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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Statutory Instruments >> The Official Controls (Animals, Feed and Food) (England) Regulations 2006 No. 3472 URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/legis/num_reg/2006/20063472.html

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"the 2006 Regulations" means the Official Feed and Food Controls (England) Regulations 2006[5];

"audit" means, except in regulation 10, an audit of a competent authority carried out for the purposes of Article 4.6 of Regulation 882/2004 in relation to one or more pieces of relevant legislation;

"auditor" means a person carrying out such an audit;

"the food authority" in relation to any relevant legislation for which a designation is made under these Regulations has the same meaning as it has in that relevant legislation;

"inspector" means, in relation to any piece of relevant legislation, an inspector, veterinary inspector, or other officer authorised by the Secretary of State or other authority to act in England under that relevant legislation;

"the local authority" in relation to any relevant legislation for which a designation is made under these Regulations has the same meaning as it has in that relevant legislation;

"premises" means premises or other property, place or means of transport;

"Regulation 882/2004" means Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules[6], as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 776/2006 amending Annex VII as regards Community reference laboratories[7] and as read with—

(a) Commission Decision 2006/677 setting out the guidelines laying down criteria for the conduct of audits under Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls to verify compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules[8];

(b) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005 laying down implementing measures for certain products under Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and for the organisation of official controls under Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, derogating from Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Regulations (EC) No. 853/2004 and (EC) No. 854/2004[9];

(c) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2076/2005 laying down transitional arrangements for the implementation of Regulations (EC) No 853/2004, (EC) No 854/2004, and (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Regulations (EC) No 853/2004 and (EC) No 854/2004[10]; and

(d) Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety as last amended by Regulation (EC) No. 575/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

"relevant legislation" means feed law and food law to which Regulation 882/2004 applies and animal health and welfare rules, except—

(a) "relevant feed law" and "relevant food law" as defined in the 2006 Regulations; and

(b) the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2006[11] in so far as they regulate zootechnical additives and medicated feedingstuffs.

    (2) In the definition of "relevant legislation" in paragraph (1)—

(a) "medicated feedingstuffs" has the meaning given in Article 1.6 of Directive 2001/82/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Community code relating to veterinary medicinal products [12] as amended by Directive 2004/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2001/82/EC on the Community code relating to veterinary medicinal products [13]; and

(b) "zootechnical additives" means feed additives in the categories mentioned in Article 6.1(d) and (e) of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on additives for use in animal nutrition [14] with the exception of those belonging to the functional group listed in paragraph 4(a), (b) and (c) of Annex 1 to that Regulation.

    (3) Unless otherwise provided in this regulation, terms used in these Regulations have the same meaning as they have in Regulation 882/2004.

    (4) Unless the context otherwise requires, references in these Regulations to an "Article" or "Title" are to an Article or Title, respectively, of Regulation 882/2004.

    (2) For the purposes of carrying out an audit, an auditor may enter premises to which an inspector has a power of entry under relevant legislation ("audit premises") as if the auditor were an inspector meeting the criteria for gaining such entry under that relevant legislation.

    (3) An auditor exercising his power of entry may bring with him any person whose assistance he reasonably requires.

    (4) An auditor may request such information from any person at any audit premises as he reasonably requires for purposes of the audit, and may inspect such records as he reasonably requires for those purposes.

    (5) An auditor may make or require copies of such records.

    (6) When exercising the powers conferred by this regulation an auditor shall upon request produce evidence of his authorisation under these Regulations.

    (7) This regulation does not apply where regulation 9 applies.

Powers of the Secretary of State in relation to audits of local authorities, etc
     8. —(1) The Secretary of State may require a competent authority designated under regulation 5 to provide him with information about any audits it has carried out or undergone or which it plans to carry out or undergo.

    (2) Where the Secretary of State requires information under paragraph (1), he shall do so in writing and shall state the time limit within which the required information is to be provided.

    (3) The Secretary of State may require—

(a) an auditor to carry out an audit of a competent authority designated under regulation 5; and

(b) the competent authority concerned to provide such assistance to that auditor as he may reasonably require in order to carry out the audit.

Powers of the Food Standards Agency undertaking audits on behalf of the Secretary of State
     9. —(1) Where the Secretary of State arranges for the Food Standards Agency to undertake an audit in relation to relevant legislation, the audit provisions of the 2006 Regulations shall apply as if—

(a) the undertaking of such an audit were a purpose described in regulations 8(1) and 9(1) of the 2006 Regulations; and

(b) the competent authority concerned were an enforcement authority to which regulations 8 and 9 of the 2006 Regulations applied.

    (2) The audit provisions of the 2006 Regulations are—

(a) regulations 8 and 9(1) to (8) and (10), as read with regulation 10; and

(b) regulation 11.

    (3) Regulations 17(2), (4) and (5)(c), 18(2) to (9), 19 to 21, 41 to 43, 45 and 46 of the 2006 Regulations shall apply where paragraph (1) of this regulation applies as if that paragraph were a provision of the 2006 Regulations falling to be enforced or executed under the 2006 Regulations.

Community controls
     10. In so far as he does not already have powers to do so, for the purposes of facilitating audits to be carried out by Commission experts pursuant to Article 45, an inspector may enter any premises to which he has a power of entry under relevant legislation, and—

(a) bring with him any such experts; and

(b) show them such records as he inspects.

