The Food Safety (Fishery Products and Live Shellfish) (Hygiene) Regulations 1998

The reducible element of the charge

50.—(1) A vendor who enters into a chargeable transaction may, with the consent of the food authority for the area where the chargeable transaction takes place, reduce by such amount as the food authority considers reasonable the part of the third country direct landings charge which is calculated in accordance with regulation 48(2)(a) (referred to in this Part hereafter as “the reducible element”) in circumstances where any of the checks mentioned in Section II of Chapter V of Schedule 3 are or were facilitated by one or more of the following factors—

(a) the fish are or were graded for freshness and/or size in accordance with relevant national or Community rules;

(b) the first sale transactions are or were grouped together, in particular at an auction or wholesale market,

except that the reducible element shall not be reduced by more than 55% of the total amount that the reducible element would be, if it were not reduced.

(2) A vendor who considers that in respect of a chargeable transaction a food authority has unreasonably refused to consent—

(a) to a reduction in the reducible element of the charge; or

(b) to a reduction in the reducible element of the charge by a larger amount than the amount by which the food authority has agreed that the reducible element of the charge may be reduced,

may appeal against the food authority’s decision to a magistrates' court or, in Scotland, to the sheriff, and section 37(3) to (6) of the Act shall apply in relation to such an appeal as it applies in relation to an appeal under section 37(1)(c) of the Act.

(3) On an appeal, the court may—

(a) confirm the decision of the food authority;

(b) reduce the amount of the reducible element of the charge to the level it thinks fit, except that the court shall not reduce the reducible element by an amount which results in a total reduction of more than 55% of the total amount that the reducible element would be, if it were not reduced.

(4) Pending the outcome of the appeal—

(a) the original amount of the charge shall remain payable by the first purchaser to the vendor; and

(b) a sum equal to the original amount of the charge shall remain payable by the vendor to the food authority,

but if after the court’s decision the amount of the charge needs to be recalculated, the new amount of the charge, and the sum equal to that new amount which is payable to the food authority, shall have effect from the date on which the original charge was made.

(5) If, as a result of the recalculation of the amount of a third country direct landings charge by a court, a vendor of relevant fishery products has made an overpayment to a food authority in respect of a sum payable under this Part, the food authority shall reimburse the vendor as appropriate.