Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER I U.K. Competent authorities

Article 4 U.K. Designation of competent authorities

[F1 1. The appropriate authority may—

(a) for each of the areas governed by the rules referred to in Article 1(2), designate any other authority as a competent authority responsible for any of the OCR functions;

(b) modify any designation made under point (a).

1A. A designation for the purposes of paragraph 1 above does not prevent the appropriate authority from exercising the relevant functions itself.

1B. The amendments made to Article 3(3) and this Article by the 2022 Regulations do not affect the continued operation of any existing designation.

1C. But the appropriate authority may—

(a) by regulations, revoke any existing designation contained in subordinate legislation (whether made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 or otherwise) conferring responsibility for any of the OCR functions on the appropriate authority which is no longer required in consequence of the amendments made to Article 3(3) and this Article by the 2022 Regulations;

(b) revoke any other existing designation conferring responsibility for any of the OCR functions on the appropriate authority which is no longer required in consequence of the amendments made to those provisions by those Regulations.

1D. In addition, the appropriate authority may—

(a) by regulations, modify any existing designation contained in subordinate legislation (whether made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 or otherwise) conferring responsibility on any other authority for any of the OCR functions;

(b) by notice in writing, modify any other existing designation conferring responsibility on any other authority for any of the OCR functions.

1E. Paragraphs 1C and 1D are without prejudice to section 14 of the Interpretation Act 1978.

1F. For the purposes of this Article—

(a) “the 2022 Regulations” means the Animals and Animal Health, Feed and Food, Plants and Plant Health (Amendment) Regulations 2022;

(b) “existing designation” means a designation conferring responsibility for any of the OCR functions on an authority which—

(i) was made for the purposes of this Article before 13th December 2022, and

(ii) is effective immediately before that date;

(c) “the OCR functions” means the organisation or performance of official controls or other official activities in accordance with this Regulation and the rules referred to in Article 1(2).

1G. Paragraph 2 applies where, for the same area—

(a) two or more authorities are each designated as a competent authority (whether under paragraph 1 or an existing designation), or

(b) any such authority is permitted to delegate the exercise of specific responsibilities for official controls or other official activities to another public authority.]

2. [F2 Where this paragraph applies] [F3 the appropriate authority] shall [F4 ensure efficient and effective coordination between all authorities involved, and the consistency and effectiveness of official controls or other official activities across its territory;]

F5 (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F5 (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. Competent authorities responsible for the verification of compliance with the rules referred to in point (i) of Article 1(2) may confer certain responsibilities related to official controls or other official activities to one or more organic control authorities. In such cases, they shall attribute a code number to each of them.

4. [F6 The appropriate authority must make publicly available, by publishing online, the contact details of—]

(a) the competent authorities designated in accordance with paragraph 1;

F7 (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c) the organic control authorities referred to in paragraph 3;

(d) the delegated bodies referred to in Article 28(1).

F8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F1 Art. 4(1)-(1G) substituted for Art. 4(1) (13.12.2022) by The Animals and Animal Health, Feed and Food, Plants and Plant Health (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1315), regs. 1(1), 5(2)

F2 Words in Art. 4(2) substituted (13.12.2022) by The Animals and Animal Health, Feed and Food, Plants and Plant Health (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/1315), regs. 1(1), 5(3)

F3 Words in Art. 4(2) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(2)(b)(i)(bb) (with reg. 46)

F4 Art. 4(2)(a) renumbered as words in Art. 4(2) (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(2)(b)(ii) (with reg. 46)

F5 Art. 4(2)(b) and word omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(2)(b)(iii) (with reg. 46)

F6 Words in Art. 4(4) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(2)(c)(i) (with reg. 46)

F7 Art. 4(4)(b) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(2)(c)(ii) (with reg. 46)

F8 Words in Art. 4(4) omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(2)(c)(iii) (with reg. 46)

Article 5 U.K. General obligations concerning the competent authorities and the organic control authorities

1. The competent authorities and the organic control authorities shall:

(a) have procedures and/or arrangements in place to ensure the effectiveness and appropriateness of official controls and other official activities;

(b) have procedures and/or arrangements in place to ensure the impartiality, quality and consistency of official controls and other official activities at all levels;

(c) have procedures and/or arrangements in place to ensure that staff performing official controls and other official activities are free from any conflict of interest;

(d) have, or have access to, an adequate laboratory capacity for analysis, testing and diagnosis;

(e) have, or have access to, a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced staff so that official controls and other official activities can be performed efficiently and effectively;

(f) have appropriate and properly maintained facilities and equipment to ensure that staff can perform official controls and other official activities efficiently and effectively;

(g) have the legal powers to perform official controls and other official activities and to take the action provided for in this Regulation and in the rules referred to in Article 1(2);

(h) have legal procedures in place in order to ensure that staff have access to the premises of, and documents kept by, operators so as to be able to accomplish their tasks properly;

(i) have contingency plans in place, and be prepared to operate such plans in the event of an emergency, where appropriate, in accordance with the rules referred to in Article 1(2).

