Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) This order may be cited as the Medicines (Contact Lens Fluids and Other Substances) (Exemption from Licences) Order 1979 and shall come into operation on 1st January 1980.

(2) In this order, unless the context otherwise requires—

“the Act” means the Medicines Act 1968;

“contact lens” means any thin curved shell of glass, plastic or other hard or soft material intended for use by being applied to the human eyeball as a contact lens;

“contact lens substance” means any substance for use in cleaning, disinfecting, irrigating, lubricating, wetting or storing any contact lens or blank from which the contact lens is to be prepared or any fluid in which such lens or blank is soaked or rinsed or any fluid used as a barrier between such lens or blank and the human eyeball or any other substance used in connection with the use of such lens or blank;

“exemption” means an exemption under Article 2 of this order from the restriction on assembly imposed by section 8(2) of the Act; and

“optician” means a person who is registered in either of the registers of ophthalmic opticians established and maintained under section 2(a) of the Opticians Act 1958.

(3) In this order, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to a numbered Article is a reference to the Article of this order bearing that number and a reference in a paragraph of an Article of this order to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph of the Article bearing that number.

2.—(1) Subject to the provisions of Article 3, the restrictions on assembly imposed by section 8(2) of the Act (licences for manufacture or assembly) shall not apply to the assembly of a contact lens substance by a doctor, pharmacist or optician where the assembly consists only of labelling the container in which the substance is sold or supplied, before the substance is sold or supplied in it, and the conditions specified in paragraph (2) are fulfilled.

(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1) are that—

(a) the contact lens substance is to be sold or supplied by the doctor, pharmacist or optician who labels it in circumstances where he sells or supplies it for use by or on behalf of a particular person after being requested by or on behalf of that person in that person's presence to use his own judgment as to what substance is appropriate for the purpose for which it is required, and

(b) the doctor, pharmacist or optician who intends to carry out the assembly has given notice in writing to the licensing authority of his intention of labelling the containers of contact lens substances and has included in such notice particulars of—

(i) his name and address,

(ii) his professional qualifications,

(iii) the date from which he intends to commence such labelling, and

(iv) the premises at which such labelling will be carried out by him.