Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Imported Food and Feedingstuffs (Safeguards against Cholera) (Amendment) Regulations 1991 and shall come into force on 29th January 1992.

Amendment of the Imported Food and Feedingstuffs (Safeguards against Cholera) Regulations 1991

2.-(1) The Imported Food and Feedingstuffs (Safeguards against Cholera) Regulations 1991(5) shall be amended in accordance with this regulation.

(2) In regulation 1(2)-

(a)after the definition of "CERPER" there shall be inserted the following-

""the Council Regulation" means Council Regulation (EEC) No 3185/91 adopting protective measures for the import of fruit and vegetables from certain countries affected by cholera(6);"

(b)after the definition of "fish" there shall be inserted the following-

""member State" means a member State of the European Economic Community other than the United Kingdom;";

(c)for the definition of "product" there shall be substituted the following-

""product" means anything derived from a fish or mollusc by any process of preparation;" ; and

(d)the definitions of "pH value", "relevant fruit" and "relevant vegetable" shall be omitted.

(3) In regulation 1(3), sub-paragraph (c) shall be omitted.

(4) Regulation 4 shall be omitted.

(5) For regulation 5 there shall be substituted the following-

"Prohibition on export to other member States of fish products and bivalve molluscs originating in an affected country

5.-(1) Subject to paragraph (2) no person shall consign for export to a member State any fish product or bivalve mollusc which is from an affected country and is intended for human or animal consumption.

(2) The prohibition imposed by paragraph (1) does not apply to a consignment if each lot of which the consignment is comprised has been inspected by an authorised officer of one of the authorities mentioned in regulation 8 and he is satisfied that-

(a)the consignment is accompanied by such documents as are required by regulation 2 or 3 to accompany it on its importation; and

(b)the lots referred to in those documents are the lots actually comprising the consignment.".

(6) For regulation 6 there shall be substituted the following-

"Offences

6.-(1) Any person who contravenes regulation 2(1) or (2), 3(1) or 5(1) shall be guilty of an offence, triable only summarily, and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or to both.

(2) Any person who imports into Great Britain, or consigns for export from Great Britain to a member State, any fruit or vegetable or fruit or vegetable product to which article 1 of the Council Regulation applies, otherwise than in compliance with such of the provisions of article 2 of that Regulation as apply to it, shall be guilty of an offence, triable only summarily, and liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale,or to both.".

(7) In regulation 7-

(a)in paragraph (1) for "the Regulations" there shall be substituted "these Regulations";

(b)in paragraph (2) after "as if" there shall be inserted "these Regulations, so far as made under section 2 of the European Communities Act 1972, were made under the Act and as if".

(8) Schedule 3 shall be omitted.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations provide for the enforcement and execution in Great Britain of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3185/91 made by the Council of the European Communities adopting protective measures for the import of fruit and vegetables from certain countries affected by cholera (OJ No L 303, pp 1-5, 1.11.91). Article 1 of that Regulation specifies the fruit and vegetables to which it applies.

• The Regulations also amend the provisions contained in the Imported Food and Feedingstuffs (Safeguards against Cholera) Regulations 1991 relating to the re-export of fish from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, thereby giving effect to the Decision 91/541/EEC of the Commission of 15 October 1991 (OJ No L 294, p51, 25.10.91) amending Decisions 91/146/EEC concerning protective measures against cholera in Peru (OJ No L 73, p34, 20.3.91), 91/281/EEC concerning importations of fishery and aquaculture products from Ecuador (OJ No L 142, p43, 6.6.91) and 91/282/EEC concerning importations of fishery and aquaculture products from Colombia (OJ No L 142, p44, 6.6.91). They also make amendments to those regulations consequential upon both the Decision and the Council Regulation, and make it an offence to import into Great Britain, or export from Great Britain to another member State of the European Economic Community, fruit, vegetables and fruit and vegetable products to which the Council Regulation applies, except in compliance with its requirements as to certification and inspection. Certain presumptions, contained in the Food Safety Act 1990, which are applied by the principal Regulations to certificates given by proper authorities in the affected countries in relation to food, are extended so as to apply also to certificates about feedingstuffs (Regulation 2).