The Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2012

Power to inspect, seize and detain EEE etc

3.—(1) An authorised person may—

(a) in order to ascertain if any provision of these Regulations has not been complied with—

(i) inspect any EEE, products, goods, substances, records, documents or information;

(ii) on entering any premises whether under a power of entry under paragraph 2 or under a warrant under paragraph 4, make such examination or investigation as is necessary;

(b) in order to ascertain if any provision of these Regulations has not been complied with, require any person carrying on or employed in connection with a business to produce any EEE, products, goods, substances, records, documents or information and take copies of—

(i) any document or record; or

(ii) any entry in any document or record;

(c) in order to ascertain by testing or otherwise if any provision of these Regulations has not been complied with, and reasonably suspecting such non-compliance, seize and detain any EEE, products, goods, substances, records, documents or information;

(d) seize and detain any EEE, products, goods, substances, records, documents or information which may be required as evidence in any proceedings under these Regulations;

(e) for the purposes of exercising any powers or duties under these Regulations or RAMS, but only if and to the extent reasonably necessary in order to secure that the provisions of these Regulations are complied with, require any person having authority to do so to break open any container and, if that person does not comply or if there is no person present having authority to open it, break it open using reasonable force.

(2) An authorised person may require information stored electronically to be made available in printed form.

(3) An authorised person entering any premises whether under a power of entry under paragraph 2 or under a warrant under paragraph 4 must, if the occupier is present, give to the occupier or, if the occupier is absent, leave in a prominent place a notice—

(a) summarising the authorised person’s powers of seizure and detention of EEE, products, goods, substances, records, documents and information;

(b) disclosing at which office of the market surveillance authority and within which hours a copy of these Regulations is available to be consulted.

(4) An authorised person entering any premises which are unoccupied or from which the occupier is temporarily absent must leave them as effectively secured against unauthorised entry as they were before entry.

(5) An authorised person exercising any power of seizure and detention must—

(a) give to the person against whom the power has been exercised a notice stating what has been seized and detained;

(b) detain those things only for as long as is necessary for the market surveillance authority to ascertain whether any provision of these Regulations has not been complied with and, if required, to present the evidence at court.

(6) Nothing in this paragraph compels the production by any person of a document which that person would be entitled to withhold production of in any proceedings in any court on the grounds that it is the subject of legal professional privilege or, in Scotland, that it contains a confidential communication made by or to an advocate or solicitor in that capacity.