The Spirit Drinks Regulations 2008

Made: 15th December 2008

Laid before Parliament: 18th December 2008

Coming into force: 16th January 2009

Accordingly, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs makes the following Regulations.

Title and commencement

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• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Spirit Drinks Regulations 2008 and come into force on 16th January 2009.

• (2) They extend to Great Britain.

Revocations

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Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• “authorised officer” means any person appointed by an enforcement authority under regulation 8;

• “Commissioners” means the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs;

• “enforcement authority” means an authority exercising a function conferred on it by regulation 7;

• “food authority”—in relation to England, means—a county council;a metropolitan district council;a non-metropolitan district council for an area for which there is no county council;a London borough council;the Common Council of the City of London (in their capacity as a local authority); andthe Council of the Isles of Scilly;...in relation to Scotland, means a council constituted under section 2(1) of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994[^f00006]; andin relation to Wales, means a county council or a county borough council;

• “officer” —in relation to a body corporate, means a director, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body; andin relation to an unincorporated body, means any member of its governing body or a chief executive, manager or other similar officer of the body;

• “penalty” means the amount specified in a penalty notice;

• “penalty notice” means a notice offering the opportunity, by payment, in accordance with these Regulations, of a specified amount, to discharge any liability to be convicted of the penalty offence to which the notice relates;

• “penalty offence” means an offence for which a penalty notice may be given under regulation 22;

• “port health authority” means—in relation to the London port health district (within the meaning given by section 7(1) of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984[^f00007]), the Common Council of the City of London; andin relation to any port health district constituted by order under section 2(3) of that Act, the port health authority for that district;

• “premises” includes any place, vehicle or trailer, shipping container (whether used for transporting cargo or for storage), stall or moveable structure, and ship or aircraft;

• “registered geographical indication” means a geographical indication listed in the register drawn up in accordance with Article 33(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787;

• ...

• “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008” means Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89, as amended from time to time;

• “Regulation (EC) No 936/2009” means Commission Regulation (EC) No 936/2009 applying the agreements between the European Union and third countries on the mutual recognition of certain spirit drinks[^f00007];

• “Regulation (EU) 2019/787” means Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications for spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and distillates of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008;

• “relevant court” means— in relation to England and Wales, a magistrates' court; in relation to Scotland, a sheriff;

• “spirit drink” has the meaning given in paragraph (1) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 as read with paragraphs (2) and (3) of that Article.

• (2) Other expressions used in these Regulations and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 have their meaning in Regulation (EC) No 110/2008.

• (3) Part 1 of Schedule 2 applies to the interpretation of Part 2 of that Schedule.

Compliance with Community provisions

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• (1) A person is guilty of an offence if they contravene or fail to comply with—

• (a) any provision of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 mentioned in column 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 2, or

• (b) any provision of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 mentioned in column 1 of Part 3 of Schedule 2,

as read with any provision mentioned in any corresponding entry in column 2 of that Part of that Schedule.

• (2) A person is guilty of an offence if they—

• (a) directly or indirectly make commercial use of a registered ... geographical indication in a way mentioned in Article 21(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787;

• (b) misuse, imitate or evoke a registered ... geographical indication, even if the true origin of the product is indicated or the geographical indication is used in translation or accompanied by an expression such as “like”, “type”, “style”, “made”, “flavour” or any other similar term;

• (c) use any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, nature or essential qualities on the description, presentation or labelling of a product that is liable to convey a false impression that the product is a registered geographical indication; or

• (d) use any other practice that is liable to mislead the consumer into thinking that the product is a registered geographical indication.

• (3) But paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply—

• (a) to the production of a spirit drink that is produced on or before 19th May 2009 in accordance with the requirements of—

• (i) Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89[^f00008] laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of spirit drinks; and

• (ii) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1014/90[^f00009] laying down detailed implementing rules on the definition, description and presentation of spirit drinks; ...

• (b) to the marketing of a spirit drink produced in accordance with the requirements of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1014/90 on or before 19th May 2009 and marketed in accordance with the requirements of those Regulations.

• (c) as regards the description, presentation or labelling of a spirit drink that is labelled before 8th June 2019 if that description, presentation or labelling complies with Articles 16 and 23 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) A person is guilty of an offence if they contravene Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 936/2009.

Verification under Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008

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• (1) The Commissioners are designated as the authority responsible in Great Britain for verifying that a relevant spirit drink that is to be placed on the market in Great Britain using a registered geographical indication ... complies with the specifications in the GB product specification relating to that geographical indication before it is placed on the market in Great Britain.

• (2) A spirit drink is a relevant spirit drink if—

• (a) it is a spirit drink produced in the United Kingdom that uses a registered geographical indication ... to identify the drink as originating in the territory of a country, region or locality in the United Kingdom; ...

• (b) it is a whisky produced in Northern Ireland that uses the geographical indication “Irish Whiskey”, “Uisce Beatha Eireannach” or “Irish Whisky”.

