Office of Public Sector Information

PART 10 Emergency Declarations

Disease outbreaks in third countries

61.—(1) Where the National Assembly or the Agency learns of, or has reasonable grounds to suspect, the presence in any third country of—

(a) a disease referred to in Council Directive 82/894/EEC (on the notification of animal diseases within the Community)(26); or

(b) a zoonosis or other disease, phenomenon or circumstance liable to present a serious threat to animal or public health,

or if any other serious animal health or public health reason so warrants, it may by declaration suspend, or impose conditions on, the bringing into Wales of any product from the whole or any part of that third country.

(2) Such a declaration must—

(a) be in writing;

(b) be published in such a manner as the National Assembly or the Agency, as the case may be, thinks fit; and

(c) must specify the products and the third country or part of the third country concerned.

(3) A declaration which imposes conditions on bringing any product from a third country or part of a third country into Wales must specify those conditions.

(4) Where a declaration is in force suspending the introduction of any product, no person may bring that product into Wales if it originates in the third country or part of the third country specified in the declaration.

(5) Where a declaration is in force imposing conditions on the introduction of any product, no person may bring that product into Wales if it originates in the third country or part of the third country specified in the declaration unless the product complies with the conditions specified in the declaration.

(6) A declaration may be modified, suspended or revoked by a further written declaration published, so far as is practicable, in the same manner and to the same extent as the original declaration.

PART 11 Offences and Penalties

Obstruction

62.  No person may—

(a) intentionally obstruct any person in the exercise of a power conferred by regulation 8 or 9 or in the performance of any other regulatory function;

(b) without reasonable cause fail to comply with a requirement made of him or her under regulation 8 or 9, or fail to give to any person exercising a power conferred by those regulations or performing any other regulatory function such assistance or information as that person may reasonably require of him or her for the purpose of exercising the power or performing the function; or

(c) furnish to any person exercising a power conferred by regulation 8 or 9 or performing any other regulatory function any information which he or she knows to be false or misleading.

Defences

63.—(1) In any proceedings for an offence of contravening a provision of the regulations listed in Schedule 4, it is a defence for the person charged to prove that he or she took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence by himself or herself or by a person under his or her control.

(2) If in any case the defence provided by paragraph (1) involves the allegation that the commission of the offence was due to an act or default of another person, or to reliance on information supplied by another person, the person charged is not, without leave of the Court, entitled to rely on that defence, unless—

(a) at least seven clear days before the hearing; and

(b) where he or she has previously appeared, or been brought, before a court in connection with the alleged offence, within one month of his or her first such appearance,

he or she has served on the prosecutor a notice in writing giving such information identifying or assisting in the identification of that other person as was then in his or her possession.

(3) In any proceedings for an offence of contravening regulation 5(9), it is a defence for the person charged to prove that he or she reasonably believed—

(a) that the disclosure was lawful; or

(b) that the information had already lawfully been made available to the public.

Contraventions

64.  Any person who—

(a) contravenes a provision of these Regulations, other than—

(i) the provisions contained in regulations 8(3) and 19(3) referring to payment of costs; and

(ii) the provisions contained in regulations 23(7), 28, 43(5), 45(2) and 57; or

(b) fails to comply with a notice served upon him or her under these Regulations,

is guilty of an offence.

Penalties

65.—(1) A person guilty of the offence of contravening regulation 62(a) or (b) 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.

(2) A person guilty of any other offence under these Regulations is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both;

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, to a fine or to both.

Offences by bodies corporate

66.—(1) If an offence under these Regulations committed by a body corporate is shown—

(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer, or

(b) to be attributable to any neglect on his or her 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 or her functions of management as if he or she 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.

Offences by Scottish partnerships

67.  Where an offence under these Regulations which has been committed by a Scottish partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, a partner, he or she, as well as the partnership is deemed to be guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.