S.I. No. 128/1973 - European Communities (Marketing Standards For Eggs) Regulations, 1973

S.I. No. 128 of 1973.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (MARKETING STANDARDS FOR EGGS) REGULATIONS, 1973.

I, MARK CLINTON, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), hereby make the following Regulations:

1 Short title and commencement

1.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Marketing Standards for Eggs) Regulations, 1973, and shall come into operation on the 18th day of July, 1973.

2 Interpretation

2.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"Minister" means the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries:

"Preserver" means a person authorised under these Regulations to carry on the business of preserving eggs by refrigeration or any other process;

"Producer" means a person who, for the purpose of marketing eggs in accordance with Article 2 of the Regulation of 1968, carries on the business of poultry farming or the business of rearing or keeping domestic fowl and does not acquire eggs for resale;

"the Regulation of 1968" means Council Regulation 1619/68 EEC*.

*O.J. L258/1 of 21/10/1968.

• (2) Any word or phrase to which a meaning is assigned by the Regulation of 1968 has that meaning in these Regulations.

3 Authorisation by Minister

3.

3. (1) The Minister may grant an authorisation authorising a person to carry on at premises specified in the authorisation any one of the following businesses, namely, collector, packing centre or preserver, but shall not grant more than one authorisation in respect of the same premises.

• (2) An authorisation shall not be granted unless—

• (a) the Minister is satisfied that there is in the premises specified in the authorisation adequate and suitable accommodation to carry on the business concerned, and to ensure that eggs and packages of eggs are readily available for inspection, and

• (b) an applicant for an authorisation undertakes to keep the records required to be kept by Article 5 (1) of the Regulation of 1968 and by these Regulations.

• (3) A person shall not carry on a business referred to in paragraph (1) of this Regulation except under and in accordance with an authorisation under this Regulation.

• (4) The Minister may attach conditions to an authorisation under this Regulation.

• (5) For the purposes of paragraph (2) (a) of this Regulation accommodation may be deemed to be inadequate and unsuitable if eggs or packages of eggs are not readily accessible for inspection under these Regulations.

4 Duties of authorised packing centre, collector and preserver

4.

4. (1) The holder of an authorisation under Regulation 3 of these Regulations who is authorised to carry on the business of a packing centre shall not acquire eggs other than from—

• (a) a producer,

• (b) a collector,

• (c) a market selling eggs exclusively to authorised packing centres, or,

• (d) another authorised packing centre.

• (2)
• (a) The record required to be kept under Article 5 (1) of the Regulation of 1968 shall be in the form specified in Schedule 5 to these Regulations.

• (b) Authorised collectors shall keep records in the forms specified in Schedules 1 and 2 to these Regulations and authorised packing centres and authorised collectors shall affix a label in the form specified in Schedule 3 to each package of eggs (whether full or partly full) collected each day.

• (c) Authorised preservers shall keep records in the form specified in Schedule 4 to these Regulations.

• (d) Authorised packing centres shall keep records of sales in the form specified in Schedule 6 to these Regulations.

• (3) In the case of the record required to be kept under Article 5 (1) of the Regulation of 1968 and all records required to be kept by this Regulation, entries shall be made by the person carrying on the business concerned, or by an employee of such person, on the date of each relevant transaction and all records shall be retained for a period of not less than twelve months beginning on the date of the last entry.

5 Official mark

5.

5. The official mark referred to in Article 5 (2) of Commission Regulation 95/69 EEC^1 shall consist of the letters "IRL" (each letter being 1 cm. high) surrounded by a line describing an ellipse.

^1. OJ No. 13/13 of 18/1/1969.

6 Authorised patterns of bands and labels

6.

6. (1) The bands or labels required by Articles 6 and 7 of Commission Regulation 95/69 EEC and the band or label required by Article 17 (as extended by Article 5 (2) of the said Commission Regulation 95/69 EEC) of the Regulation of 1968 shall be of the patterns specified in Schedule 7 to these Regulations.

• (2) The label required by Article 5 (2) of Council Regulation 1349/72 EEC^2 (as implemented by Commission Regulation 2335/72 EEC^3) shall be of the type specified in Schedule 8 to these Regulations.

