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S.I. No. 307 of 2006
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Health (Country of Origin of Beef)
Regulations 2006
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I, Mary Harney,
Minister for Health and Children, in exercise of the powers conferred on me
by section 54 (inserted by section 25 of the Irish Medicines Board
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (No. 3 of 2006)) of the Health Act 1947
(No. 28 of 1947) (as adapted by Health (Alteration of Name of Department and
Title of Minister) Order 1997 ( S.I. No. 308 of 1997 )), after consulting
with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Minister for
Agriculture and Food, hereby make the following regulations:
1. These
Regulations may be cited as the Health (Country of Origin of Beef)
Regulations 2006 and they come into operation on 3 July 2006.
2. (1) In
these Regulations-
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“Act of 1998” means the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act 1998
(No. 29 of 1998);
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“approved examiner” means a person or class of persons designated by
the Minister pursuant to Regulation 11;
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“authorised officer” means an officer appointed under Section 49 of
the Act of 1998;
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“Authority” means the Food Safety Authority of Ireland established
under Section 9 of the Act of 1998;
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“beef” shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in Article
12 of the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of
17 July 20001 and is subject to the provisions of
Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1825/2000 of 25 August 20002 and
the European Communities (Labelling of Beef and Beef Products) Regulations
2000 ( S.I. No. 435 of 2000 );
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“clear legible type” shall be construed as meaning in all cases that
the information concerned is clearly legible and in the case of print the
size of the lettering used must be at least print font size 12;
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“country of origin” shall include all those countries in which the
animal was born, reared or slaughtered as referred to in Article 13 of the
European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No. 1760/2000 of 17 July
2000;
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“Executive” means the Health Service Executive established under section
6 of the Health Act 2004 (No. 42 of 2004);
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“food business operator” shall have the same meaning as that
assigned to it in Article 3 of the European Parliament and Council
Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of 28 January 20023 ;
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“Minister” means the Minister for Health and Children;
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“official laboratory” means a laboratory designated by the Minister
pursuant to Regulation 11;
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“prepared beef” means beef which has been cooked or otherwise
prepared for human consumption.
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(2) (a) A reference in these
Regulations to a regulation is to a regulation of these Regulations, unless
it is indicated that reference to some other Regulations is intended.
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(b) A reference in these Regulations
to a paragraph is to the paragraph of the provision in which the reference
occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is
intended.
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(c) A reference in these Regulations
to a Schedule is to a Schedule to these Regulations, unless it is indicated
that reference to some other Regulations is intended.
3. A
food business operator providing prepared beef to consumers shall not-
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(a) advertise
the beef for sale or supply,
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(b) present
it for sale or supply, or
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(c) sell
or supply it,
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unless the country or countries of origin of the beef is indicated
at the point of advertising, presenting, sale and supply in clear legible
type on the advertisement, menu or other presentation used and such
indication shall be in the Irish language or in the English language or in
both languages.
4. A
food business operator shall be required to keep for a period of not less
than two years such records relating to regulation 3 that will properly
validate the indications of country or countries of origin under that
regulation and shall present those records to an authorised officer on
request.
5. These
Regulations shall be deemed to be food legislation for the purposes of the
Act of 1998.
6. These
Regulations shall be enforced by the Authority or by the Executive acting
pursuant to a service contract with the Authority, or by both and the
enforcement provisions contained in the Act of 1998 shall apply for the
purposes of ensuring compliance with the requirements of these Regulations.
7. An
authorised officer may exercise such other powers as may be reasonably
necessary to ensure that these Regulations are being complied with.
8. For
the purposes of these Regulations, sampling shall be carried out by an
authorised officer and analysis shall be carried out by an approved
examiner, or by a person acting under his or her direction, in an official
laboratory.
9. (1)
An authorised officer may, at all reasonable times, enter any premises at
which he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that any prepared beef
is being advertised, presented, sold or supplied or that records in relation
to such advertisement, presentation, sale or supply of prepared beef are
being held or kept.
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(2) An authorised officer shall not, other than with the consent of
the occupier, enter a private dwelling unless he or she has obtained a
warrant from the District Court under paragraph (3) authorising such entry.
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(3) If a judge of the District Court is satisfied on the sworn
information of an authorised officer that there are reasonable grounds for
suspecting that information required by an authorised officer under this
section is held in any premises, the judge may issue a warrant authorising
an authorised officer, accompanied if appropriate by other authorised
officers or by a member of the Garda Síochana, at any time or times within one month from the
date of issue of the warrant, on production of the warrant if so requested,
to enter that premises, if needs be by reasonable force, and exercise all or
any of the powers conferred on an authorised officer under this section.
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(4) An authorised officer may, for the purposes of enforcing these
Regulations, purchase or take without payment a sample of beef or prepared
beef or any other article or substance as the officer may reasonably
require.
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(5) An authorised officer may, for the purpose of taking a sample of
beef or prepared beef or of another relevant article or substance, open any
receptacle.
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(6) Where an authorised officer purchases or takes without payment a
sample of beef or prepared beef or of another relevant article or substance,
with the intention of having it analysed, he or she shall after purchasing
or taking the sample forthwith notify the food business operator of his or
her intention to have the sample analysed.
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(7) Where a sample of beef or prepared beef or of another relevant
article or substance is taken pursuant to these Regulations for the purpose
of official analysis, and where the division of the sample is reasonably
practicable, the authorised officer concerned may divide the sample into
three approximately equal parts each of which he or she shall mark in such a
way as to identify it as a part of the sample taken by the officer. The
authorised officer shall mark, seal and fasten each part in such a manner as
its nature will permit, forward one part to the approved examiner in an
official laboratory for analysis, give or send one part to the food business
operator and retain the third part.
