The Oilseeds Producers (Support System) Regulations 1992

Powers of authorised officers

5.—(1) An authorised officer may at all reasonable hours and on producing, if so required, some duly authenticated document showing his authority, exercise the powers specified in this regulation for the purposes of—

(a) carrying out any specified control measure, or

(b) ascertaining whether an offence under regulation 9(3) has been or is being committed.

(2) An authorised officer may enter any land, other than land used only as a dwelling, which is, or which such officer has reasonable cause to believe to be, a production holding occupied by, or in the possession of, a producer or any employee, servant or agent of a producer.

(3) An authorised officer who has entered any land by virtue of this regulation may—

(a) inspect all or any part of the land farmed by a producer;

(b) inspect any oilseeds growing on that land or kept on it and;

(c) where the producer’s application states that he has sown seed of a type specified in Article 6(1)(b) of the Commission Regulation, remove a sufficient quantity of seed of the type sown in order to carry out the analysis referred to in Annex V or Annex VI of that Regulation.

(4) An authorised officer entering any land by virtue of this regulation may take with him such other persons as he considers necessary.

(5) An authorised officer may—

(a) require any producer or any employee, servant or agent of a producer to produce any record and to supply such additional information in that person’s possession or under his control relating to an application for direct payment as the authorised officer may reasonably request;

(b) inspect any such record and, where any such record is kept by means of a computer, have access to, and inspect and check the operation of, any computer and any associated apparatus or material which is or has been in use in connection with that record;

(c) require that copies of, or extracts from, any record be produced;

(d) seize and retain any such record which he has reason to believe may be required as evidence in proceedings under these Regulations and, where any such record is kept by means of a computer, require it to be produced in a form in which it may be taken away.