In this Part of this Act—

• “agricultural analyst” means an agricultural analyst appointed under section 67 of this Act and, unless the context otherwise requires, includes a deputy agricultural analyst so appointed for the same area;

• “analysis” includes any process for determining any fact as to the nature, substance or quality of any material;

• “animal” includes any bird, insect or fish;

• “enforcement authority” has the meaning assigned by section 67(3) of this Act;

Any material consigned to a purchaser shall not for the purposes of this Part of this Act be deemed to be delivered to him until it arrives at the place to which it is consigned whether the consignment is by direction of the seller or the purchaser.

Where any material is delivered to a purchaser in two or more consignments this Part of this Act shall apply separately to each consignment.

In England F5. . . it shall be the duty of the council of a county F6, metropolitan district, . . . F7 or London borough and of the Common Council of the City of London to enforce this Part of this Act within their respective areas; and the health authority of the Port of London shall have the like duty as respects the district of the Port of London, which shall accordingly be treated for the purposes of this subsection as not forming part of the area of any of those councils.

In Wales it shall be the duty of each county council and each county borough council to enforce this Part of this Act within its area.

In Scotland it shall be the duty of every council constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 to enforce this Part of this Act within their area.

An inspector shall not exercise his powers under this Part of this Act in respect of any premises outside the area for which he is appointed except with the consent of the enforcement authority for the area in which those premises are situated.

A person shall not be appointed as agricultural analyst or deputy agricultural analyst unless he has the prescribed qualifications.

A person may be appointed as an inspector or as agricultural analyst or deputy agricultural analyst for the areas of two or more enforcement authorities by those authorities acting jointly.

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If the Minister is of opinion that this Part of this Act has been insufficiently enforced in the area of any enforcement authority he may himself appoint one or more inspectors to exercise in that area the powers exercisable by inspectors appointed by the authority; and any expenses certified by him as having been incurred by him under this subsection in respect of that area shall be repaid to him, on demand, by the authority in question.

Nothing in this section shall be taken as authorising an enforcement authority in Scotland to institute proceedings for an offence.

A person selling material for use as feeding stuff may, in conjunction with the matters required by virtue of subsection (1) of this section, include in the statutory statement given under the said subsection (1) only such additional particulars, information or instructions as may be prescribed, and any such seller giving a statutory statement including additional particulars, information or instructions other than those prescribed shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F12level 2 on the standard scale.

Any statutory statement required to be given on the sale of any material shall be given not later than the time when the material is delivered to the purchaser and, if given before that time, shall be deemed to have been given at that time; but regulations may permit the statutory statement to be given later in such cases and subject to compliance with such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the regulations.

In proceedings for an offence under paragraph (b) of subsection (4) of this section the fact that any particulars ought to have been included or are false shall be proved by evidence of the result of an analysis of the sample taken from the portion in question; and in proceedings for an offence under paragraph (c) of that subsection the fact that any particulars ought to have been included or are false shall be proved by evidence of the result of an analysis of a sample taken by an inspector in the prescribed manner from the material sold or, where the alleged offence is exposing for sale, from the parcel bearing the label.

Failure to comply with this section shall not invalidate a contract of sale; and a statutory statement shall, notwithstanding any contract or notice to the contrary, have effect as a warranty by the person who gives it that the particulars contained in it are correct; but in Scotland a contract of sale may not be treated as repudiated by reason only of a breach of that warranty.

For the purposes of the foregoing subsection material which is normally packed before being delivered to a purchaser shall not be treated as ready for sale until it is so packed if the packing takes place on the premises where the material is manufactured but, if the packing takes place elsewhere, shall be treated as ready for sale when it is ready for packing.

In the case of material which has been imported, subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall have effect subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.

In proceedings for an offence under subsection (4)(c) of this section the fact that any particulars ought to have been included or are false shall be proved by evidence of the result of an analysis of the sample taken from the portion in question.

Regulations may provide for enabling the matters required by this section to be marked on any material to be denoted by a mark whose meaning can be ascertained by reference to a register kept in such manner and form as may be specified in the regulations; and any material marked in accordance with the regulations shall be treated for the purposes of this Part of this Act as marked with the matters which the mark denotes.

A person keeping a register pursuant to regulations under subsection (6) of this section shall preserve the register for such period as may be prescribed and a person who has such a register in his possession or under his control shall on demand by an inspector produce it for his inspection and allow him to take copies of it; and any person who fails to comply with this subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F16level 3 on the standard scale.

