European Communities (Undesirable Substances in Feedingstuffs) Regulations, 2003

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 2003
• Citation: IR SI 317/2003

I, Joe Walsh, Minister for Agriculture and Food, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972). for the purposes of giving effect to Council Directive No. 1999/29/EC of 22 April 19991 (as amended by Directive No. 2001/46/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 July 20012 and Council Directive No. 2001/102/EC of 27 November 20013 ) and Directive No. 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 May 20024 as amended by Commission Directive No. 2003/57/EC of 17 June 20035 hereby make the following regulations—
	Citation and commencement	1.(1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Undesirable Substances in Feedingstuffs) Regulations 2003.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3), these Regulations, other than Regulation 3, come into operation on 1 August 2003.
(3) These Regulations, in so far as they relate to entries at (c) and (j) of point 27 to Annex I of the Directive, come into operation on 1 March 2004.
	Interpretation	2.(1) In these Regulations—
“authorised officer” means—
(a) an authorised officer under the European Communities (Animal Nutrition Inspections) Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 238 of 2003 ),
(b) a person appointed under Regulation 6,
(c) a member of the Garda Siochana, or
(d) an officer of Customs and Excise.
“Directive” means Directive No. 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 May 2002 as amended by Commission Directive No. 2003/57/EC of 17 June 2003;
“Member State” means a member state of the European Communities;
“Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture and Food;
“premises” includes land with or without buildings and, where the context so requires or admits, includes a vehicle, vessel, aircraft or container;
“product” means a product intended for animal feed, that is, an additive feedingstuff, premixture and all other products intended for use or used in animal feed;
“third country” means a country other than a member state.
(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive.
(3) In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears, a reference to a Regulation is to a Regulation of these Regulations and a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to a paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference appears.
	Temporary Amendment	3.(1) The European Communities (Feedingstuffs) (Tolerances of Undesirable Substances and Products) Regulations 1998 ( S.I. No. 283 of 1998 ) are amended, after Regulation 20, by inserting—
“21. For the avoidance of doubt, these Regulations (as amended by the European Communities (Feedingstuffs) (Tolerances of Undesirable Substances) (Amendment) Regulations 2000 ( S.I. No. 36 of 2000 ) and the European Communities (Feedingstuffs) (Tolerances of Undesirable Substances (Amendment) Regulations 2002 ( S.I. No. 363 of 2002 )) are to be construed and have effect as if reference in the First Schedule of these Regulations, in lieu of the matter therein, was reference to the matter in the Annex to Directive No. 1999/29/EC of 22 April 1999 (as amended by Directive No. 2001/46/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 July 2001 and Council Directive No. 2001/102/EC of 27 November 2001).”.
(2) This Regulation is revoked from 1 August 2003.
	Regulation of products	4.(1) A person shall not import, export, put into circulation, manufacture incorporate in a feedingstuff, feed to an animal or have in his or her possession or under his or her control a product unless—
(a) it is sound, genuine and of a merchantable quality, and
(b) if the product is mentioned in Annex I to the Directive, the level of an undesirable substance in a product mentioned in column (2) of Annex I to the Directive opposite the mention of the undesirable substance in column (1) of the said Annex does not exceed the level specified in column (3) of the said Annex opposite the mention of the product in the said column (2).
(2) A person shall not, for dilution purposes, mix a product that does not comply with paragraph (1) with another product or a further quantity of the same product.
(3) Paragraph (1) applies to a complementary feedingstuff taking into account the proportion of the complementary product prescribed for use in a daily ration.
(4) Annex I to the Directive is construed and has effect as if each maximum level referred to in footnotes (1), (3) and (4) is prescribed.
(5) A person shall not have in his or her possession or under his or her control sell or supply an animal to which a product has been fed in contravention of paragraph (1).
	Records	5.(1) A person who imports, exports, puts into circulation, manufactures or incorporates a product in a feedingstuff, shall maintain a record of each transaction relating to a product or a feedingstuff, maintain the record for a period not less than 8 years and make it available on request to an authorised officer.
(2) The Minister may, by notice in writing, prescribe the form and manner in which a record maintained under paragraph (1) is to be maintained and, if he or she does so, a person shall comply with the notice.
	Authorised officers	6.(1) The Minister may appoint such and so many of his or her officers or other persons as the Minister thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of some or all of the provisions of these Regulations.
(2) A warrant of appointment as an authorised officer shall be issued to a person appointed under this Regulation and when exercising any function conferred on the person as an authorised officer he or she shall, if requested by a person affected, produce the warrant to that person.
(3) The Minister may at any time terminate an appointment as an authorised officer, whether or not the appointment was for a fixed period.
(4) An appointment as an authorised officer shall cease—
(a) where the Minister terminates it pursuant to paragraph (3),
(b) where it is for a fixed period, on the expiry of that period, or
(c) where the person appointed is an officer of the Minister, upon his or her ceasing to be such an officer.
(5) Nothing in paragraph (4) shall be construed so as to prevent the Minister from reappointing a person as an authorised officer.
	Powers of authorised officers	7.(1) An authorised officer or a person employed by or acting on the authority of the Commission of the European Communities accompanied by an authorised officer, if the authorised officer has reasonable cause to suspect that —
(a) a product is present or may be present on a premises,
(b) a product is or has been manufactured, incorporated in feedingstuff, processed, stored or otherwise dealt with on the premises,
(c) a document relating to a product or other thing is or may be on a premises, or
(d) any offence is being or has been committed under these Regulations,
may enter any premises and the authorised officer may—
(i) search the premises,
(ii) stop any person, vehicle, vessel or container,
(iii) board and search any vehicle, aircraft, vessel or container,
(iv) search a person, where the authorised officer considers it necessary,
(v) examine a feedingstuff, by-product, vehicle, aircraft vessel, container or other thing that may consist of or contain a product,
(vi) take, without payment, samples, including samples from an animal, of a product, feedingstuff, other thing or any article or substance as he or she may reasonably require and carry out or cause to be carried out on the samples such tests, analyses, examinations, tests or inspections as he or she considers necessary or expedient,
(vii) seize and detain (for so long as is necessary) any animal, product, feedingstuff, vehicle or container,
(viii) require the production of a relevant document or thing relating to an animal, product, feedingstuff process, or premises,
(ix) retain any such document or thing (for so long as is necessary),
(x) dispose of, or require the owner or person in charge of or in possession of, an animal, product or feedingstuff to dispose of it (or any equipment, machinery, plant or other thing used in connection with. or that may have been in contact with, a product) in such manner as the authorised officer sees fit,
(xi) give such directions to, or request such information of such person regarding the animal product, feedingstuff vessel, vehicle, aircraft or container as the authorised officer considers necessary,
(xii) require the name and address of a person and the name and address of any other relevant person including the person to whom the animal, product is being delivered or who is causing it to be delivered,
(xiii) require of a person the ownership, identity and origin of an animal, product or feedingstuff, or
(xiv) mark or otherwise identify an animal, product feedingstuff or a sample taken under subparagraph (vi).
(2) An authorised officer shall not enter, other than with the consent of the occupier, a private dwelling, unless he or she has obtained a search warrant under Regulation 8 other than if he or she has reasonable cause to suspect that before a search warrant could be sought in...