2008 No. 148

AGRICULTUREFOOD

The Specified Products from China (Restriction on First Placing on the Market) (Scotland) Regulations 2008

Made

Laid before the Scottish Parliament

Coming into force

The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 M1 and all other powers enabling them to do so.

There has been a consultation as required by Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety M2.

Annotations:
Marginal Citations
M1

1972 c. 68 (“the 1972 Act”). Section 2(2) was amended by the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) (“the 1998 Act”), Schedule 8, paragraph 15(3), and by the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (c. 51), section 27. The functions conferred on the Minister of the Crown under section 2(2) of the 1972 Act, so far as within devolved competence, were transferred to the Scottish Ministers by virtue of section 53 of the 1998 Act. Insofar as not so transferred and insofar as relating to food (including drink) including the primary production of food, those functions were transferred to the Scottish Ministers by the Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/849), and insofar as relating to feed, those functions were transferred to the Scottish Ministers by the Scotland Act 1998 (Transfer of Functions to the Scottish Ministers etc.) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/304)

M2

O.J. No. L 31, 1.2.02, p.1. The Regulation was amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1642/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (O.J. No. L 245, 29.9.03, p.4) and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 575/2006 (O.J. No. L 100, 8.4.06, p.3).

Citation, commencement and extent1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Specified Products from China (Restriction on First Placing on the Market) (Scotland) Regulations 2008, and come into force on 15th April 2008.

2

These Regulations extend to Scotland only.

Interpretation2

1

In these Regulations–

  • “authorised officer”, means a person authorised in accordance with regulation 5;

  • F1“the Commission Decision” means Commission Implementing Decision 2011/884/EU on emergency measures regarding unauthorised genetically modified rice in rice products originating from China and repealing Decision 2008/289/ECF13, as amended by Commission Implementing Decision 2013/287/EU;

  • “local authority” means a council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 M3; F2...

  • F3“placing on the market” has the meaning given to it in Article 3.8 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety; and

  • “rice product” means any rice product listed in F4Annex I to the Commission Decision that originates from China or has been consigned from China.

2

For the purposes of these Regulations any expression used in both these Regulations and in the Commission Decision has the meaning it bears in the Commission Decision.

F6Restriction on placing on the market of rice products3

F51

The placing on the market of any rice product is prohibited unless—

a

the conditions specified in F14Article 3 and Article 4 of the Commission Decision have been complied with in relation to that product; and

b

where the consignment of the rice product has been split following official control, an authenticated copy of the health certificate and the analytical report accompanies each part of the split consignment.

2

Any person who knowingly contravenes the prohibition in paragraph (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both.

Notification of positive resultsF74

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Enforcement5

1

Each local authority shall execute and enforce these Regulations within its area.

2

A local authority may authorise in writing any person (whether or not an officer of that authority) to act in matters arising under these Regulations.

3

An authorised officer shall have the same powers as an authorised officer of an enforcement authority under section 32 (powers of entry) of the Food Safety Act 1990 M4.

4

Each local authority shall give such assistance and information to the Scottish Ministers and the F15Food Standards Scotland as they may reasonably request in connection with the execution and enforcement of these Regulations.

F85

Each local authority within its area shall ensure that the requirements in the following provisions are adhered to:—

a

Article 5 of the Commission Decision (which is concerned with the conditions under which rice products may be placed on the market, the official controls to be carried out and the measures to be taken with regard to non-compliant consignments); and

b

the first sentence of Article 7 of that Decision (which is concerned with the control of splitting of consignments).

Recovery of costs6

The costs mentioned in F9Article 8 of the Commission Decision shall be payable by the the food business operator F10or feed business operator to the local authority and shall be recoverable by the local authority as a debt from the food business operator concerned.

Application of various provisions of the Food Safety Act 19907

1

The following provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations with the modification that any reference in those provisions to that Act or Part thereof shall be construed as a reference to these Regulations–

a

section 20 (offences due to fault of another person);

b

section 21 (defence of due diligence) M5, with the modification that subsections (2) to (4) shall apply in relation to an offence under regulation 3(2) as they apply in relation to an offence under section 14 or 15, that in subsections (2)(a) and (3)(b) the references to “food” shall be deemed to be references to feed or food and that in subsection (4)(b) the references to “sale or intended sale” shall be deemed to be references to “F11placing on the market”;

c

section 33 (obstruction etc. of officers);

d

section 35(1) to (3) (punishment of offences) M6, in so far as it relates to offences under section 33 as applied by sub paragraph (c);

e

section 36 (offences by bodies corporate);

f

section 36A (offences by Scottish partnerships) M7; and

g

section 44 (protection of officers acting in good faith), with the modification that the references to “food authority” shall be deemed to be references to “local authority”.

2

For the purposes of these Regulations the provisions mentioned in paragraph (1) shall apply to feed as they apply to food.

F12Transitional provision8

1

Until 5th August 2013, the prohibition in regulation 3(1) does not apply in relation to any rice product, other than a rice product which corresponds to CN Codes 1905 90 60, 1905 90 90 or 2103 90 90, provided that—

a

the product arrived in the Union before 4th July 2013; and

b

the placing on the market of the product would not have constituted an offence under these Regulations as they stood immediately before the coming into force of the Specified Products from China (Restriction on First Placing on the Market) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2013.

2

Until 5th October 2013, the prohibition in regulation 3(1) does not apply in relation to a rice product which corresponds to CN Codes 1905 90 60, 1905 90 90 or 2103 90 90.

S ROBISONAuthorised to sign by the Scottish MinistersSt Andrew's House,Edinburgh

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations which extend to Scotland only, implement Commission Decision 2008/289/EC on emergency measures regarding the unauthorised genetically modified organism “Bt 63” in rice products.

These Regulations–

  1. a

    prohibit the first placing on the market of any specified “rice product” (defined in regulation 2(1)), except where–

    1. i

      it is accompanied by–

      1. aa

        an original analytical report based on a particular construct-specific method for detection of the genetically modified rice “Bt 63”, issued by an official or accredited laboratory, demonstrating that the product does not contain or consist of or is not produced from the genetically modified rice “Bt 63”, or

      2. bb

        if it does not contain or consist of rice or is not produced from rice, a statement from the operator responsible for the consignment indicating that the food does not contain or consist of rice or is not produced from rice; or

    2. ii

      the operator established in the Community who is responsible for the first placing on the market of the product has had the product tested and the analytical report in respect of that test demonstrates that it does not contain the genetically modified rice “Bt 63”; (regulation 3(1)(a)) and

    3. iii

      specified requirements for split consignments are complied with (regulation 3(1)(b));

  2. b

    provide that a person who knowingly contravenes that prohibition is guilty of an offence and prescribe penalties for that offence (regulation 3(2));

  3. c

    require an operator who becomes aware of a positive result of a test for the presence of the genetically modified rice “Bt 63” in a specified rice product to inform the Food Standards Agency of that result immediately (regulation 4(1));

  4. d

    provide that a person who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with that requirement is guilty of an offence and prescribe penalties for that offence (regulation 4(2));

  5. e

    provide for their enforcement (regulation 5);

  6. f

    provide that the costs incurred in relation to Articles 2 and 4 of the Commission Decision are borne by the operators responsible for the first placing on the market (regulation 6); and

  7. g

    apply with modifications certain provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 for the purposes of the Regulations (regulation 7).

A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations would have on business costs has been prepared and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from The Food Standards Agency, 6th Floor, 88 St. Magnus House, 25 Guild Street, Aberdeen, AB11 6NJ.