Irish Statutory Instruments

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 27th July, 2010.

I, BRENDAN SMITH, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the section 14 of the Metrology Act 1996 at the request of a supervisory officer.

(5) A supervisory officer may by notice in writing suspend weighing operations-

(a) if a person engaged in the slaughter of animals fails to comply with this Regulation or the Classification Regulation,

(b) pending production of evidence requested under paragraph (3) or (4), or

(c) if a supervisory officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that weighing equipment is defective.

(6) A notice under paragraph (5) shall state the duration of the suspension and its commencement.

(7) A person shall comply with a notice under paragraph (5).

Labelling

8. (1) A person, other than the holder of a carcase classification licence or a supervisory officer, shall not amend or otherwise interfere with a label placed on a carcase for the purposes of Article 6 of the Classification Regulation.

(2) If the holder of a carcase classification licence or a supervisory officer amends the weight or the classification of a carcase, he or she shall alter the mark or label made or attached for the purposes of Article 6 of the Classification Regulation and record the amendment in a manner determined by the Minister.

Daily classification sheet

9. (1) The owner or person in charge of an establishment where a carcase is slaughtered shall-

(a) produce a record of the determination of classification and weight each day and the record ("daily classification sheet") shall be made available to a supervisory officer on request,

(b) forward two legible copies of the daily classification sheet to the Minister within 5 working days of slaughter, and

(c) retain a copy of a daily classification sheet for two years from the date the daily classification sheet is produced.

(2) A daily classification sheet shall be produced in a format and design approved by the Minister and a person shall not alter the format or design of a daily classification sheet without the prior approval of the Minister.

Identification

10. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a person shall not identify a carcase with an identifying number for the purposes of Article 6 of the Classification Regulation unless the number is a sequential four digit number consecutively assigned commencing with number 0001.

(2) If a carcase is assigned an identifying number 9999 in accordance with paragraph (1), the next carcase at that premises shall be assigned the number 0001 and paragraph (1) applies to all other carcases.

(3) On commencement of these Regulations, the Minister may permit an identifying number other than number 0001 to be used provided that sequential four digit numbers are assigned consecutively from the identifying number permitted by the Minister.

(4) The owner or person in charge of an establishment where a carcase is slaughtered shall establish and operate a system that enables the-

(a) identification of the carcase from the unique identifier of the live animal issued under the European Communities (Identification of Bovines) Regulations 2009 ( S.I. No. 77 of 2009 ), and

(b) identification of the live animal from the identifying number applied under paragraph (1).

Information to be supplied to vendor

11. (1) The owner or person in charge of an establishment where a carcase is slaughtered shall at the time of payment for the animal furnish the vendor with a statement of the weight and classification as required under the Classification Regulation and any other information that the Minister may determine in a format that the Minister may determine.

(2) The classification referred to under paragraph (1) shall include subclasses for conformation and fat cover and the classifier code 001, if classification is completed using a licensed automated grading technique.

(3) If classification of a carcase is carried out by the holder of a carcase classification licence, the Minister may direct that the classification include subclasses for conformation and fat cover, and a person shall comply with a direction.

(4) If classification of a carcase is carried out by the holder of a carcase classification licence, the unique classifier code assigned to that holder shall be included in the classification referred to in paragraph (1).

(5) Information referred to in this Regulation shall be given to the vendor in writing.

Appointment of supervisory officer

12. (1) The Minister may, by instrument in writing, appoint such and so many persons or a class of persons as he or she thinks fit to be supervisory officers for the purposes of some or all of the functions of a supervisory officer as may be specified in the instrument.

(2) The Minister may terminate the appointment of a supervisory officer appointed by him or her and the Minister may terminate an appointment under paragraph (1), whether or not the appointment was for a fixed period.

(3) An appointment as a supervisory officer ceases-

(a) if it is terminated pursuant to paragraph (2),

(b) if it is for a fixed period, on the expiry of that period, or

(c) if the person appointed is an officer of the Minister upon the person ceasing to be such an officer.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (3) is to be construed so as to prevent the Minister from reappointing as a supervisory officer a person to whom paragraph (3) relates.

(5) An officer of the Minister shall furnish a supervisory officer with a warrant of his or her appointment as a supervisory officer and, when exercising a power conferred on him or her, the officer, shall, if requested by a person affected, produce the warrant or evidence that he or she is such an officer to the person.

Functions of supervisory officer

13. (1) A supervisory officer may at all reasonable times-

(a) enter a premises in which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing a carcase, daily classification sheet, record, including an electronic record, or other document in relation to slaughter or price paid for a bovine or extracts from such sheets, records or documents whether kept in legible form or otherwise, may be,

(b) stop or regulate the use of any machinery, plant or equipment,

(c) require a person to produce any carcase, book, record, including an electronic record, or other document which the supervisory officer believes is in possession or procurement or under the control of the person and require the person to give to the officer such information as may be required in relation to an entry or to reproduce an entry in a legible form,

(d) inspect, take copies of or extracts from a daily classification sheet, record, including an electronic record, book or other document,

(e) inspect a carcase,

(f) seize and detain a carcase (for as long as is necessary), a record, including an electronic record, book or other document for such periods as may be required for the purpose of investigating whether these Regulations and the Classification Regulation are being, or have been, complied with,

(g) inspect the operation of any weighing scales used to weigh a carcase and demand either that a person check the accuracy of the scales in the presence of the supervisory officer or permit the supervisory officer to check the accuracy of the scales,

(h) inspect an automated grading technique,

(i) examine the technical specifications of an automated grading technique, or

(j) issue a notice in writing prohibiting a person from purporting to classify carcases or prohibiting the use of an automated grading technique until such time as the automated grading technique has been examined and operating satisfactorily.