In the case of any material which has been imported subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall have effect subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.

In proceedings for an offence under subsection (2) of this section the fact that a sampled portion of any material fails to accord with the meaning in question shall be proved by evidence of the result of an analysis of the sample taken from that portion.

For the purposes of this section material shall be treated as marked whether the mark is on the material itself, on a label attached to the material, on a package or container enclosing the material or, in a case within subsection (2)(b) of this section, in such a place on the premises in question that it is likely to be taken as referring to the material.

In proceedings for an offence under subsection (2)(b) of this section the fact that any particulars are false as respects a sampled portion of any material shall be proved by evidence of the result of an analysis of the sample taken from that portion.

Failure to comply with subsection (1) of this section shall not invalidate a contract of sale; and on the sale of any material in relation to which particulars are or purport to be stated as required by that subsection there shall, notwithstanding any contract or notice to the contrary, be implied a warranty by the seller that the particulars are correct; but in Scotland a contract of sale may not be treated as repudiated by reason only of a breach of that warranty.

For the purposes of this section material shall be treated as marked whether the mark is on the material itself, on a label attached to the material, on a package or container enclosing the material or, in a case within subsection (1)(b) of this section, in such a place on the premises in question that it is likely to be taken as referring to the material.

On the sale of any material of a prescribed description for use as a feeding stuff there shall be implied a warranty by the seller that the material does not, except as stated in the statutory statement, contain any ingredient prescribed for the purposes of this subsection.

This section shall have effect notwithstanding any contract or notice to the contrary; but in Scotland a contract of sale may not be treated as repudiated by reason only of a breach of such a warranty as is referred to in subsection (1) or (2) of this section.

If in proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of this section the person charged proves that he sold the material in question or, in a case under paragraph ( b ) of that subsection that he intended to sell it, for use in accordance with written instructions given by him to the purchaser he shall not be convicted by reason of the fact that the sampled portion of the material contains an ingredient which is deleterious only if used otherwise than in accordance with those instructions.

A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F21level 5 on the standard scale or, on a second or subsequent conviction under that subsection, to a fine not exceeding F21level 5 on the standard scale or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.

Nothing in this section applies to any person to whom Article 15.1 of Regulation ( EC ) No. 178/2002 applies.

If in proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of this section the person charged proves that he sold the material or, in a case under paragraph ( b ) of that subsection, that he intended to sell it for use in accordance with written instructions given by him to the purchaser he shall not be convicted by reason of the fact that the material is found, or the sampled portion of it is shown, to be unwholesome or, as the case may be, dangerous only if used otherwise than in accordance with the instructions given.

A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.

Nothing in this section applies to any person to whom Article 15.1 of Regulation ( EC ) No. 178/2002 applies.

No action shall lie on any warranty arising under the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act for any mis-statement as to the nature, substance or quality of any material if the mis-statement does not exceed any limits of variation prescribed in relation thereto for the purposes of this section; but if the mis-statement exceeds any such limits the purchaser’s rights under the warranty shall not be affected by the limits.

Particulars with respect to any material which are contained in a statutory statement or in any document, or which are marked on, or denoted by a mark on, the material, shall not for the purposes of this Part of this Act be treated as false by reason of any mis-statement therein as to the nature, substance or quality of the material if the mis-statement does not exceed the said limits of variation.

Regulations made under subsection (1) above with respect to any material may include provision excluding or modifying the operation in relation to that material of any other provision of this Part of this Act; but, subject to any provision so made, references in this Part of this Act to feeding stuffs shall apply to all material which is intended for the feeding of animals and with respect to which regulations are for the time being in force under that subsection.

Any person who contravenes any prohibition or restriction imposed by regulations under subsection (1) above, or fails to comply with any other provision of the regulations, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F24level 5 on the standard scale or, on a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding F24level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.

With a view to implementing or supplementing any Community instrument relating to fertilisers or to material intended for the feeding of animals, regulations may provide for the application, in relation to any material specified in the regulations, of all or any of the provisions of this Part of this Act, subject to any modifications which may be so specified.

Subject to the provisions of this section, the purchaser of any material which was sold to him for use as a fertiliser or feeding stuff and in respect of which a warranty was given, or is treated by virtue of this Part of this Act as having been given, by the seller shall be entitled to have a sample of the material taken in the prescribed manner by an inspector and analysed by the agricultural analyst for the inspector’s area.