2. Any appointment of an official veterinarian shall be in writing and shall set out the official controls and the other official activities and related tasks for which the appointment has been made. Requirements imposed on staff of competent authorities that are provided for in this Regulation, including the requirement on freedom from any conflict of interest, shall apply to all official veterinarians.

3. Any appointment of an official plant health officer shall be in writing and shall set out the official controls and the other official activities and related tasks for which the appointment has been made. Requirements imposed on staff of competent authorities that are provided for in this Regulation, including the requirement on freedom from any conflict of interest, shall apply to all official plant health officers.

4. Staff performing official controls and other official activities shall:

(a) receive, for their area of competence, appropriate training enabling them to undertake their duties competently and to perform official controls and other official activities in a consistent manner;

(b) keep up-to-date in their area of competence and receive regular additional training as necessary; and

(c) receive training in the subject matters set out in Chapter I of Annex II and on the obligations of the competent authorities resulting from this Regulation, as appropriate.

Competent authorities, organic control authorities and delegated bodies shall develop and implement training programmes for the purpose of ensuring that staff performing official controls and other official activities receive the training referred to in points (a), (b) and (c).

5. When, within the services of a competent authority, more than one unit is competent to perform official controls or other official activities, efficient and effective coordination and cooperation shall be ensured between the different units.

Article 6 U.K. Audits of the competent authorities

1. To ensure their compliance with this Regulation, the competent authorities shall carry out internal audits or have audits carried out on themselves and shall take appropriate measures in the light of the results of those audits.

2. The audits referred to in paragraph 1 shall be subject to independent scrutiny and carried out in a transparent manner.

Article 7 U.K. Right of appeal

The decisions taken by the competent authorities in accordance with Article 55, Article 66(3) and (6), Article 67, point (b) of Article 137(3), and Article 138(1) and (2), concerning natural or legal persons shall be subject to such persons’ right of appeal F9 ....

The right of appeal shall not affect the obligation of competent authorities to take prompt action to eliminate or contain the risks to human, animal or plant health, to animal welfare or, as regards GMOs and plant protection products, also to the environment, in accordance with this Regulation and with the rules referred to in Article 1(2).

Textual Amendments

F9 Words in Art. 7 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(3) (with reg. 46)

Article 8 U.K. Confidentiality obligations of the competent authorities

1. Competent authorities shall ensure that, subject to paragraph 3, information acquired when performing their duties in the context of official controls and other official activities is not disclosed to third parties where, [F10 by law], that information is, by its nature, covered by professional secrecy.

For that purpose, [F11 the appropriate authority] shall ensure that appropriate confidentiality obligations are established for staff and other individuals employed during official controls and other official activities.

2. Paragraph 1 shall also apply to organic control authorities, delegated bodies and natural persons to which specific official control tasks have been delegated and to official laboratories.

3. Unless there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of information covered by professional secrecy as referred to in paragraph 1, and without prejudice to situations where disclosure is required by [F12 law], such information shall include information whose disclosure would undermine:

(a) the purpose of inspections, investigations or audits;

(b) the protection of commercial interests of an operator or any other natural or legal person; or

(c) the protection of court proceedings and legal advice.

4. The competent authorities, when determining whether there is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of information covered by professional secrecy as referred to in paragraph 1, shall take into account inter alia the possible risks to human, animal or plant health, or to the environment, and the nature, severity and extent of such risks.

5. The confidentiality obligations provided for in this Article shall not prevent the competent authorities from publishing or making otherwise available to the public information about the outcome of official controls regarding individual operators, provided, without prejudice to situations where disclosure is required by [F13 law], that the following conditions are met:

(a) the operator concerned is given the opportunity to comment on the information that the competent authority intends to publish or make otherwise available to the public, prior to its publication or release, taking into account the urgency of the situation; and

(b) the information which is published or made otherwise available to the public takes into account the comments expressed by the operator concerned or is published or released together with such comments.

Textual Amendments

F10 Words in Art. 8(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(4)(a)(i) (with reg. 46)

F11 Words in Art. 8(1) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(4)(a)(ii) (with reg. 46)

F12 Word in Art. 8(3) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(4)(b) (with reg. 46)

F13 Word in Art. 8(5) substituted (31.12.2020) by The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/1481), regs. 1, 4(4)(b) (with reg. 46)