1982 No. 980
The Agriculture Act 1970 Amendment Regulations 1982
Laid before Parliament in draft
Made
Coming into Operation
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Secretary of State, acting jointly, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19721 and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following regulations, a draft of which has been approved by resolution of each House of Parliament—
Title and commencement1
These regulations may be cited as the Agriculture Act 1970 Amendment Regulations 1982 and shall come into operation on the day after they are made.
Interpretation2
1
In these regulations “the Act” means the Agriculture Act 1970.
2
Any reference in these regulations to a numbered section shall be construed as a reference to the section bearing that number in the Act.
Amendment of the Agriculture Act 19703
In the Act there shall be made the amendments provided for in regulations 4, 5, 6 and 7 below.
Amendment of section 664
In section 66(1)—
a
after the words “means feeding stuff”
in the definition of “feeding stuff” there shall be inserted the words “for pet animals and”
;
b
immediately after the definition of “the Ministers” there shall be inserted the following new definition—
“pet animal” means any animal belonging to a species normally kept and nourished but not consumed by man, not being an animal which has been or may be prescribed for the purpose of the definition of “feeding stuff”;
Amendment of section 685
1
After subsection (1) of section 68 there shall be inserted the following new subsection—
1A
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 £50.
2
For sub-paragraph (ii) of section 68(4)(b) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—
ii
contains any such particulars or, in the case of feeding stuffs, any of the additional particulars permitted to be contained in the statutory statement by virtue of subsection (1A) of this section, which are false to the prejudice of purchaser.
Amendment of section 736
1
At the end of section 73(1) there shall be added the words “or deleterious to pet animals or, through the consumption of products of an animal fed with the material, deleterious to human beings.”
.
2
For subsection (2) of section 73 there shall be substituted the following subsections—
2
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, as suitable only for animals of a specified kind, then—
a
in the case of proceedings for an offence of selling, or having for sale, material which is deleterious to animals he shall not be convicted by reason of the fact that a sampled portion of the material contains an ingredient which is deleterious only to animals of a kind different from that specified;
b
in the case of proceedings for an offence of selling, or having for sale, material which is deleterious to human beings, he shall not be convicted by reason of the fact that a sampled portion of the material contains an ingredient which is deleterious to human beings only if fed to animals of a kind different from that specified; and
2A
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.
New section 73A7
After section 73 there shall be inserted as section 73A the following new section—
73A
1
Subject to the provisions of this section, any person who—
a
sells any material for use as a feeding stuff, or
b
has on his premises, for the purpose of selling it in the course of trade for such use, any material which is ready for sale,
shall be guilty of an offence if the material is found, or if a sampled portion of the material is shown by an analysis of the sample taken from it, to be unwholesome for or to be dangerous to animals of any description prescribed for the purpose of the definition of “feeding stuff” in section 66(1) of this Act, or to be unwholesome for or to be dangerous to, pet animals or, through the consumption of the products of an animal fed with the material, dangerous to human beings.
2
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, as suitable only for animals of a specified kind, then—
a
in the case of proceedings for an offence of selling, or having for sale, material which is unwholesome for, or dangerous to animals he shall not be convicted by reason of the fact that the material is found, or a sampled portion of it is shown, to be unwholesome only for or, as the case may be, dangerous only to animals of a kind different from that specified;
b
in the case of proceedings for an offence of selling, or having for sale, material dangerous to human beings, 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 dangerous to human beings only if fed to animals of a kind different from that specified.
3
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.
4
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.
In Witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on 14th July 1982.