STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 524 of 1997.

THE FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY OF IRELAND (ESTABLISHMENT) ORDER, 1997.

S.I. No. 524 of 1997.

THE FOOD SAFETY AUTHORITY OF IRELAND (ESTABLISHMENT) ORDER, 1997.

The Minister for Health and Children in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Sections 3 to 6 of the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961 (No. 27 of 1961) , as adapted by the Health (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order ( S.I. No. 308 of 1997 ) hereby orders as follows:--

1. This Order may be cited as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (Establishment) Order, 1997.

2. In this Order--

“the Authority” means the Food Safety Authority of Ireland established by this Order,

“the Board” means the Board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland;

“the Chief Executive” means the Chief Executive Officer of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland;

“the Chairman' means the Chairman for the time being of the Board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland;

“the Food Safety Advisory Board” means the body established by the Food Safety Advisory Board (Establishment) Order, 1995 ( S.I. No. 155 of 1995 );

“the interim Food Safety Authority of Ireland” means the non-statutory body established by the Minister for Health in November 1996;

“food” means any substance used for food or drink by man and

(a) any substance which enters into or is used in the composition or preparation of human food;

(b) any substance which enters into or is used in the composition or preparation of any such substance aforesaid, and

(c) chewing gum and products of a similar composition,

“the Minister” means “the Minister for Health and Children”.

3. A body to be known as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland is hereby established.

4. The functions of the Authority are as follows:

(a) to organise and administer a service for obtaining and assessing information as regards the safety of food;

(b) to organise and administer a service for assessing information as regards zoonotic diseases;

(c) to advise the Minister on developments in domestic and European law relating to food;

(d) to advise the Minister on matters relating to food with particular reference to nutrition;

(e) to coordinate scientific cooperation with other European Union Member States in accordance with Council Directive 93/5/EEC;

(f) to consider and report to the Minister on such general matters in regard to food safety and nutrition as he or she may refer to the Authority for advice;

(g) to commission and/or collaborate in research projects relevant to food safety and hygiene;

(h) to put in place such arrangements for the management of food control services as may be directed by the Minister;

(i) to put in place such arrangements for the operation of a food safety surveillance system as may be agreed with the Minister;

(j) to publish on its own initiative or at the request of the Minister reports on any aspect of food safety.

5. There shall be a Board, to be known as the Board of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, to direct and carry out the functions of the Authority.

6. The Board shall consist of not more than ten persons appointed by the Minister, one of whom shall be the Chairman of the Scientific Committee established under Section 17 (1) of this Order.

7. The Minister shall appoint one of the Board members as Chairman.

8. The membership of the first Board shall be the members of the interim Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the term of office of this Board shall be a period of one year from the date of entry into force of this Order.

9. The term of office of a member of any subsequent Board, including the Chairman, shall be such period not exceeding five years as may be specified by the Minister when appointing him or her and he or she shall hold office for the period for which he or she is appointed unless he or she dies or resigns by letter addressed to the Minister or ceases to be a member in accordance with article 10 of this Order.

10. A member shall cease to be a member on being requested to resign by the Minister.

11. The quorum of the Board shall be five.

12. The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

13. The proceedings of the Board shall not be invalidated by any vacancy or vacancies among its members or by any defect in the appointment of the Board or any member thereof.

14. The Chairman may at any time call a meeting of the Board.

(1) If the Chairman refuses to call a meeting of the Board, after a requisition for the purpose signed by three members of the Board has been presented to him, any four members of the Board may forthwith on that refusal call a meeting of the Board and if the Chairman (without so refusing) does not within seven days after the presentation of the requisition call a meeting of the Board, any three members, on expiration of these seven days, may call a meeting of the Board.

(2) At a meeting of the Board--

(a) the Chairman shall, if he or she is present, be Chairman of the meeting;

(b) if and so long as the Chairman is not present the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be Chairman of the meeting or the next ensuing meeting.

(c) In the case of equality of votes on any question arising at a meeting of the Board, the Chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

15. (1) The name of the members present at a meeting of the Board shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the Board.

(2) All the acts of the Board and all questions coming or arising before the Board may be done and decided by the majority of such members of the Board as are present and vote at the meeting of the Board.

(3) The names of the members voting on any question arising at a meeting of the Board shall be recorded in the minutes of the proceedings of the meeting and the record shall show which members vote for and against the question.

16. Members of the Board may be paid fees, travelling and subsistence allowances in accordance with such scale as may from time to time be approved by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

17. (1) The Board shall establish in accordance with terms and conditions approved of by the Minister, a Scientific Committee to advise the Board on scientific and technical questions relating to food safety and hygiene, on matters relating to the nutritional value or content of food, and on any other matter referred to it by the Board.

