S.I. No. 190/1994 - European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Products of Plant Origin, Including Fruit and Vegetables) Regulations, 1994.

S.I. No. 190 of 1994.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (PESTICIDE RESIDUES) (PRODUCTS OF PLANT ORIGIN, INCLUDING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES) REGULATIONS, 1994.

I, JOE WALSH, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive 90/642/EEC of 27th November, 1990⁽¹⁾, as amended by Council Directive 93/58/EEC of 29 June, 1993⁽²⁾, hereby make the following Regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Products of Plant Origin, including Fruit and Vegetables) Regulations, 1994.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"the Directive" means Council Directive No. 90/642/EEC of 27th November, 1990⁽¹⁾, as amended by Council Directive 93/58/EEC of 29th June, 1993⁽²⁾.

⁽¹⁾O.J. NO. L 350/72 of 14-12-1990.

⁽²⁾O.J. No. L 211/6 of 23-8-1993.

"the Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

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

"Annex I" means the Annex I to Directive 90/642/EEC as inserted by Directive 93/58/EEC;

"Annex II" means the Annex II to Directive 90/642/EEC as inserted by Directive 93/58/EEC;

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations, and is also used in the Directive, has the meaning in these Regulations that it has in the Directive.

3. (1) These Regulations shall apply to products within the groups specified in Column 1 of the Annex I, examples of which are given in column 2 of the Annex I, insofar as products in these groups, or part of products described in Column 3 of the Annex I, may contain certain pesticide residues.

(2) These Regulations shall apply without prejudice to the operation of the Health (Preservatives in Food) Regulations 1981 —S.I. No. 337 of 1981; the European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Feedingstuffs) Regulations, 1992, S.I. No. 40 of 1992 ; the European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Fruit and Vegetables) Regulations, 1989 — S.I. No. 105 of 1989 , and the European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Cereals) Regulations, 1988 — S.I. No. 216 of 1988 .

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this Regulation, these Regulations shall not apply, as regards the maximum levels of pesticide residues prescribed in Annex II, to products which are being exported to a third country, and in respect of which it is shown to the satisfaction of the Minister that, either a particular treatment is specifically requested by the third country of destination in order to prevent the introduction of harmful organisms into its territory, or the treatment is necessary to protect the products against harmful organisms during transport to the third country of destination and storage there.

(4) These Regulations shall not apply to the products described in paragraph (1) of this Regulation, which are shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to be intended either for the manufacture of products other than foodstuffs and animal feeds, or for sowing or planting.

4. (1) Products to which these regulations apply, shall not contain, from the time they are put into circulation, pesticide residue levels higher than those specified in Annex II.

(2) In the case of dried products, produced from products to which these Regulations apply, the maximum level of pesticide residue present shall be the level specified in Annex II adjusted to take account of the residue concentration caused by the drying process.

(3) Any person who fails to observe the provisions of paragraph (1) or paragraph (2) of this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.

5. (1) An authorised person, for the purpose of confirming that these Regulations are being correctly observed, may at all reasonable times—

( a ) enter and inspect any premises, railway wagon, vehicle, ship, vessel or aircraft;

( b ) inspect the contents of any container in which he has reasonable grounds for believing there are products to which these Regulations apply;

( c ) take samples of any products found in the course of the inspections.

(2) the Minister shall furnish an authorised person with a certificate of appointment and, when exercising any power conferred on him by this Regulation, the authorised person shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the certificate to that person.

(3) 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 £1,000.

6. Whenever a product to which these Regulations apply is found to be in breach of the provisions of these Regulations, it shall, unless its disposal in some other manner is authorised by a permit issued for the purposes of this Regulation by the Minister, be destroyed either by and at the expense of the person responsible for the product, or, if the Minister so directs, by some other person specified by the Minister.

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

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 30th day of June, 1994.

JOE WALSH,

Minister for Agriculture, Food and

Forestry.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The Regulations expand and complement the existing controls relating to pesticide residues.