Seizure and disposal of products and requirements to recover or exportU.K.
7.—(1) If an authorised person is of the opinion that a person is committing, has committed or is likely to commit an offence contrary to these Regulations, the authorised person has the power to—
(a)seize or dispose of the plant protection product or both, or serve a notice on the holder of any approval, authorisation or permission relating to the plant protection product, the owner of the plant protection product or any other person appearing to be in charge of it requiring him or her to dispose of it;
(b)seize or dispose of anything treated with the plant protection product (“treated item”) or both, or serve a notice on any person appearing to the authorised person to be the owner or the person in charge of anything so treated requiring him or her to dispose of it; or
(c)serve a notice on the holder of any approval, authorisation or permission relating to the plant protection product, the owner of the plant protection product or any other person appearing to the authorised person to be in charge of it requiring him or her to take such remedial action as appears to the authorised person to be necessary, including recovery of the plant protection product from the market in Great Britain.
(2) If an authorised person has exercised his or her power under sub-paragraph (1)(a) or (b) to seize or dispose, or both, he or she must serve a notice on the relevant person informing that person that the power has been exercised.
(3) If any plant protection product has been imported into Great Britain in contravention of Article 28(1) an authorised person may, by notice served on the person appearing to be the owner, the importer or the person in charge of the product, require that it shall be exported from Great Britain.
(4) A notice served under this paragraph must be in writing.
(5) A notice served under sub-paragraph (1) or (3) must give a time limit for compliance with the notice.
(6) A notice served under sub-paragraph (1), (2) or (3) must—
(a)state that the authorised person is of the opinion that a person is committing, has committed or is likely to commit an offence contrary to these Regulations and specify the offence;
(b)specify why the authorised person is of that opinion;
(c)identify the plant protection product or treated item seized or disposed of, or both; and
(d)state the quantity of the plant protection or treated item seized or disposed of, or both.
(7) An authorised person may withdraw a notice served under this paragraph at any time.
(8) An authorised person may serve a person with a notice under this paragraph even if a previous notice served on that person has been withdrawn.
(9) In sub-paragraph (2) “relevant person” means—
(a)for the purposes of a notice under sub-paragraph (1)(a), the holder of any approval, authorisation or permission relating to the plant protection product that has been seized, disposed of, or both, the owner of the plant protection product or any other person appearing to be in charge of it;
(b)for the purposes of a notice under sub-paragraph (1)(b), any person appearing to the authorised person to be the owner of anything treated with the plant protection product seized, disposed of, or both, or the person appearing to the authorised person to be in charge of anything so treated.