(2) The membership of the first Scientific Committee shall be the members of the Board of the Food Safety Advisory Board established by Statutory Instrument 155 of 1995 in office on the 31st day of December 1997.

(3) The Chairman of the first Scientific Committee shall be the Chairman of the Board of the Food Safety Advisory Board in office on the 31st day of December 1997.

(4) The Board shall not act on any matter referred by it to the Scientific Committee until it has received the advice of the Scientific Committee thereon.

18. (1) In order to facilitate the general discharge of the functions of the Authority, the Board may establish Committees.

(2) The Board may appoint to any Committee persons who have special knowledge and experience related to the purpose of the Committee.

(3) Any Committee so appointed shall act subject to such directives as may be given by the Board and any expenditure of monies by such Committee shall be subject to the approval of the Board.

19. The seal of the Authority shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman or some other member of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act on its behalf and the signature of an officer of the Board duly authorised by the Board to act on its behalf.

20. (1) The Board shall submit estimates of income and expenditure to the Minister in such form, in respect of such periods, and at such times as may be required by him or her and shall furnish to the Minister any information which he or she may require in relation to such estimates.

(2) The Board shall cause to be kept in such form as may be approved from time to time by the Minister, proper accounts of all income and expenditure of the Authority and of the sources of such income and of the subject matter of such expenditure and of the assets and liabilities of the Authority.

(3) The financial year of the Authority shall be the period of twelve months ending on the 31st December in any year and for the purposes of this provision the period commencing on the date of this Order and ending on 31st December, 1998 shall be deemed to be a financial year.

(4) The annual financial statements of the Authority for each year shall be prepared in accordance with any accounting standards which may be laid down by the Minister. The annual financial statements shall be prepared within three months of the end of the previous year for submission to the Comptroller and Auditor General and the audit of these annual financial statements shall be carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General in accordance with section 5 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993 .

(5) The expenses generally of such audit shall be paid by the Authority as soon as may be after each audit.

(6) Submission and presentation of the annual financial statements and auditor's report(s) thereon shall be carried out in accordance with section 11 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993 .

(7) The Board and the officers of the Authority shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, permit any person appointed by him to examine the books and accounts of the Authority in respect of any financial year or other period and shall facilitate any such examination, and the Board shall pay such fee therefor as may be fixed by the Minister.

21. (1) The Board shall in each year, not later than such date as the Minister may direct, make a general report of its activities during the preceding year and shall submit a copy of the report to the Minister.

(2) The Board shall submit to the Minister such reports regarding the performance of its functions as the Minister may require.

(3) The Board shall publish reports relevant to the functions of the Authority.

22. (1) There shall be a chief executive officer of the Authority who shall be known as the Chief Executive.

(2) The Chief Executive shall be appointed and may be removed from office at any time for stated reasons by the Board with the consent of the Minister.

(3) The Chief Executive shall carry on and manage and control generally the administration and business of the Authority and perform such other functions as may be determined by the Board.

23. (1) The Authority may, with the consent of the Minister, appoint such and so many officers as the Authority may from time to time think proper and in appointing any officer the Authority shall comply with any directions given by the Minister.

(2) Every officer of the Authority holding office in a permanent capacity shall cease to hold office on attaining the age of sixty-five years.

(3) The Authority shall, with the consent of the Minister, determine the remuneration and conditions of service of each officer.

(4) The Authority shall assign such duties as it considers appropriate from time to time to each officer of the Authority and each such officer shall perform the duties so assigned to him/her.

(5) The Board shall prepare and submit to the Minister a scheme or schemes for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other allowances on retirement or death to, or in respect of, such members of its staff as it may think fit. Such a scheme, if approved of by the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, shall be carried out by the Authority in accordance with its terms.

24. (1) For the purpose of the performance of its functions, the Board, with the consent of the Minister, may borrow money.

(2) Subject to the observance of any directions laid down by the Minister, the Board may--

(a) sell, exchange, let or otherwise dispose of any land or other property vested in it and, purchase or take on lease any land or other property;

(b) make arrangements with another person or body for the use by the Authority of premises or equipment belonging to that person or body or for the use by the Authority of the services of employees of that person or body;

(c) may accept gifts of money, land and other property upon such trusts and conditions, if any, as may be specified by the donor, other than in circumstances where the conditions attached by the donor to its acceptance are not consistent with the functions of the Authority.

25. This Order shall come into effect on the 1st day of January, 1998.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The effect of this Order is to establish under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961 , a body to be known as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.