• (c) it is a liqueur produced in Northern Ireland that uses the geographical indication “Irish Cream”;

• (d) it is a spirit drink produced in Northern Ireland that uses the geographical indication “Irish Poteen” or “Irish Poitìn”.

Designation under Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008

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• (1) Each food authority is designated as the competent authority for the purpose of ... Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 for the control of spirit drinks in its area except to the extent that a port health authority is designated as the competent authority within any part of that area under paragraph (2).

• (2) Each port health authority is designated as the competent authority for the purpose of ... Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 for the control of spirit drinks in its district for drinks being—

• (a) imported into, or exported from, Great Britain;

• (b) moved into Great Britain from Northern Ireland;

• (c) moved from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

• (3) Each food authority is designated as the competent authority for the purpose of Articles 39(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 for surveillance and enforcement of the use of registered geographical indications in its area except to the extent that a port health authority is designated as the competent authority within any part of that area under paragraph (4).

• (4) Each port health authority is designated as the competent authority for the purpose of Articles 39(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 for the surveillance and enforcement of the use of registered geographical indications in its district for drinks being—

• (a) imported into, or exported from, Great Britain;

• (b) moved into Great Britain from Northern Ireland;

• (c) moved from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

• (5) Each food authority is designated as the competent authority responsible for controls in respect of the enforcement of Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 936/2009 in its area except to the extent that a port health authority is designated as the competent authority within any part of that area under paragraph (6).

• (6) Each port health authority is designated as the competent authority responsible for controls in respect of the enforcement of Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 936/2009 in its district for drinks being—

• (a) imported into, or exported from, Great Britain;

• (b) moved into Great Britain from Northern Ireland;

• (c) moved from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

Enforcement

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• (1) Each food authority must enforce the provisions of these Regulations within its area except to the extent that these Regulations fall to be enforced by a port health authority within its district.

• (2) Each port health authority must enforce the provisions of these Regulations in its district in respect of drinks being—

• (a) imported into, or exported from Great Britain;

• (b) moved into Great Britain from Northern Ireland;

• (c) moved from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

Appointment of officers

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Each food authority and port health authority must appoint officers for the purposes of the enforcement of these Regulations.

Duty to give assistance and provide information

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• (1) Each competent and enforcement authority must give such assistance and information to any other competent or enforcement authority as it may reasonably require for the purpose of its duties under these Regulations.

• (2) The Commissioners may disclose any information in their possession to a competent or enforcement authority for the purposes of these Regulations.

• (3) No person, including a servant of the Crown, may disclose any information received from the Commissioners under paragraph (2) if—

• (a) the information relates to a person whose identity—

• (i) is specified in the disclosure; or

• (ii) can be deduced from the disclosure;

• (b) the disclosure is for a purpose other than the purposes specified in paragraph (2); and

• (c) the Commissioners have not given their prior consent to the disclosure.

• (4) Any person who contravenes paragraph (3) is guilty of an offence.

Powers of entry

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• (1) An authorised officer may enter any premises at any reasonable hour for the purpose of ensuring that the provisions of these Regulations are being complied with.

• (2) The authorised officer may take with them such other person as they consider necessary.

• (3) An authorised officer must not exercise the powers under paragraph (1) or (2) except on the production, if so required, of a duly authenticated document showing their authority.

• (4) Admission to any premises used only as a private dwellinghouse may not be demanded as of right unless 24 hours notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier or the entry is in accordance with a warrant granted under this regulation.

• (5) If a justice of the peace, on sworn information in writing, is satisfied of the matters mentioned in paragraph (6), they may sign a warrant permitting an authorised officer to enter any premises, if needs be by reasonable force.

• (6) The matters are that—

• (a) there are reasonable grounds for believing that Condition A or B is met; and

• (b) Condition C, D or E is met.

• (7) Condition A is that on the premises there are items or products of the type mentioned in regulation 11(1)(a) or documents or records of the type mentioned in regulation 11(1)(e) and that their inspection is likely to disclose evidence of a contravention of, or failure to comply with, these Regulations.

• (8) Condition B is that a contravention of, or failure to comply with, these Regulations has occurred, is occurring or is about to occur on those premises.

• (9) Condition C is that admission to the premises has been, or is likely to be, refused, and that the occupier has been informed (whether orally or in writing) that a warrant may be applied for.

• (10) Condition D is that an asking for admission to the premises has been, or is likely to be, refused, and informing the occupier that a warrant under this regulation may be applied for may defeat the object of the entry.

• (11) Condition E is that the premises are unoccupied or that the occupier is temporarily absent and it may defeat the object of the entry to await their return.

• (12) A warrant granted under paragraph (5) —

• (a) is valid for one month, beginning with the day on which it is granted; and

• (b) must be produced for inspection to the person (if there is one) who appears to the officer to be the occupier of the premises.

• (13) An authorised officer who enters any premises that are unoccupied or where the occupier is temporarily absent must leave the premises as effectively secured against unauthorised entry as when they found them.

• (14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (15) In this regulation, a reference to a justice of the peace includes, in Scotland, a reference to the sheriff.

Powers of an authorised officer

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