^2. OJ No. 148/7 of 30/6/1972.

^3. OJ No. 252/1 of 8/11/1972.

7 Contravention of Regulations

7.

7. (1) Where the holder of an authorisation under Regulation 3 of these Regulations—

• (a) contravenes a provision of these Regulations or of a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs, or

• (b) fails to comply with a condition attached to such an authorisation—

• (i) the authorisation may be revoked by the Minister.

• (ii) the holder shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

• (2) Where a person who is not a holder of an authorisation under Regulation 3 contravenes a provision of these Regulations or of a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

• (3) For the purposes of paragraph (2) of this Regulation, the Community Regulations mentioned in paragraph 2 of Regulation 6 of these Regulations shall be deemed to be Community Regulations relating to the marketing of eggs.

• (4) The Minister shall not revoke an authorisation without—

• (a) notifying the holder of his intention to revoke the authorisation, and shall in the notification furnish the holder with the reasons for the proposed revocation, and

• (b) affording the holder an opportunity of making representations to the Minister in relation to the proposed revocation.

• (5) An offence under these Regulations or under a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs may be prosecuted by the Minister.

8 Powers of customs officers

8.

8. An officer of customs and excise may detain and seize any eggs being exported or attempted to be imported or exported in contravention of these Regulations or of any Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs and may for that purpose open any package containing or suspected by him to contain eggs, and the provisions of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, relating to the condemnation and disposal of goods seized under that Act shall apply and have effect in relation to all articles seized under this Regulation as if the articles had been seized under that Act.

9 Powers of authorised officers

9.

9. (1) An authorised officer may—

• (a) at all reasonable times enter and inspect any premises, railway wagon, vehicle, ship, vessel or aircraft in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that eggs or industrial eggs are kept or produced, and may inspect any other place where he has reasonable grounds for believing that eggs or industrial eggs are kept or produced,

• (b) examine, take samples and take stock of any eggs, packages or packing material which he finds in the course of such an inspection,

• (c) carry out such investigation or inspection of premises as may appear to the Minister to be necessary for the purpose of an application for an authorisation under Regulation 3 of these Regulations,

• (d) carry out such investigation as may be necessary to ascertain whether the relevant provisions of these Regulations or of a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs are complied with,

• (e) require the production by the proprietor of the business being carried on in relation to eggs or industrial eggs, or by an employee of such proprietor, of records required to be kept under these Regulations or under a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs or of any documents relating to such records, and take copies of or extracts from such documents.

• (2) Any person who obstructs or interferes with an authorised officer in the course of exercising a power conferred under this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

• (3) The Minister shall furnish an authorised officer with a certificate of his appointment and, when exercising any powers conferred by these Regulations or by a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs, the officer shall, if required by any person affected, produce the certificate to that person.

• (4) Where in the course of an inspection or examination by an authorised officer under this Regulation it appears to him that there is a contravention or attempted contravention of these Regulations or of a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs, the authorised officer may—

• (a) give to the occupier of the premises where the eggs are (or to an employee of the occupier or to any person appearing to him to have custody of the eggs) directions for the disposal or sale (including the manner of disposal or sale) of the eggs, and such a direction shall be complied with, or

• (b) seize any eggs the subject of the contravention or attempted contravention, whereupon any eggs so seized shall be forfeited to the Minister, who may dispose of them as he thinks fit and shall, if the eggs are sold, pay the net proceeds of the sale into the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct.

• (5) Neither the Minister nor any authorised officer shall be liable for any loss, damage, or reasonable delay arising from the exercise of a power conferred by these Regulations or by a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs, and no action shall lie against the consignor or any other person for or on account of any such loss, damage or reasonable delay.

• (6) In this Regulation " authorised officer " means an officer of the Minister authorised in writing by the Minister for the purposes of these Regulations or of a Community Regulation relating to the marketing of eggs.

10 Weight grading of eggs

10.

10. Eggs may, in lieu of the grades specified in Article 10 of the Regulation of 1968, be graded in the following manner—

11 Repeal

11.

11. The Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1939 (No. 2 of 1939) is hereby repealed.

SCHEDULE 1.

