S.I. No. 366/1981 - European Communities (Control of Stilbene and Thyrostatic Substances) Regulations, 1981.

I, ALAN M. DUKES, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), for the purpose of giving effect to Article 3 of Council Directive No. 81/602/EEC⁽¹⁾ of 31 July, 1981, hereby make the following Regulations:—

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Control of Stilbene and Thyrostatic Substances) Regulations, 1981.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 12th day of November, 1981.

2. A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the meaning in these Regulations that it has in Council Directive No. 81/602/EEC⁽¹⁾ .

3. A person shall not sell, offer for sale, distribute by way of trade or otherwise place on the market any stilbenes, stilbene derivatives, their salts and esters or any thyrostatic substances for administering to animals of all species.

4. (1) A person who contravenes Regulation 3 of these Regulations or who obstructs an authorised officer in the discharge of his duties under these Regulations or who fails to comply with a request under Regulation 7 of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

(2) An offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by or on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture.

5. (1) In any prosecution for an offence under these Regulations, the production of a certificate purporting to be signed by the State Chemist or Assistant State Chemist shall be evidence of the results of an analysis purporting to establish positively the presence of any stilbene substance or any substance having a thyrostatic action.

(2) In this paragraph—

“the State Chemist” means the head of the State Laboratory or a person authorised by him for the purposes of these Regulations;

“the Assistant State Chemist” means the Assistant State Chemist of the State Laboratory.

6. (1) The Minister for Agriculture may appoint such and so many of his officers or other persons as he thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of these Regulations.

(2) An authorised officer shall be furnished with a warrant of his appointment as an authorised officer and when exercising any power conferred on an authorised officer by these Regulations shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the warrant to that person.

7. (1) An authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter any premises in which he has reasonable grounds for believing that stilbenes, stilbene derivatives, their salts and esters or thyrostatic substances for administering to animals of all species are being sold, offered for sale, distributed by way of trade or otherwise placed on the market, and there or at any other place—

(a) make such examinations, tests and inspections, and

(b) take such reasonable samples (without payment) of any such products or goods which he finds in the course of his inspection, as he may consider appropriate for the purposes of these Regulations and the Council Directive.

(2) Where in the course of an inspection under this Regulation an authorised officer finds any products or goods mentioned in paragraph (1) of this Regulation he may request the occupier of the premises to inform him where the occupier obtained such products or goods and the occupier shall comply with the request.

8. The Animal Remedies (Control of Oestrogenic Substances) Regulations, 1962 ( S.I. No. 96 of 1962 ), are hereby revoked in so far as they relate to stilbenes.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

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

These Regulations prohibit the sale or distribution of stilbene and thyrostatic substances for administering to animals, as required under Council Directive 81/602/EEC.

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L222, 7 August 1981, p. 32 and 33.

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L222, 7 August 1981, p. 32 and 33.