PART IV OUTGOING SHIPS

Examination, etc, of persons proposing to embark

31.—(1) Where a ship is due to depart for a destination, whether final or intermediate, outside the United Kingdom, the medical officer —

(a) may examine any person who proposes to embark on the ship if he has reasonable grounds for believing him to be suffering from plague, cholera, yellow fever, smallpox or viral haemorrhagic fever, and —

(i) if after examination the medical officer is of the opinion that the person shows symptoms of one of these diseases, the medical officer shall prohibit the embarkation of the person;

(ii) and the time and place of an examination shall be arranged to take into account any other formalities; and to avoid delay; and

(b) shall prohibit any suspected person from embarking thereon:

• Provided that in the case of smallpox a person shall not be prohibited from embarking if he satisfies the medical officer that he is sufficiently protected by vaccination or by previously having had smallpox;

  (c)

  shall notify by the most expeditious means the master and the competent authority for the place to which the person is proceeding of any person embarking or proposing to continue his voyage thereon who, in the opinion of the medical officer, should be placed under surveillance;

  (d)

  notwithstanding the provisions of sub-paragraph (b), may allow a person on an international voyage who, on arrival, was placed under surveillance to continue his voyage.

(2) The medical officer shall notify by the most expeditious means the competent authority for the place to which the person is proceeding that such a person should, in the opinion of the medical officer, be placed under surveillance.

Infected places in Northern Ireland

32.  Where the Department has by notice published in the Belfast Gazette, declared any place to be infected with a disease which in its opinion constitutes a menace to other countries by reason of its spread or potential spread, then, until the notice is revoked by a subsequent notice published in the Belfast Gazette, every medical officer shall comply with any requirement which may be made by the Department for preventing the spread of the disease, and in particular (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision) the following provisions of this regulation shall operate in relation to any ship departing from any Board area specified by the Department for a destination, whether final or intermediate, outside the United Kingdom:—

(a) an authorised officer, if so required by the Department, shall require a valid vaccination certificate from departing travellers. In the absence of such a certificate the medical officer may offer vaccination to any such traveller and give notification in accordance with regulation 31(1);

(b) the medical officer may, and within three hours after receiving a request from the master so to do shall, medically examine any person who proposes to embark on or is on board the ship;

(c) the authorised officer may require any part of the ship which in his opinion may be infected to be cleansed and disinfected to his satisfaction;

(d) an authorised officer shall inspect any clothing, bedding or other article which is on, or is intended to be taken by any person on the ship and which, in the opinion of the officer, may have been exposed to infection and may require the disinfection or destruction of any such clothing, bedding or article, and the master shall disclose to the authorised officer any relevant circumstances;

(e) a person shall not take or cause to be taken on board the ship any article which, in the opinion of an authorised officer, is capable of carrying infection: unless that officer is satisfied that it has been efficiently disinfected and, where necessary, disinsected;

(f) if any part of a Board area is included in such notice in the Belfast Gazette and is therein declared to be infected with plague, and if there is reason to believe that there are rodents on the ship, the authorised officer may, and if so required by the Department shall, take steps to secure the deratting of the ship.

PART V MISCELLANEOUS

Compliance with directions, etc, under these Regulations

33.—(1) Every person to whom these Regulations apply shall—

(a) comply with every direction, requirement or condition given, made or imposed by an authorised officer or customs officer,

(b) furnish all such information as that officer may reasonably require (including information as to his name and intended destination and address to which he is going on leaving a ship),

(2) Every person who has for the time being the custody or charge of a child or other person who is under legal disability shall—

(a) comply with any direction, requirement, or condition so given, made or imposed, under paragraph (1); and

(b) furnish all such information in respect of that child or other person as may be reasonably required under that paragraph.

Surveillance

34.—(1) Where these Regulations permit a medical officer to place a person under surveillance, the period of such surveillance shall not exceed such of the following periods as may be appropriate:—

(a) in respect of plague, six days;

(b) in respect of cholera, five days;

(c) in respect of yellow fever, six days;

(d) in respect of smallpox, fourteen days;

(e) in respect of lassa fever, viral haemorrhagic fever, or marburg disease, twenty one days.