DAILY RECORD OF ACQUISITIONS AND SALES OF EGGS BY AUTHORISED COLLECTORS.

*These particulars need not be supplied if the quantity acquired from any one source is less than 30 dozens.

SCHEDULE 2.

DAILY RECORD OF ACQUISITIONS AND SALES OF INDUSTRIAL EGGS BY AUTHORISED COLLECTORS.

*These particulars need not be supplied if the quantity acquired from any one source is less than 30 dozens.

SCHEDULE 3.

LABEL TO BE AFFIXED BY AUTHORISED PACKING CENTRES AND COLLECTORS TO EACH PACKAGE OF EGGS FULL OR PARTLY FULL COLLECTED EACH DAY.

SCHEDULE 4.

RECORD OF DEPOSITS AND WITHDRAWALS OF EGGS FROM PRESERVERS' PREMISES.

SCHEDULE 5.

DAILY RECORD OF ACQUISITION OF EGGS BY AUTHORISED PACKING CENTRES.

SCHEDULE 6.

DAILY RECORD OF SALES OF EGGS BY AUTHORISED PACKING CENTRES.

SCHEDULE 7.

A.

Label or band for use on large packages of eggs (Regulation (EEC) No. 1619/68, Article 17, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No. 95/69, Article 5).

Dimensions of label—20 cm × 10 cm.Colour of label—White.Colour of print—Black.

B.

Label or band for use on large packages and boxes of ungraded incubator clears delivered to manufacturers of foodstuffs for human consumption (Regulation (EEC) No. 95/69, Article 6).

Name and Address of undertaking which despatched the eggs ............................................................ ..................

Name and Address of Processing Centre of Destination ..................................................

NUMBER OR NET WEIGHT OF EGGS ...........................................

Dimensions of label—20 cm × 10 cm. Colour of label—Yellow.Colour of print—Black. Lettering—Words "INCUBATOR EGGS FOR PROCESSING"—2 cm high.

C.

Label or band for use on large packages and boxes of ungraded eggs or eggs in Classes A or B which no longer have the characteristics for these classes and have not been regraded, delivered to manufacturers of foodstuffs for human consumption. (Regulation (EEC) No. 95/69, Article 6).

Name and Address of undertaking which despatched the eggs .......................................

NUMBER OR NET WEIGHT OF EGGS ............................................................ ...............

Dimensions of label—20 cm × 10 cm.Colour of label—Yellow.Colour of print—Black.Lettering—Words "EGGS FOR FOOD FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION"—2 cm high.

D.

Label or band for use on large packages and boxes of industrial eggs (Regulation (EEC) No. 95/69, Article 7, as amended by Regulation (REC), No. 2502/71).

Name and Address of undertaking which despatched the eggs ........................................

Name and Address of undertaking of destination ............................................................

Dimensions of label—20 cm × 10 cm.Colour of label—Red.Colour of print—Black.Lettering—Words "INDUSTRIAL EGGS"—2 cm high. Words "UNFIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION"—at least 0·8 cm high.

SCHEDULE 8.

Label or band for use on packages of unstamped hatching eggs (Regulation (EEC) No. 1349/72, Article 5 (2)).

Producer Establishment No. ............................................................ ...................

Name of Species of Poultry ............................................................ ......................................

Dimensions of label—At least 20 cm × 10 cm.Colour of label—Green. Colour of print—Black. Lettering—"EGGS FOR HATCHING", the distinguishing number of the producer establishment and the name of the species of poultry—in letters at least 20 mm high and 10 mm wide, the lines being 1 mm thick.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 21st day of May, 1973.

MARK CLINTON,

Minister for Agriculture and

Fisheries.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

The regulations supplement EEC Regulations on the marketing of eggs by

• (a) designating the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries as the body charged with administering the regulations and supervising their implementation;

• (b) prescribing certain labelling requirements;

• (c) providing for the authorisation of Collectors and Preservers;

• (d) prescribing records to be kept by Packing Centres, Collectors and Preservers, and

• (e) prescribing penalties.

(These regulations replace the European Communities (Marketing of Eggs) Regulations, 1973 ( S.I. No. 15 of 1973 ) which lapse on 17th July, 1973.)