    (2) For the purposes of facilitating a visit by an inspection team sent by the Commission as provided for in Article 40.3(a), an inspector may bring with him representatives of the Commission when exercising his powers under relevant legislation to enter premises or to inspect records.

Recovery of expenses
     13. —(1) Expenses charged by a competent authority to a feed or food business pursuant to Article 40.4 shall be paid by that business on the written demand of the competent authority concerned.

    (2) Expenses charged by a competent authority to an operator pursuant to Article 28 shall be paid by that operator on the written demand of the competent authority concerned.

    (3) In this regulation "competent authority" means a competent authority designated under regulation 4 or 5.

    (2) Regulations 15 to 19 do not apply where regulation 9 applies.

Enforcement
     15. Enforcement of these Regulations shall be the responsibility of the competent authority which in any given circumstances authorises the exercise of powers under these Regulations.

Powers of enforcement officers
     16. —(1) An enforcement officer may—

(a) at any reasonable hour enter premises;

(b) make any enquiries, observe any activity or process, and take photographs; and

(c) inspect any article or records of any class which appear to the enforcement officer to be relevant for the purposes of his investigation, and may make or require copies of such records and remove such records as he reasonably requires.

    (2) An enforcement officer shall—

(a) produce evidence of his authorisation when requested to do so;

(b) as soon as he reasonably can, provide to the person appearing to him to be responsible for records he removes under paragraph (1)(c) a written receipt identifying those records; and

(c) as soon as he reasonably can after deciding that they are no longer required, return such records, apart from those used as evidence in court proceedings.

Offences and penalties
     17. —(1) A person is guilty of an offence if without reasonable excuse he obstructs or causes or permits to be obstructed—

(a) a relevant auditor;

(b) a relevant inspector;

(c) any person who accompanies a relevant auditor or relevant inspector under regulation 7(3), 10 or 12; or

(d) an enforcement officer.

    (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), to obstruct includes—

(a) failure—


(i) to produce records;

(ii) to provide copies; or

(iii) to provide reasonable facilities for copying records,



as required under these Regulations; and—

(b) failure by any person to provide information in his possession when requested to do so by a relevant auditor, a relevant inspector or an enforcement officer.

    (3) A person is guilty of an offence if without reasonable excuse he supplies to a relevant auditor, a relevant inspector or an enforcement officer information which, in any material particular, is false or misleading.

    (4) A person guilty of an offence under this regulation is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.

Offences by bodies corporate
     18. —(1) If an offence under regulation 17 committed by a body corporate is shown to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer, or to be attributable to any neglect on his part, the officer as well as the body corporate is guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

    (2) If the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body.

    (3) "Officer", in relation to a body corporate, means a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body, or a person purporting to act in any such capacity.

Time limits for prosecution
     19. A prosecution for an offence under this Part may begin no later than after the expiry of—

(a) three years from the commission of the offence; or

(b) one year from its discovery by the prosecutor,

whichever is the earlier.

Amendment to the 2006 Regulations
     20. —(1) The 2006 Regulations are amended as follows.

    (2) In regulation 2(1), in the paragraph defining Community legislation, after "Directive 2004/41," add "Regulation 999/2001".

    (3) In Schedule 1, after the definition of "Directive 2004/41", insert—

" "Regulation 999/2001" means Regulation (EC) 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies [15] as defined (as "the Community TSE Regulation") in the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2006[16] and as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) 1041/2006 amending Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards monitoring of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in ovine animals[17];".

    (4) In Schedule 3, in the definition of "relevant food law", in paragraph (a)—

(a) after sub-paragraph (vi) delete "and";

(b) at the end of paragraph (vii) add—


     " , and


(viii) the matters regulated under Schedule 2 to the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 in so far as that Schedule applies in relation to animals slaughtered for human consumption, together with the matters covered under point 2 of Part II of Chapter A of Annex III to Regulation 999/2001 in so far as that point applies in relation to animals slaughtered for human consumption".

Barry Gardiner
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

28th December 2006

[2] 1972 c. 68.back

[3] )OJ No. L31, 1.2.2002, p.1.back

[4] OJ No. L100, 8.4.2006, p. 3.back

[5] SI 2006/15, amended by SI 2006/1179.back

[6] OJ No. L165, 30.4.2004, p.1; see the corrected text as set out in the corrigendum to the Regulation published in OJ No. L 191, 28.5.2004, p. 1.back

[7] OJ No. L136, 24.5.2006, p. 3.back

[8] OJ No. L 278, 10.10.2006, p. 15.back

[9] OJ No. L338, 22.12.2005, p, 27.back

[10] OJ No. L338, 22.12.2005, p. 83.back

[11] SI 2006/2407.back

[12] OJ No. L311, 28.11.2001, p. 1.back

[13] OJ No. L136, 30.4.2004, p. 58.back

[14] OJ No. L268, 18.10.2003, p. 29.back

[15] OJ No. L147, 31.5.2001, p. 1.back

[16] SI 2006/1228.back

[17] OJ No. L187, 8.7.2006, p. 10.back

 © Crown copyright 2006