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(8) An authorised officer may inspect and take copies of or extracts
from any books, records or other documents or evidence which he or she finds
in the course of his or her inspection, as he or she may consider
appropriate for the purposes of these Regulations.
10. (1)
The approved examiner or a person under his or her direction shall analyse
as soon as practicable any sample of beef or prepared beef or of another
relevant article or substance submitted to him or her in pursuance of these
Regulations and the approved examiner shall certify the result of such
analysis. The form of certificate set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations
or certificate in like form shall be used.
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(2) Any official certificate given in accordance with paragraph (1)
of this regulation shall be prima facie evidence of the matters
contained therein until the contrary is proved.
11. The
Minister may, for the purposes of these Regulations designate, by notice in
writing published in Iris Oifigiúil-
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(a) a
laboratory as a laboratory at which samples taken under these Regulations
may be analysed, and
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(b) a
person as being a person who, or a class of persons the members of which,
may, at a designated laboratory, engage in analysis for the purposes of
these Regulations.
12. A person
who-
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(a) obstructs or
interferes with an authorised officer in the exercise of the officer's
powers under these Regulations,
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(b) fails or
refuses to state his or her name or address in compliance with a requirement
under these Regulations,
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(c) fails to comply
with a request from an authorised officer under these Regulations,
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(d) makes a
statement to an authorised officer which the person knows is false or
misleading, or
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(e) gives in
purported compliance with a requirement under these Regulations a name, an
address or corroborative evidence which is false or misleading
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is guilty of an offence.
13. (1) Any
person who forges, or utters knowing it to be forged, a certificate or other
document purporting to be issued, granted or given under these Regulations
(hereafter in this regulation referred to as “a forged document”), is guilty
of an offence.
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(2) Any person who
alters with intent to defraud or deceive, or who utters knowing it to be so
altered, a certificate or other document issued, granted or given under
these Regulations (hereafter in this regulation referred to as “an altered
document”), is guilty of an offence.
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(3) Any person who,
without lawful authority, has in his or her possession a forged document or
an altered document is guilty of an offence.
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(4) Any person who,
with intent to defraud or deceive-
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(a) tampers with
any thing so as to procure that any sample taken pursuant to these
Regulations does not correctly represent the substance sampled, or
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(b) tampers or
interferes with any sample taken under these Regulations
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is guilty of an offence.
14. Where
an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate or by a
person acting on behalf of a body corporate and is proved to have been so
committed with the consent, connivance or approval of, or to be attributed
to any neglect or default on the part of, any director, manager, secretary
or any other officer of such body, or a person who was purporting to act in
any such capacity, such person is also guilty of an offence and shall be
liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she were guilty of
the first-mentioned offence.
15. An
offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by either the Authority or
by the Executive or by both.
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Schedule
1
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Form of official certificate to be given by an approved examiner to
an authorised officer.
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Health (Country of Origin of Beef)
Regulations 2006
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Certificate of Analysis
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To (1)
........................................
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I, the undersigned (2)
.........................................
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being an Approved Examiner for the purpose of
the above Regulations certify that on the .........................day of
.......................... 20......
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a sample marked (3) .....................................
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Date .....................................
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Number .....................................
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Weight or Measure (4)
..................................
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was submitted to me by you and I certify that
the sample was prepared and analysed/examined by me or under my direction
and as a result I am of the opinion that (5)
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Observations:(6)
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I further certify that the sample has
undergone no change which would affect my opinion/observations expressed
above.
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Certified by me this .....................
day of .............................. 20......
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at (7) ......................................
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Name in BLOCK LETTERS
..............................................................
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Status
............................................................
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Signature
..........................................................
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_________________
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Official Stamp
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NOTES
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(1) Insert
the name and address of the person submitting the sample for analysis.
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(2) Insert
description.
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(3) Insert
particulars of marking (e.g. name, date etc.).
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(4) This
may be left unanswered if the sample cannot be conveniently weighed or
measured or the weight or measurement is not material to the result of
analysis.
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(5) Here
the approved examiner should specify the result of the analysis having
regard to the provisions of relevant legislation.
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(6) Here
the approved examiner may insert, at his or her discretion, his or her
opinion whether the analysis indicates any addition, abstraction, deficiency
or the presence of foreign matter or other defect and whether the
composition or quality is thereby affected; any physical, chemical or other
properties bearing on the composition or quality of the article; whether the
article is injurious to health or unfit for human consumption; whether and
in what respect a label and description relating to the sample is incorrect
or misleading; and he or she may add any other observations as he or she may
consider relevant.
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(7) Insert
the name and address of the laboratory carrying out the
analysis/examination.
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GIVEN under my Official Seal this
13th day of June 2006.
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Mary Harney
Minister for Health and Children
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Explanatory Note
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(This
note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal
interpretation).
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These Regulations provide that a food business operator providing
prepared beef to consumers shall not (a) advertise the beef for sale or
supply, (b) present it for sale or supply, or (c) sell or supply it unless
the country or countries of origin of the beef is indicated at the point of
advertising, presenting, sale and supply in clear legible type on the
advertisement, menu or other presentation used.
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These Regulations may be cited as the Health
(Country of Origin of Beef) Regulations 2006.
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND CHILDREN.
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June, 2006
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1 OJ L204, 11.8.2000, p.1.
2 OJ L216, 26.8.2000, p.8.
3 OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.
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