Agriculture Act 1970

Supplementary provisions

83 Exercise of powers by inspectors

(1) An inspector exercising his powers under this Part of this Act shall, if so required, produce written evidence of his authority.

(2) Any person who wilfully obstructs an inspector in the exercise of his powers under this Part of this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.

(3) Any person who, not being an inspector, purports to act as such under this Part of this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200 or, on a second or subsequent conviction under this subsection, to a fine not exceeding £200 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.

(4) Subject to subsection (5) of this section, if any person discloses to any other person—

(a) any information with respect to any manufacturing process or trade secret obtained by him in premises which he has entered by virtue of this Part of this Act; or

(b) any information obtained by him in pursuance of this Part of this Act,

then, unless the disclosure was made in and for the purpose of the performance by him or any other person of functions under this Part of this Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400.

(5) Subsection (4) of this section shall not prevent an inspector who has taken a sample of any material under section 76(4) of this Act from disclosing to the manufacturer or to the last seller of the material information as to the place where and the person from whom the sample was taken or from disclosing to that manufacturer or last seller or to any person who had the material on his premises for the purpose of sale information as to the results of any analysis of that sample.

84 Regulations

(1) Any regulations authorised to be made under this Part of this Act shall be made by the Ministers after consultation with such persons or organisations as appear to them to represent the interests concerned, and anything which under this Part of this Act is authorised to be prescribed shall be prescribed by regulations made as aforesaid.

(2) Any regulations under this Part of this Act shall be made by statutory instrument, and—

(a) may make different provision for different circumstances ; and

(b) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

85 Exemption for certain sales

This Part of this Act shall not apply—

(a) to the sale of any material in the case of which, at the time when apart from section 66(3) of this Act the material would fall to be treated as delivered to the purchaser in pursuance of the contract of sale, the material is not in the United Kingdom or, having been imported, has not been released from customs control;

(b) to the sale of any material which is to be delivered to the purchaser outside the United Kingdom;

(c) to the sale of any material in the exercise of a statutory power to enforce a right or to satisfy a claim or lien; or

(d) where the sale is made by a sheriff, bailiff or other officer to satisfy a writ of execution or warrant or decree of any court, or a distress for rent or warrant of distress.

86 Modifications of Part IV in application to Northern Ireland

(1) In its application to Northern Ireland, this Part of this Act shall have effect subject to the modifications specified in the following provisions of this section.

(2) In section 66(1)—

(a) there shall be inserted the following definition, namely—

• “' chief agricultural analyst ' means the chief agricultural analyst for Northern Ireland”;

(b) the definitions of " enforcement authority", " the Minister " and " the Ministers " shall be omitted.

(3) For section 67 there shall be substituted the following—

“67 (1) The Ministry of Agriculture for Northern Ireland (in this Part of this Act referred to as " the Ministry ") shall enforce the provisions of this Part of this Act.

(2) For the purpose of enforcing this Part of this Act the Ministry may appoint such agricultural analysts, deputy agricultural analysts and inspectors as appear to the Ministry to be necessary.”

(4) In section 76(5), for the words " the authority for whom he acts " there shall be substituted the words " the Ministry ".

(5) In sections 75 and 77, for any reference to the agricultural analyst for an inspector's area there shall be substituted a reference to an agricultural analyst in Northern Ireland, and the expression " agricultural analyst " shall not include the chief agricultural analyst.

(6) In section 78, for any reference to the Government Chemist there shall be substituted a reference to the chief agricultural analyst; and in subsection (10) of that section for the words " the Minister of Technology with the approval of the Treasury " there shall be substituted the words " the Ministry with the approval of the Ministry of Finance for Northern Ireland ".

(7) In section 79, for any reference to the Government Chemist there shall be substituted a reference to the chief agricultural analyst, and in subsection (5) the words " (3)(b) " shall be omitted.

(8) In section 80, subsections (2) to (4) shall be omitted.

(9) In section 84, for any reference to the Ministers there shall be substituted a reference to the Ministry, and in subsection (2) thereof the words " shall be made by statutory instrument, and " shall be omitted and for paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following:—

“(b) shall be subject to negative resolution within the meaning of section 41(6) of the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.).] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954.”

(10) Section 87(1) shall have effect with the substitution for the word " Ministers " of the word " Ministry " and with the omission of the words " made by statutory instrument ".

87 Commencement of Part IV, savings and amendments

(1) This Part of this Act shall come into force on such date as the Ministers may appoint by order made by statutory instrument, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions; and, for the purposes of this subsection, Part V of Schedule 5 to this Act, so far as it relates to the [1926 c. 45.] Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act 1926, shall be deemed to be included in this Part of this Act.

(2) The appointment of any person under the said Act of 1926 as an inspector, agricultural analyst or deputy agricultural analyst shall continue to have effect as if made under the corresponding provision of this Part of this Act.

(3) In section 2(4) of the [1968 c. 29.] Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (which contains an exemption for descriptions applied to certain articles in pursuance of the said Act of 1926) for the words " any description applied in pursuance of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act 1926 to an article included in the first column of Schedule 1 to that Act" there shall be substituted the words " any statement made in respect of, or mark applied to, any material in pursuance of Part IV of the Agriculture Act 1970, any name or expression to which a meaning has been assigned under section 70 of that Act when applied to any material in the circumstances specified in that section ".

(4) In section 90(3) of the [1968 c. 67.] Medicines Act 1968 (which contains an exemption for marks and statements made in pursuance of the said Act of 1926) for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the following—

“(a) of any mark which is made on a container or package in pursuance of Part IV of the Agriculture Act 1970 ; or

(b) of any statement which, in pursuance of that Part, is made in any leaflet supplied, or intended to be supplied, with any material.”