Re-export, alternative use or destruction of certain food7.
(1)
If, on an inspection or examination of food for the purposes of these Regultions, it appears to an authorised officer of a food authority that a batch, lot or consignment of food fails to comply with the food safety requirements or is unsound or unwholesome, he may, after appropriate consultation with a person importing the food, serve on that person a notice—
(a)
stating that the food may be used in Great Britain for purposes other than human consumption; or
(b)
ordering the re-dispatch of the food outside the European Community.
(2)
Any notice served under paragraph (1) shall—
(a)
state the grounds the authorised officer has for believing that the food fails to comply with food safety requirements or, as the case may be, is unsound or unwholesome; and
(b)
inform the person on whom the notice is served of the right of appeal under paragraph (3).
(3)
Any person who is aggrieved by a decision to serve a notice under paragraph (1) may within 6 days exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays appeal against that decision to a magistrates' court or, in Scotland, to the sheriff, who may cancel or affirm that notice.
(4)
No person shall breach the terms of a notice served under paragraph (1) unless that notice has been withdrawn by the food authority serving the notice or cancelled by a court.
(5)
By virtue of this paragraph but subject to paragraph (6), section 9 of the Act (inspection and seizure of suspected food) shall apply with respect to food intended for human consumption which—
(a)
is or has been imported into Great Britain from a third country; and
(b)
on an inspection or examination by an authorised officer, appears to that officer to fail to comply with food safety requirements or, as the case may be, to be unsound or unwholesome,
as that section applies with respect to food intended for human consumption which has been sold or is offered or exposed for sale where on an inspection by an authorised officer it appears to that officer that the food fails to comply with food safety requirements.
(6)
For the purposes of these Regulations, section 9 of the Act shall apply with the following modification, that is to say that the reference in subsection (5)(a) to section 7 or 8 of the Act shall be construed as a reference to these Regulations.