(2) Where a person has been placed under surveillance for plague, cholera, smallpox or viral haemorrhagic fever under this regulation by reason of his having come from an area infected with such a disease, the period shall be reckoned from the date of his leaving the infected area.

(3) When a person has been so placed under surveillance under the additional measures in Schedule 3, the period shall be reckoned in the manner therein specified.

(4) Every person who is placed under surveillance under these Regulations shall—

(a) give consent to any medical examination required by the medical officer or by the medical officer for any Board area in which he may be during the period of surveillance;

(b) furnish all such information as a medical officer mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) may reasonably require with a view to ascertaining the person’s state of health;

(c) forthwith upon arrival during the period of surveillance at any address other than the one stated as his intended address when placed under surveillance, send particulars of that address to the medical officer;

(d) if so instructed by the medical officer, report immediately to the medical officer for any Board area in which he may be during the period of surveillance, and thereafter during that period report to that officer at such intervals as he may require;

• Provided that an instruction shall not be given under this regulation unless the Department has by direction (whether general or special) authorised the giving of instructions thereunder.

Charges for services

35.—(1) A Board may charge the owner or master of a ship for a service described in paragraph (2) in so far as the service is for preventing—

(a) danger to the public health from a ship arriving in its area, or

(b) the spread of infection from a ship leaving its area.

(2) The services mentioned in paragraph (1) are—

(a) the inspection of the ship, or the application of measures required to be applied to the ship, in connection with the issue of a ship sanitation certificate in respect of the ship;

(b) the extension of the period of validity of a ship sanitation certificate; or

(c) the application, at the master’s request, of any other measures that the master of a ship is required by these Regulations to carry out.

(3) A charge for a service under paragraph (1)—

(a) must not exceed the actual cost of the service rendered;

(b) must be—

(i) published at least ten days in advance of being levied;

(ii) described sufficiently that the owner or master of the ship is reasonably informed of the likely amount of the charge; and

(c) must not be discriminatory, in particular—

(i) must not be levied so as to make a distinction based on the nationality, registry or ownership of the ship or containers, cargo, baggage, goods or postal parcels concerned; and

(ii) must not distinguish between national and foreign ships or containers, cargo, baggage, goods or postal parcels.

(4) A Board may require the whole or part of the amount of a charge for a service under paragraph (1) to be paid or deposited with it before the service is performed.

(5) At the master’s request, a Board must provide the master of a ship with particulars in writing free of charge of—

(a) measures taken for which a charge under paragraph (1) is made; and

(b) the reasons why the measures were taken.

(6) At the request of a person in relation to whom measures have been taken, or of a person in possession of articles in relation to which measures have been taken, an authorised officer must provide particulars in writing free of charge of the measures taken for which a charge under paragraph (1) is made.

(7) Particulars under paragraph (6) shall include the date on which the measures were taken.

Expenses of Boards

36.  Subject to regulation 35, any expenses incurred by a Board in the enforcement and execution of these Regulations shall be defrayed in the same manner as the expenses incurred by it in the execution and discharge of its other powers and duties.

Recovery of Charges

37.  Every charge authorised by regulation 35 shall be recoverable either summarily as a civil debt, or as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Saving for masters of ships unwilling to comply with these Regulations

38.—(1) The master of a ship on arrival, or being already in a Board area, who is unwilling to comply with, any provision of, or requirement made under these Regulations shall notify the authorised officer, and the authorised officer may then require the master to remove the ship immediately from the Board area.

(2) If before leaving the Board area the master wishes to discharge cargo or disembark passengers or to take on board fuel, water or stores, the authorised officer shall permit him to do so, but may impose such conditions under these Regulations as the authorised officer considers necessary.

(3) When the authorised officer has required the removal of a ship from the Board area, it shall not, during its voyage, call at any other Board area.

Saving for existing enactments

39.  Nothing in these Regulations shall affect the Immigration Act 1971.

Revocation

40.  The Public Health (Ships) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1971(10) are revoked.