Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023

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Chapter 8

Enforcement

Authorised officers

35. (1) The Minister may for the purpose of enforcing this Part or regulations made thereunder appoint in writing such persons or class of persons, as he or she considers appropriate, to be authorised officers for the exercise of the functions conferred on an authorised officer under this Part.

(2) A person appointed as an authorised officer under section 10 of the Animal Remedies Act 1993 is deemed to be appointed as an authorised officer to exercise the functions conferred on an authorised officer under this Part.

(3) An authorised officer appointed under this section shall be furnished with a warrant of his or her appointment and, when exercising a function conferred on him or her as an authorised officer, the officer shall, if requested by a person affected, produce the warrant, or other evidence (including an identity document relating to the officer under section 56 ) that he or she is such an officer, for inspection.

(4) For the purposes of enforcing this Part or regulations made thereunder where an authorised officer or a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of customs has reasonable grounds for believing that—

(a) the manufacture, placing on the market, importation, preparation, handling, storage, transport, exportation, distribution, sale, supply, marketing, advertising or use of a veterinary medicinal product or any ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product or medicated feed or intermediate products or pharmacovigilance activities is taking place or has taken place in, on, under or from any land, premises or in, on or from any vehicle,

(b) an offence is being or has been committed under this Part in, on, under or from any land, premises or in, on or from any vehicle,

(c) any land, vehicle or premises is used for or in connection with the breeding, rearing, feeding, keeping, training, exhibiting, selling or transporting of animals,

(d) any land or premises is a slaughterhouse or is used for or in connection with the slaughter of animals,

(e) in, on, under or from any land or premises or in, on or from any vehicle, there is or was any animal of any species to which a veterinary medicinal product is being or has been administered or there is or was any food derived from such an animal or any carcase of such an animal, or

(f) in, on, under or from any land or premises or in, on or from any vehicle, there is or was any veterinary medicinal product or any ingredients for veterinary medicinal products or medicated feed or intermediate products or any machinery (including any telephonic or other computerised information management system), instrument, equipment, container, record or other thing used in the manufacture, preparation, handling, storage, transport, placing on the market, exportation, distribution, sale, supply or use of veterinary medicinal products or ingredients for veterinary medicinal products or medicated feed or intermediate products,

the authorised officer, member of the Garda Síochána or officer of customs (in this section referred to as the “relevant person”) may, stop, subject to subsection (5), any such vehicle or enter (if necessary by force) any such land or premises, or land or premises used in connection with such land or premises, or any such vehicle, and there, or at any other place, and with such other authorised officers, members of the Garda Síochána and officers of customs (if any) as the relevant person considers appropriate—

(i) search for and examine, inspect or test any animals, food derived from animals or carcases of animals or anything believed to be a veterinary medicinal product or an ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product, medicated feed or intermediate products or anything to which paragraph (f) relates,

(ii) take such specimens (including blood, urine, faeces, tissue, hair or remains of implants) from any animals, food derived from animals or carcases of animals, and may for that purpose perform or cause to be performed any procedure (including surgery) as is considered necessary on such animals, food or carcases,

(iii) take, without payment, samples of, or from, any substances, or of or from a thing which may be considered appropriate for the purposes of this Part or regulations made thereunder as he or she may reasonably require and may carry out or cause to be carried out on the sample such tests, analyses, examination or inspections as he or she considers necessary or expedient and mark or otherwise identify it,

(iv) seize and detain anything to which paragraph (f) relates or anything which is believed to be or to contain a veterinary medicinal product or an ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product or medicated feed or intermediate products kept, used or intended to be used in contravention of this Part or regulations made thereunder, as the case may be,

(v) search for and examine any record and take extracts from and copies of any such record,

(vi) seize and detain an animal in respect of which it is, with reasonable grounds, believed by the relevant person that a prohibited veterinary medicinal product or ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product has been administered to it in contravention of this Part or regulations made thereunder,

(vii) require any person who is suspected to be, or to have been engaged in the importation, manufacture, preparation, handling, storage, transport, exportation, distribution, sale, supply or use of, or any person who is suspected to have possession or control of or to have kept or to keep, any veterinary medicinal product, ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product, animal, food derived from animals, carcases of animals or medicated feed or intermediate products or anything to which paragraph (f) relates, or any person who is suspected to be, or to have been, engaged in the breeding, rearing, feeding, keeping, training, exhibiting, selling or transporting or in the possession or control of any animal—

(I) in the case of any documents in the possession or control of that person or any such veterinary medicinal product, ingredient, animal, food, carcase or thing or medicated feed or intermediate products, to produce them to the relevant person or any authorised officer, member of the Garda Síochána or officer of customs,

(II) in the case of any information (including passwords) in relation to such document, veterinary medicinal product, animal, food, carcase, telephonic system, information management system, or thing or medicated feed or intermediate products which may be required (including the source of that document, product, animal, food, carcase or thing), to furnish them to the relevant person or any authorised officer, member of the Garda Síochána or officer of customs,

(viii) require any person, being the owner or the person in charge of animals or, the owner or occupier of, or employed in or on lands or premises so entered to give assistance, to carry out such instructions and to give such information as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of subparagraphs (i) to (vii), and

(ix) require any person who is for the time being in charge or control of any vehicle so stopped or entered—

(I) to refrain from moving it, and

(II) to give assistance, to carry out such instructions and to give such information as may be reasonably necessary for the purposes of subparagraphs (i) to (vii).

(5) An authorised officer may only stop a vehicle for the purposes of subsection (4) in a public place (within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act 1961 ) if accompanied by a member of the Garda Síochána and the officer requests the member to stop the vehicle.

(6) The functions of a relevant person under this section may only be exercised in respect of a dwelling or so much of a vehicle or premises as constitutes a dwelling where the relevant person has reasonable cause to suspect that, before a search warrant could be sought in relation to the dwelling under section 36, anything to which subsection (4) relates—

(a) is being destroyed or disposed of, or

(b) is likely to be destroyed or disposed of.

(7) An authorised officer, a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of customs accompanying the relevant person may exercise all the functions conferred on the relevant person by virtue of this section.

(8) An authorised officer when exercising a power under this section may be accompanied by any other person, and may take with him or her, or that person may take with them, any equipment or material to assist the officer in the exercise of the power.

(9) An authorised officer may use reasonable force, if necessary, to enter land or premises to exercise his or her powers under this section.

(10) Where in the course of exercising a power under this section, an authorised officer finds or comes into possession of anything that the officer has reasonable grounds for believing to be evidence of an offence or suspected offence under this Part, the officer may seize and retain it for use as evidence in proceedings for an offence under this Part.

(11) For the purposes of enforcing this Part or regulations made thereunder, an authorised officer may require a person to give information or produce for inspection any record regarding the importation, manufacture, preparation, handling, storage, transport, exportation, advertising, distribution, sale, supply, issuing or dispensing of prescriptions for veterinary medicinal products or medicated feed or use of any veterinary medicinal product, ingredient for a veterinary medicinal product, animal, food derived from animals, carcases of animals or medicated feed or intermediate products as is in the person’s knowledge or procurement.

(12) A person is not required on examination or inquiry under this section to give any answer or information tending to incriminate the person.