Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1939

Restriction on the consigning of eggs from registered wholesaler's premises.

31.—(1) Save as is otherwise provided by this section, eggs shall not be consigned from registered wholesaler's premises to any place (whether in or outside Ireland) unless all the following conditions are complied with in respect of such eggs, that is to say:—

(a) the eggs shall have been tested, graded and packed in accordance with the provisions of this Act and regulations made thereunder, and

(b) each of the eggs and also the package containing such eggs, shall be marked with the prescribed marks in accordance with this Act and regulations made thereunder, and

(c) the eggs shall have been tested, graded, packed, and marked as aforesaid on the registered wholesaler's premises from which they are consigned and the package containing the eggs shall also have been marked as aforesaid on the said premises, and

(d) the eggs shall not have been removed from the package in which they were so packed upon those premises, and

(e) the eggs shall be clean and fit for human consumption.

(2) Every person who consigns or attempts to consign eggs in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section.

(3) Every person who shall carry by any means any eggs consigned in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section unless such person proves that he did not know and could not reasonably have known that such eggs were consigned in contravention of this section.

(4) Every person guilty of an offence under any sub-section of this section shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first such offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent such offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(5) This section shall not apply to the consignation of eggs from the registered premises of a registered wholesaler to the registered premises of another registered wholesaler in pursuance of a sale by such first-mentioned registered wholesaler to such other registered wholesaler made under and in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister under this Act.

(6) Nothing in this section shall prevent a registered wholesaler from disposing in the prescribed manner of eggs which, when tested on his registered premises, are found to be unfit for human consumption or externally dirty.