12.—(1) The court before which any proceedings are brought for an offence under these Regulations may, if it thinks fit for the purposes of the proceedings, cause any article which is the subject of the proceedings, and, if it has already been analysed or examined, is capable of being further analysed or examined, to be sent to a food analyst or food examiner, who shall make such analysis or examination as is appropriate and transmit to the court a certificate of the result thereof, and the costs of the analysis or examination shall be paid by the prosecutor or the person charged as the court may order.
(2) If in a case in which an appeal is brought no action has been taken under paragraph (1) of this regulation as respects a particular article, the provisions thereof shall apply as respects that article in relation to the court by which the appeal is heard.
(3) Any certificate of the results of an analysis or examination, which, in the course of proceedings is transmitted by a food analyst or food examiner under this regulation, shall be signed by that food analyst or food examiner, but the analysis or examination may be made by any person acting under the direction of the person by whom the certificate is signed.
(4) In any proceedings under these Regulations, the transmission to the court under this regulation or production by one of the parties—
(a)of a document purporting to be a certificate given by a food analyst or food examiner; or
(b)of a document supplied to him by the other party as being a copy of such a certificate,
shall be sufficient evidence of the facts stated in it unless any party to the proceedings requires that the person by whom the certificate is signed be called as a witness.