Any request for a sample to be taken and analysed under this section shall be accompanied by such fee as may be fixed by the enforcement authority whose inspector is to take the sample; and different fees may be fixed for different materials and for different analyses of the same material.

An inspector entering any premises by virtue of this section may take with him such other persons and such equipment as may appear to him to be necessary.

Without prejudice to his powers and duties as to the taking of samples in the prescribed manner, an inspector may for the purposes of this Part of this Act take a sample in a manner other than that prescribed of any material which has been sold for use as a fertiliser or feeding stuff or which he has reasonable cause to believe to be intended for sale as such.

Where for the purpose of taking a sample of any material an inspector takes some of it from each of one or more parcels of the material which are exposed for sale by retail and none of which weighs more than fourteen pounds or the prescribed metric substitution the owner of the parcel or parcels may require the inspector to purchase the parcel or parcels on behalf of the authority for whom he acts.

If the person who manufactured any material of which an inspector has taken a sample in the prescribed manner is not a person to whom a part of the sample is required to be sent under subsection (1) of this section, that subsection shall have effect as if for the reference to three parts there were substituted a reference to four parts, and the inspector shall send the fourth part to the manufacturer unless he does not know the manufacturer’s name, or any address of the manufacturer in the United Kingdom, and is unable after making reasonable inquiries to ascertain that name, or, as the case may be, any such address before the expiration of fourteen days from the date when the sample was taken.

If the agricultural analyst to whom a sample is sent for analysis determines that for any reason an effective analysis of the sample cannot be made by him or under his direction he shall send it to the agricultural analyst for another area together with any documents received by him with the sample; and thereupon the foregoing provisions of this section shall apply as if that other analyst were the agricultural analyst for the inspector’s area and the sample had originally been sent to him.

Where a prosecutor avails himself of his rights under subsection (2) of this section he shall cause to be served with the summons a copy of the agricultural analyst’s certificate of analysis and a copy of the Government Chemist’s certificate of analysis; and where a prosecutor does not avail himself of his rights under that subsection he shall, not less than fourteen days before the service of the summons, cause to be served on the person charged a copy of the agricultural analyst’s certificate of analysis and a notice of intended prosecution, and if, within the period of fourteen days beginning with the service of the notice, that person sends the prosecutor a written request to that effect accompanied by the amount of the fee payable by the prosecutor for the purpose under subsection (8) of this section (which shall be refunded to that person by the prosecutor if the prosecution is not brought) the prosecutor shall exercise his rights under subsection (2) of this section and the proceedings shall not be instituted until he has sent that person a copy of the Government Chemist’s certificate of analysis.

Where proceedings are brought against any person for an offence under this Part of this Act and evidence is given or sought to be given of the result of an analysis of a sample of any material taken by an inspector in the prescribed manner but it appears that the sample has not been analysed by the Government Chemist, the court may, of its own motion or on the application of either party, order the remaining part of the sample to be sent for analysis to the Government Chemist.

The Government Chemist shall analyse in such manner, if any, as may be prescribed any part of a sample sent to him under this section but, where the part is accompanied by a statement such as is mentioned in subsection (5)(b) of this section, the analysis shall be made only with respect to the particulars in the statement unless the person or court requesting or ordering the analysis requires it to extend also to other matters.

A request for an analysis under subsection (1) or (2) of this section shall be of no effect unless accompanied by the appropriate fee; and the appropriate fee for any analysis ordered by the court under subsection (4) of this section shall be paid by such party to the proceedings as the court may direct.

In subsection (8) of this section “the appropriate fee” means such fee as may be fixed by F26the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury, and different fees may be fixed for different materials and for different analyses of the same material.

The regulations with respect to the taking of samples under this Part of this Act may include provision requiring an inspector who proposes to take such a sample, in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations, to satisfy himself as to such matters affecting the state of the material to be sampled as may be so specified.

Regulations may make provision with respect to the handling and storage of the parts into which samples are divided and with respect to the period within which analyses are to be carried out.

Any analysis required to be made by an agricultural analyst or the Government Chemist may be made by any person acting under his directions.

A certificate of analysis by an analyst appointed under section 67(3)(b) of this Act shall be signed by that analyst or another analyst so appointed for the same area, and a certificate of analysis by the Government Chemist shall be signed by him or a person authorised by him to sign the certificate.