(2) The owner or person in charge of an establishment where a carcase is slaughtered shall provide such facilities for a supervisory officer as he or she may reasonably request.

Prohibition of forgery and giving false information

14. (1) A person shall not-

(a) forge a daily classification sheet, record, including an electronic record, or document established under these Regulations or a document purporting to be an extract therefrom (hereafter in this Regulation referred to as "a forged record"),

(b) alter with intent to defraud or deceive, or utter knowing it to be so altered any notice, daily classification sheet, record, including an electronic record, or document established under these Regulations or a document purporting to be an extract therefrom (hereafter in this Regulation referred to as "an altered record"), or

(c) have, without lawful authority, in his or her possession a forged record or altered record, including an electronic record.

(2) A person, in purported compliance with these Regulations, shall not give information that he or she knows to be false or misleading.

Fees

15. (1) The Minister may, from time to time, set and charge a fee in respect of-

(a) an application for a carcase classification licence or an automated grading licence, or

(b) the performance by the Minister of a function under these Regulations,

and different fees (not exceeding the cost, estimated by the Minister, of performing the function to which the fee relates) may be set and charged having regard to the cost to the Minister of performing a particular function.

(2) The Minister shall not perform a function referred to in paragraph (1) unless the fee (if any) set in respect of that function is paid.

(3) Moneys received by the Minister under this Regulation or Regulation 17 shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance.

Obstruction, etc.

16. A person shall not-

(a) obstruct or impede a supervisory officer in the exercise of his or her powers under Regulation 13,

(b) fail, without reasonable cause, to comply with a requirement or direction of a supervisory officer under Regulation 13,

(c) in applying for a licence or in purporting to give information to a supervisory officer for the performance of the officer's powers under Regulation 13-

(i) make a statement that he or she knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly make a statement which is false in a material particular, or

(ii) fail to disclose a material particular

(d) aid or abet a contravention of an act of the institutions of the European Communities or these Regulations.

Offences

17. (1) A person who contravenes Regulation 3(1), (2), 4 (1), (2), (9), (10), (11), 5(2), 6(3), (5), 7 (1), (3), (4), (7), 8 (1), (2), 9 (1), (2), 10 (1), (2), (4), 11, 14 or 16 commits an offence

(2) A person who commits an offence under these Regulations is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or to both.

(3) If an offence is committed under these Regulations by a body corporate and it is proved to have been so committed with the consent, connivance or approval of or to have been attributed to the wilful neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of an offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she was guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

(4) If the affairs of a body corporate or unincorporated body are managed by its members, paragraph (3) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with functions of management as if the member is a director or manager of the body corporate.

(5) An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

On-the-spot fine

18. (1) If a supervisory officer has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an offence under these Regulations, he or she may serve a notice in writing on that person stating that-

(a) the person is alleged to have committed the offence,

(b) the person may during the period of 28 days from the date of the notice make to the Minister a payment of €200 accompanied by the notice, and

(c) a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will not be instituted during the period specified in the notice and, if the payment specified in the notice is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence will be instituted.

(2) If notice is given under paragraph (1)-

(a) a person to whom the notice applies may, during the period specified in the notice, make to the Minister at the address specified in the notice the payment specified in the notice accompanied by the notice;

(b) the Minister shall, on receipt of the payment, issue a receipt for it and retain the money so paid, and any payment so received shall not be recoverable in any circumstances by the person who made it;

(c) a prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall not be instituted in the period specified in the notice, and if the payment so specified is made during that period, no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence shall be instituted.

(3) In a prosecution for an offence under these Regulations, the onus of proving that a payment pursuant to a notice under this Regulation has been made shall lie on the defendant.

Revocations and saver

19. (1) The European Communities (Beef Carcase Classification) Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 45 of 2004 ) and the European Communities (Beef Carcase Classification) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 195 of 2007 ) are revoked.

(2) A licence granted under Regulation 3 of the European Communities (Beef Carcase Classification) Regulations 2004 is considered to be a carcase classification licence and may be dealt with as if granted under Regulation 3 of these Regulations.

(3) An automated grading technique authorised in accordance with the European Communities (Beef Carcase Classification) Regulations 2004 is considered to be subject to an automated grading licence and may be dealt with as if licensed under Regulation 4 of these Regulations.

(4) All instruments, documents, appointments and letters or notices made or issued under the European Communities (Beef Carcase Classification) Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 45 of 2004 ) and in force immediately before the commencement of these Regulations continue in force as if made or issued under these Regulations.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

20 July 2010.

BRENDAN SMITH,

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide for the dressing, classification, weighing and labelling of carcases of adult bovine animals. They also contain provisions relating to the use of automated classification techniques, the communication of classification results and market price reporting.

1 O.J. L 299 of 16.11.2007, p. 1.

2 O.J. L 337 of 16.12.2008, p. 3.