13. The prohibitions in regulations 7, 8, 9 and 12 do not apply in relation to—
(a) products not produced in the United Kingdom and which remain in their original packaging indicating the country of origin of the products; and
(b) products that are—
(i) produced in an approved establishment in Great Britain from pre-processed products originating outside Great Britain which, since introduction into the United Kingdom have been transported, stored and processed separately from products from Great Britain not eligible for export; and
(ii) accompanied by a commercial document or official certificate as required by these Regulations.
14.—(1) Where reference is made to a commercial document being endorsed in accordance with this regulation, the document must have attached to it an official certificate stating that—
(a) the products concerned have been produced—
(i) in a production process that has been audited and found to be in compliance with the appropriate requirements in Community animal health legislation and suitable to destroy the foot-and-mouth disease virus; or
(ii) from pre-processed materials that have been certified accordingly; and
(b) provisions are in place to avoid possible recontamination with the foot-and-mouth disease virus after treatment.
(2) The certificate must bear a reference to the Decision, is valid for 30 days, must state the expiry date and is renewable after inspection of the establishment.
(3) In the case of products for retail sale to the final consumer, a consolidated consignment other than fresh meat, minced meat, mechanically separated meat or meat preparations, each of which is eligible for export in accordance with these Regulations, may be exported from an approved establishment accompanied by a commercial document endorsed by the attachment of a copy of an official veterinary certificate that—
(a) confirms that the establishment of export has in place a system to ensure that goods can only be exported if they are traceable to documentary evidence of compliance with these Regulations;
(b) confirms that this system has been audited and found satisfactory;
(c) refers to the Decision;
(d) is valid for 30 days;
(e) states the expiry date; and
(f) is renewable only after the establishment had been audited with satisfactory results.
15. No person travelling out of Wales may take with them in their personal luggage or on any other non-commercial basis any product to which these Regulations apply.
16. No person may offer to dispatch or export, or accept orders for the dispatch or export of, anything prohibited from being dispatched or exported by these Regulations, whether on the internet or otherwise.
17.—(1) An inspector may, on producing, if required to do so, some duly authenticated document showing his or her authority, at all reasonable hours enter any land or premises for the purposes of ascertaining whether there is or has been on the premises any contravention of these Regulations; and in this regulation “premises” includes any place, installation, vehicle (including any container, trailer, semi-trailer, caravan or other thing which is designed or adapted to be towed by another vehicle), train, ship, vessel, boat, craft, hovercraft or aircraft.
(2) An inspector may carry out all checks and examinations necessary for the enforcement of these Regulations, and in particular may—
(a) detain any vehicle, vessel, container or anything which he or she reasonably suspects to contain animals or products controlled by these Regulations and intended for export for as long as is reasonably necessary to determine whether the consignment complies with the conditions for export;
(b) search any premises;
(c) carry out inspections of any processes used for the marking and identification of animals, any premises and any installation;
(d) examine documentary or data processing material relevant to the checks carried out under these Regulations, including any import or export manifest; and
(e) take with him or her a representative of the European Commission acting for the purposes of the Decision.
18. An officer of Revenue and Customs may detain any vehicle, vessel, container or anything which he or she reasonably suspects to contain animals or products controlled by these Regulations for as long as is reasonably necessary to enable an inspector to exercise a power under these Regulations.
19.—(1) This regulation has effect when an inspector, on reasonable grounds, suspects that anything other than live animals is intended to be exported in contravention of these Regulations.
(2) The inspector may seize it and remove it in order to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace.
(3) If he or she seizes it he or she must inform the person appearing to him or her to be in charge of the consignment of his or her intention to have it dealt with by a justice of the peace, and—
(a) any person who might be liable for prosecution under these Regulations in relation to the export must, if he or she attends before the justice of the peace by whom the matter falls to be dealt with, be entitled to be heard and to call witnesses; and
(b) the justice of the peace may, but need not, be a member of the court before which any person is charged with an offence under these Regulations in relation to that consignment.
(4) If it appears to a justice of the peace that there was an intention to export the consignment in contravention of these Regulations he or she must, unless he or she is satisfied that the consignment can be returned to the owner without risk of a further attempt to export it in contravention of these Regulations, order that the consignment must be destroyed or otherwise disposed of so as to prevent it from being despatched.
(5) When under the preceding paragraph a justice of the peace is satisfied that there was an intention to export a consignment in breach of these Regulations, the owner, the consignor and the consignee are jointly and severally liable for the costs reasonably incurred in its removal to storage, its storage and its destruction or disposal.
20. No person is to—
(a) intentionally obstruct any person acting in the execution of these Regulations;
(b) without reasonable cause, fail to give to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require for the purposes of his or her functions under these Regulations; or
(c) furnish to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any information which he or she knows to be false or misleading.
21.—(1) Where a body corporate is guilty of an offence under these Regulations, and that offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been attributable to any neglect on the part of—
(a) any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or
(b) any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,
he or she as well as the body corporate, is guilty of the offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2) For the purposes of this regulation, “director” in relation to a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of the body corporate.
22. A person contravening any provision of these Regulations is guilty of an offence and liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment not exceeding three months or to both; or
(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.
23.—(1) Where these Regulations require any authorisation, certificate or approval to be issued or granted by the Welsh Ministers in Wales, an equivalent document issued in another part of the United Kingdom by the relevant competent authority is valid.
(2) Where these Regulations require anything to be done in approved establishments or cutting plants in Wales, anything done in premises approved for those purposes in another part of the United Kingdom must be treated as if it had been processed in approved premises in Wales.
24.—(1) The Welsh Ministers, the Commissioners and any local authority may exchange information for the purposes of these Regulations, and may divulge information to the enforcement authorities in another part of the British Islands.
(2) Paragraph (1) is without prejudice to any other power of the Welsh Ministers, the Commissioners or any local authority to disclose information.
(3) No person, including a servant of the Crown, may disclose any information received from the Commissioners under paragraph (1) if—
(a) the information relates to a person whose identity—
(i) is specified in the disclosure; or
(ii) can be deduced from the disclosure;
(b) the disclosure is for a purpose other than the purposes of these Regulations; and
(c) the Commissioners have not given their prior consent to the disclosure.
25. These Regulations must be enforced by the Welsh Ministers or the local authority.
26. The Import and Export Restrictions (Foot-And-Mouth Disease) (No.4) Regulations 2007(25) are revoked.
Elin Jones
Minister for Rural Affairs, one of the Welsh Ministers
18 October 2007
S. I. 2007/2971 (W.255). Back [25]