S.I. No. 259/1975:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CATTLE EXPORT CHARGES) REGULATIONS, 1975.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CATTLE EXPORT CHARGES) REGULATIONS, 1975.

I, MARK CLINTON, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), hereby make the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Cattle Export Charges) Regulations, 1975, and shall come into operation on the 24th day of November, 1975.

2. In these Regulations--

"authorised officer" means a person appointed under Regulation 4 of these Regulations;

"cattle" means live animals of the domestic bovine species other than pure bred breeding animals;

"the Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

3. (1) Where a Regulation (1) of an institution of the European Economic Community provides for the imposition of a charge on the exportation of cattle, cattle shall not be exported from the State unless--

( a ) before the exportation, the appropriate charge so provided for is paid to the Minister or security (which is, in the opinion of the Minister, adequate) for its payment is deposited with the Minister, and

( b ) at the time of the exportation, a certificate signed on behalf of the Minister and stating that the charge has been paid to the Minister or security for its payment has been deposited with the Minister is produced to the officer of Customs and Excise performing functions under the Customs Acts in relation to the exportation for his inspection.

2. Cattle in relation to which there is a contravention of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph shall be deemed, for the purposes of the Customs Acts, to be goods the exportation of which is prohibited.

4. (1) The Minister may appoint such and so many of his officers or officers of another Minister of State as he thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of these Regulations.

(2) An authorised officer shall be furnished with a warrant of his appointment as an authorised officer and when exercising any power conferred on an authorised officer by these Regulations shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the warrant to that person.

5. (1) An authorised officer may inspect and supervise the exportation of cattle from the State and for this purpose may enter at all reasonable times any premises, railway wagon, vehicle, ship, vessel or aircraft in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that cattle intended for exportation are being kept.

(2) Cattle intended for exportation shall, if an authorised officer so requires, be kept in such pen, lairage or other enclosure as the officer specifies.

(3) An authorised officer may require that cattle shall not be put into or kept in a railway wagon, vehicle, ship, vessel or aircraft, which is being used or is intended to be used to transport cattle from the State, without his consent.

6. A person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer when he is exercising a power conferred by those Regulations or fails to comply with a requirement of an authorised officer shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100.

7. A person who contravenes Regulation 3 of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or at the discretion of the Court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both the fine and the imprisonment.

8. An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 13th day of November, 1975.

MARK CLINTON,

Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The effect of these Regulations is that whenever a Regulation of the European Economic Community provides for a charge on the exportation of cattle, such exportation is prohibited unless the charge is paid to the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries or adequate security for its payment is deposited with him before the exportation. The Regulations provide also for powers of enforcement for authorised officers appointed by the Minister and for penalties for breaches of the Regulations.

Regulations of the Council and the Commission of the European Economic Community which provide, at present, for the imposition of a charge on the exportation of cattle are listed in the foot-note on page 1 of these Regulations.