6.—(1) An authorised officer may enter any premises at any reasonable hour for the purpose of the enforcement of these Regulations or the checks required by the Single CMO Regulation, or the Commission Implementing Regulation, or the enforcement of the banana marketing standards.
(2) An authorised officer shall, if requested to do so, produce a duly authenticated authorisation document.
(3) An authorised officer may be accompanied by such persons and equipment as the authorised officer considers necessary.
(4) A lay magistrate may by signed warrant authorise an authorised officer to enter any premises, if necessary by reasonable force, if the lay magistrate, is satisfied, on complaint on oath—
(a)that there are reasonable grounds for entry into the premises for the purposes of enforcing these Regulations; and
(b)that any one of the conditions in paragraph (5) is met.
(5) The conditions are—
(a)that admission to the premises has been, or is likely to be, refused and (in either case) notice of the intention to apply for a warrant has been given to the occupier;
(b)that asking for admission to the premises, or the giving of such a notice, would defeat the object of the entry;
(c)that the premises are unoccupied or the occupier is temporarily absent; or
(d)that entry is required urgently.
(6) A warrant issued under paragraph (4) is valid for a period of three months.
(7) An authorised officer who enters, by virtue of this regulation, any premises which are unoccupied or the occupier of which is temporarily absent, shall leave them as effectively secured against unauthorised entry as they were before entry.
(8) It is an offence for a person who has obtained confidential information in the course of acting for the purposes of the enforcement of these Regulations to disclose that information, whether it was obtained on premises entered under or by virtue of these Regulations or otherwise, unless the disclosure is made in the performance of that person’s duty or in accordance with section 17(2) of the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001(1).