A certificate of analysis by an agricultural analyst or the Government Chemist shall, in any legal proceedings, be received as evidence of the facts stated therein if the party against whom it is to be given in evidence has been served with a copy of it not less than twenty-one days before the hearing and has not, before the seventh day preceding the hearing, served on the other party a notice requiring the attendance of the person who made the analysis.

In any legal proceedings in Scotland, a certificate of analysis received in evidence by virtue of subsection (6) of this section, or, where the attendance of the person who made the analysis is required under that subsection, the evidence of that person, shall be sufficient evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.

Any document purporting to be a certificate of the kind mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be deemed to be such a certificate unless the contrary is proved.

Any part of a sample, notice, certificate or other document required to be sent to or served on any person under this section or section 77 or 78 of this Act shall be sent or served in such manner, if any, as may be prescribed.

Without prejudice to any other enactment relating to the place where proceedings may be taken, proceedings for an offence under this Part of this Act may be taken in the place where the person charged resides or carries on business.

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If in any case the defence provided by the foregoing subsection involves the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to the act or default of another person or to reliance on information supplied by another person, the person charged shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on that defence unless, within a period ending seven clear days before the hearing, he has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person as was then in his possession.

An inspector exercising his powers under this Part of this Act shall, if so required, produce written evidence of his authority.

Any person who wilfully obstructs an inspector in the exercise of his powers under this Part of this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F30level 3 on the standard scale.

Any person who, not being an inspector, purports to act as such under this Part of this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding F31level 4 on the standard scale or, on a second or subsequent conviction under this subsection, to a fine not exceeding F31level 4 on the standard scale or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.

Subsection (4) of this section shall not prevent an inspector who has taken a sample of any material under section 76(4) of this Act from disclosing to the manufacturer or to the last seller of the material information as to the place where and the person from whom the sample was taken or from disclosing to that manufacturer or last seller or to any person who had the material on his premises for the purpose of sale information as to the results of any analysis of that sample.

Any regulations authorised to be made under this Part of this Act shall be made by the Ministers after consultation with such persons or organisations as appear to them to represent the interests concerned, and anything which under this Part of this Act is authorised to be prescribed shall be prescribed by regulations made as aforesaid.

Subsection (1) shall not apply in any case in which consultation is required by Article 9 of Regulation ( EC ) No. 178/2002 .

Subsection (1) shall not apply in any case in which consultation is required by Article 9 of Regulation ( EC ) No. 178/2002 applies.

In its application to Northern Ireland, this Part of this Act shall have effect subject to the modifications specified in the following provisions of this section.

For section 67 there shall be substituted the following—

In section 76(5), for the words “the authority for whom he acts" there shall be substituted the words “the Ministry".

In sections 75 and 77, for any reference to the agricultural analyst for an inspector’s area there shall be substituted a reference to an agricultural analyst in Northern Ireland, and the expression “agricultural analyst" shall not include the chief agricultural analyst.

In section 78, for any reference to the Government Chemist there shall be substituted a reference to the chief agricultural analyst; and in subsection (10) of that section for the words “ F34the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury" there shall be substituted the words “the Ministry with the approval of F33the Department of Finance for Northern Ireland".

In section 79, for any reference to the Government Chemist there shall be substituted a reference to the chief agricultural analyst, and in subsection (5) the words “(3)(b)" shall be omitted.

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In section 84, for any reference to the Ministers there shall be substituted a reference to the Ministry, and in subsection (2) thereof the words “shall be made by statutory instrument, and" shall be omitted and for paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the following:—

Section 87(1) shall have effect with the substitution for the word “Ministers" of the word “Ministry" and with the omission of the words “made by statutory instrument".

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The appointment of any person under the said Act of 1926 as an inspector, agricultural analyst or deputy agricultural analyst shall continue to have effect as if made under the corresponding provision of this Part of this Act.

In section 2(4) of the M2Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (which contains an exemption for descriptions applied to certain articles in pursuance of the said Act of 1926) for the words “any description applied in pursuance of the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act 1926 to an article included in the first column of Schedule 1 to that Act" there shall be substituted the words “any statement made in respect of, or mark applied to, any material in pursuance of Part IV of the Agriculture Act 1970, any name or expression to which a meaning has been assigned under section 70 of that Act when applied to any material in the circumstances specified in that section".

In section 90(3) of the M3Medicines Act 1968 (which contains an exemption for marks and statements made in pursuance of the said Act of 1926) for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the following—