| |
Method of testing capability of transferring constituents
6.
- (1) For the purposes of these Regulations, a plastic material or article shall be treated as being capable of transferring constituents to food with which it may come into contact to the extent that it is established for those purposes -
(a) in any case other than one to which sub-paragraph (b) relates, by the verification methods specified in Schedules 3 and 4;
(b) in any case where the extent to which vinyl chloride, as identified in Section A of Part I of Schedule 1, is capable of such transfer falls to be established, by the method referred to in regulation 14(2) of the 1987 Regulations.
(2) In Schedules 3 and 4, references to migration or release of a substance shall be construed as references to the transfer of constituents to the simulant representing the food or, as the case may be, food with which it may come into contact.
(3) In paragraph (1)(a) analytical tolerances, as referred to in paragraph 8 of Schedule 3, shall be treated as included among verification methods.
Transfer of constituents
7.
- (1) No plastic material or article shall be capable of transferring its constituents to food with which it may come into contact in quantities exceeding the appropriate limit.
(2) For the purposes of this regulation a plastic material or article shall not be considered capable of transferring its constituents to food with which it may come into contact, in quantities exceeding the appropriate limit, if the only food which that plastic material or article may come into contact with is food to which paragraph (3) applies.
(3) This paragraph applies to food which is specified in the Table to Part IV of Schedule 4 where there is no "X" placed anywhere in the group of columns headed "Simulants to be used" opposite that food.
(4) For the purposes of this regulation the appropriate limit is -
(a) an overall migration limit of 60 milligrams of constituents released per kilogram of food in the case of any plastic material or article comprising -
(i) an article which is a container or is comparable to a container or which can be filled, with a capacity of not less than 500 millilitres and not more than 10 litres;
(ii) an article which can be filled and for which it is impracticable to estimate the surface area in contact with food;
(iii) a cap, gasket, stopper or similar device for sealing, and
(b) in the case of any other plastic material or article, an overall migration limit of 10 milligrams per square decimetre of the surface area of the plastic material or article.
(5) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations an element of which is that a plastic material or article does not comply with this regulation the defences in paragraph 6(2) and 7(2) of Schedule 3 shall be available as specified therein.
Labelling
8.
- (1) Subject to paragraph (2), at marketing stages other than the retail stage a person who is in possession of any plastic material or article which is intended to come into contact with food shall ensure that that plastic material or article is accompanied by a written declaration attesting that it complies with the legislation applicable to it.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a person in possession of any plastic material or article which by its nature is clearly intended to come into contact with food.
Enforcement
9.
Each district council shall enforce and execute these Regulations in its own district.
Offences
10.
- (1) Any person who contravenes regulation 3, 4(1), 5(1) or 8 shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Any person who -
(a) intentionally obstructs any person acting in the execution of these Regulations, or
(b) without reasonable cause, fails to give to any person acting in the execution of these Regulations any assistance or information which that person may reasonably require of him for the performance of his functions under these Regulations,
shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) Nothing in paragraph (2)(b) shall be construed as requiring any person to answer any question or give any information if to do so might incriminate him.
(4) Any person who, in purported compliance with any such requirement as is mentioned in paragraph (2)(b) -
(a) furnishes information which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or
(b) recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence.
(5) Where the commission by any person of an offence under these Regulations is due to an act or default of some other person, that other person shall be guilty of the offence; and a person may be charged with and convicted of the offence by virtue of this paragraph whether or not proceedings are taken against the first mentioned person.
(6) In any proceedings for an offence under these Regulations it shall, subject to paragraph (10), be a defence for the person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence by himself or by a person under his control.
(7) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (6), a person charged with an offence under these Regulations who neither -
(a) prepared the plastic material or article in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed, nor
(b) imported it into Northern Ireland,
shall be taken to have established the defence provided by that paragraph if he satisfies the requirements of paragraph (8) or (9).
(8) A person satisfies the requirements of this paragraph if he proves -
(a) that the commission of the offence was due to an act or default of another person who was not under his control, or to reliance on information supplied by such a person;
(b) that he carried out all such checks of the plastic material or article in question as were reasonable in all the circumstances, or that it was reasonable in all the circumstances for him to rely on checks carried out by the person who supplied the plastic material or article to him; and
(c) that he did not know and had no reason to suspect at the time of the commission of the alleged offence that his act or omission would amount to an offence under these Regulations.
(9) A person satisfies the requirements of this paragraph if the offence is one of sale and he proves -
(a) that the commission of the offence was due to an act or default of another person who was not under his control, or to reliance on information supplied by such a person;
(b) that the sale of which alleged offence consisted was not a sale under his name or mark; and
(c) that he did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, at the time of the commission of the alleged offence that his act or omission would amount to an offence under these Regulations.
(10) If in any case the defence provided by paragraph (6) 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 shall not, without leave of the court, be entitled to rely on that defence unless -
(a) at least seven clear days before the hearing, and
(b) where he has previously appeared before a court in connection with the alleged offence, within one month of his first such appearance,
he 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 possession, and in this paragraph any reference to appearing before a court shall be construed as including a reference to being brought before a court.
(11) Any person guilty of an offence under these Regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both and on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.
(12) No prosecution for an offence under these Regulations shall be begun 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 earlier.
Presumption as to food with which a plastic material or article is to come into contact
11.
In establishing which descriptions of food a plastic material or article may come into contact with it shall be assumed for the purposes of these Regulations, until the contrary is proved, that, if particulars are shown in relation to that plastic material or article in accordance with the 1987 Regulations, those particulars are accurate and that, unless the particulars so indicate, there are no restrictions on the intended conditions of contact.
Application of other provisions
12.
- (1) The following provisions of the 1987 Regulations shall apply in relation to plastic materials or articles as they apply to materials and articles for the purposes of those Regulations, as if those provisions formed part of these Regulations -
(a) regulation 12 (powers of authorised officers);
(b) regulation 13 (analysis, examination and testing);
(c) regulation 16 (confidentiality);
(d) regulation 19 (evidence of analysis); and
(e) regulation 20 (analysis by Government Chemist).
(2) Article 4(d) of the Order (relating to the presumption of intention for human consumption) shall apply for the purposes of these Regulations as it applies for the purposes of the Order.
(3) Articles 29 and 30 of the Order (which deal with procurement and analysis of samples) shall, in so far as they relate to plastic materials or articles, be modified to the extent necessary to avoid restricting the scope of paragraph 1(a), (b), (d) and (e).
Amendment
13.
In the Food Safety (Sampling and Qualifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1991[15], in Schedule 1 (provisions to which those regulations do not apply), for the title and reference of the 1993 Regulations there shall be substituted the title and reference of these Regulations.
Revocations
14.
The 1993 Regulations, the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995[16], the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996[17] and the Plastic Materials and Articles in Contact with Food (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996[18] are hereby revoked.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health and Social Services for Northern Ireland on
L.S.
J. R. Kearney
Assistant Secretary
27th July 1998.
Notes
[15]
S.R. 1991 No. 198back
[16]
S.R. 1995 No. 107back
[17]
S.R. 1996 No. 164back
[18]
S.R. 1996 No. 580back
| |
