S.I. No. 297/1986:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CO-RESPONSIBILITY LEVY ON CEREALS) REGULATIONS, 1986.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CO-RESPONSIBILITY LEVY ON CEREALS) REGULATIONS, 1986.

I, AUSTIN DEASY, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to council Regulation (EEC) No. 2727/75 of 29 October, 1975¹ (as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1579/86 of 23 May, 1986²), and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2040/86 of 30 June, 1986³, hereby make the following Regulations:

¹O.J. No. L281 of 1.11.75 page 1

²O.J. No. L139 of 24.5.86 page 29

³O.J. No. L173 of 1.7.86 page 65

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Co-responsibility Levy on Cereals) Regulations, 1986.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1986.

3. (1) In these Regulations--

"authorised officer" means an officer of the Minister authorised in writing by the Minister for the purposes of these Regulations;

"the Commission Regulation" means Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2040/86 of 30 June, 1986³;

³O.J. No. L173 of 1.7.86 page 65

"the Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture;

"the Regulations" means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2727/75 of 29 October, 1975¹ (as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1579/86 of 23 May, 1986²) and the Commission Regulation.

¹O.J. No. L281 of 1.11.75 page 1

²O.J. No. L139 of 24.5.86 page 29

(2) A word or expression which is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Regulations shall, unless the contrary intention is expressed, have in these Regulations the meaning that it has in the Regulations.

4. The Minister shall be the competent authority for the purposes of the Regulations.

5. (1) Any co-responsibility levy owing to the Minister under the Regulations which is unpaid may be recovered by the Minister from the person who by virtue of the Regulations and these Regulations is liable to pay it to the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(2) This Regulation shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 1st day of July, 1986.

6. An operator engaged in first stage processing who contravenes Article 6 of the Commission Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000, or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

7. An operator engaged in first stage processing or a person involved in trading in cereals who contravenes Article 5 of the Commission Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000, or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

8. (1) An authorised officer may--

( a ) at all reasonable times enter and inspect any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that any books, documents or records relating to first stage processing or trading in cereals are kept, and

( b ) inspect and copy or take extracts from any such records, books or documents.

(2) A person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer when he is exercising a power conferred on him by this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £800.

(3) ( a ) A certificate signed by an authorised officer and stating that a specified amount of co-responsibility levy is due and owing to the Minister by a specified person and is unpaid shall be evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.

( b ) A document purporting to be a certificate under this paragraph and to be signed by an authorised officer shall be deemed, for the purposes of this paragraph, to be such a certificate and to be so signed unless the contrary is shown.

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

9. Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of, any person, being a director, member of the committee of management or other controlling authority thereof, or manager, secretary or other officer thereof, that person shall also be deemed to have committed the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

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

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 1st day of September, 1986.

AUSTIN DEASY,

Minister for Agriculture.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations implement the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1579/86 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No. 2040/86, in relation to the collection of a co-responsibility levy on cereals.