a consequential amendment to the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) (Wales) Regulations 2013 (regulation 9), the effect being to disapply the sampling and analysis provisions of those Regulations only to the extent that those matters are regulated by the EU instruments mentioned in paragraph 7. The Commission Regulation specifies the European Union methods of sampling and analysis that are required to be used for the official control of levels of the substances covered by it. Those methods are set out in — Commission Regulation (EC) No. 401/2006 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of mycotoxins in foodstuffs (OJ No. L70, 9.3.2006, p.12), as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 178/2010 (OJ No. L52, 3.3.2010, p.32); Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1882/2006 laying down methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of nitrates in certain foodstuffs (OJ No. L364, 20.12.2006, p.25); Commission Regulation (EC) No. 333/2007 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, inorganic tin, 3-MCPD and benzo(a)pyrene in foodstuffs (OJ No. L88, 29.3.2007, p.29), as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 836/2011 (OJ No. L215, 20.8.2011, p.9); and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 252/2012 laying down methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of levels of dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and non-dioxin-like PCBs in certain foodstuffs and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 1883/2006 (OJ No. L84, 23.3.2012, p.1). The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Food Standards Agency at Food Standards Agency Wales, 11th Floor, Southgate House, Wood Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EW.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

Controls on contaminants in foodregulation 5(1)
Application of various sections of the Food Safety Act 1990regulation 8(2)

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

This provision on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text. Check it before relying on anything here.
The Contaminants in Food (Wales) Regulations 2013 Every offence this instrument creates, and its explanatory note
Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted salesOther offences on the same subject
Offences created in 2013