S.I. No. 96/1982 - European Communities (Feeding Stuffs) (Tolerances of Aflatoxin B1) Regulations, 1982.


S.I. No. 96 of 1982.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (FEEDING STUFFS) (TOLERANCES OF AFLATOXIN B1) REGULATIONS, 1982.

I, BRIAN LENIHAN, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by Section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 , (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 74/63/EEC of 17 December 1973, as amended, hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Feeding Stuffs) (Tolerances of Aflatoxin B1 ) Regulations, 1982.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 26th day of April 1982.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"authorised person" means a person authorised in writing by the Minister for the purposes of these Regulations;

"the Directive" means Council Directive No. 74/63/EEC of 17 December 1973(1), as amended by Commission Directive No. 76/14/EEC of 15 December 1975(2) and Commission Directive No. 76/934/EEC of 1 December 1976(3); and by Council Directive No. 80/502/EEC of 6 May 1980(4).

(1) O.J. No. L38/31 11.2.1974

(2) O.J. No. L4/24 9.1.1976

(3) O.J. No. L364/20 31.12.1976

(4) O.J. No. L124/17 20.5.1980

"Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture;

"raw material" means any substance intended for use as an ingredient in the manufacture of complementary feeding stuffs or complete feeding stuffs, it being presumed, until the contrary is shown, that a substance is intended for such use.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have in these Regulations the same meaning that it has in the Directive.

3. These Regulations apply to raw materials, other than raw materials which are shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to be intended to be used for any tests or experiments or for any scientific purpose, being tests, experiments or scientific purposes which have been approved of by a Minister of the Government.

4. The amount of Aflatoxin B1 contained in any raw material shall not exceed 0.1 milligrammes of Aflatoxin B1 per kilogramme of the raw material at a moisture content of 12 per cent.

5. A person shall not—

( a ) place on the market,

( b ) use to manufacture complete feeding stuffs or complementary feeding stuffs,

( c ) have in his possession for such use,

any raw material unless the raw material complies with Regulation 4 of these Regulations.

6. (1) Subject to paragraph (6) of this Regulation, an authorised person may at all reasonable times enter—

( a ) any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that raw materials or feeding stuffs are being manufactured, placed on the market or stored,

( b ) any railway waggon, vehicle, ship, vessel, aircraft, or other thing in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that raw materials are being either transported or stored,

and there or at any other place,

( c ) make such examinations, tests and inspection, and

( d ) take such samples of any raw materials which he finds in the course of his inspection,

as he may consider appropriate for the purposes of these Regulations and the Directive.

(2) Every person who has on any premises or in any railway waggon, vehicle, ship, vessel, aircraft or other thing any raw materials shall at all reasonable times—

( a ) afford to an authorised person such facilities and assistance as are reasonably necessary for an inspection and taking of samples pursuant to these Regulations or for such an inspection or for such a taking,

( b ) give an authorised person any information which he may reasonably require regarding the purchase, importation, sale or use of the raw materials,

( c ) produce to an authorised person any document relating to the raw materials which the authorised person may reasonably require and permit the authorised person to inspect and take extracts from such document.

(3) In addition to the foregoing, any person who carries on the business of manufacturing, packaging, processing or marketing of raw materials or feeding stuffs shall—

( a ) keep records of his transactions regarding raw materials,

( b ) produce at the request of an authorised person any such records or any books or other documents relating to the said business which are in the possession or under the control of the person carrying on such business,

( c ) permit any authorised person to inspect and take extracts from such records, books or other documents and give to the authorised person any information which he may reasonably require in relation to any entries therein,

( d ) afford to any authorised person such facilities and assistance as are reasonably necessary for inspecting the stock of any raw materials on any premises on which such person carries on such a business,

( e ) give to an authorised person any information he may reasonably require in relation to such transactions, including in particular, information which he may reasonably require regarding any raw materials specified by him.

(4) Where a sample is taken pursuant to this Regulation, the authorised person concerned shall divide the sample into not more than four equal parts each of which he shall mark.

(5) In proceedings for an offence under Regulation 8 of these Regulations the result of any test, examination or analysis of, or any report on, a sample taken pursuant to this Regulation shall not be adduced unless before the proceedings were instituted one of the parts into which the sample was divided (as required by paragraph (4) of this Regulation) was left with or transmitted to the defendant.

(6) Nothing in this Regulation shall be construed as enabling an authorised person to enter a dwelling.

(7) An authorised person shall be furnished with a certificate of his appointment as an authorised person and when exercising any power conferred on an authorised person by these Regulations shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the warrant to that person.

(8) Any person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised person in the course of exercising a power conferred on him under this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

7. (1) Where a sample of a raw material is taken pursuant to these Regulations by an authorised person and is found on official examination not to comply with a requirement of these Regulations, then the Minister may require that the raw material shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of in such manner as the Minister shall determine.

(2) In case the Minister makes a requirement under this Regulation the following provisions shall apply—

( a ) he shall inform in writing of the requirement the person who is in possession or control of the raw material to which the requirement relates,

( b ) where such person is so informed, pending the disposal of such raw material in accordance with the requirement, the raw material shall be moved only with the consent of an authorised person, and

( c ) the person in such possession or control shall dispose of the raw material, or cause or permit it to be disposed of, only in accordance with the requirement.

8. (1) Any person who contravenes Regulation 5 of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

(2) If any person fraudulently—

( a ) tampers with any raw material so as to procure that any sample of it taken pursuant to these Regulations does not correctly represent the raw material, or

( b ) tampers or interferes with any sample taken pursuant to these Regulations,

he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

9. (1) Where a sample of a raw material or a feeding stuff is taken pursuant to these Regulations or to the European Communities (Feeding Stuffs) (Tolerances of Undesirable Substances and Products) Regulations, 1977 ( S.I. No. 246 of 1977 ) by an authorised person, a person shall not move the raw material or feeding stuff, as the case may be, during the period of seven days immediately following the day on which the sample is taken, without the consent of an authorised person and, where a consent under this Regulation is given, a person shall not move the raw material or feeding stuff concerned other than in accordance with the terms and conditions of the consent.

(2) A person who contravenes paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200 or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

10. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

11. In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations in which it is proved that the raw material to which the proceedings relate did not comply with the requirements of Regulation 4 of these Regulations, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that he did not know that the raw material failed so to comply and that having regard to the manner in which he acquired the raw material it would have been reasonable for him, in the circumstances of the case, to assume that the raw material was one which complied with the said Regulation 4.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 6th day of April 1982.

BRIAN LENIHAN

Minister for Agriculture

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Regulations control the level of Aflatoxin B1 in ingredients used in the manufacture of compound feeding stuffs.