Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013

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PART 8

Enforcement

Appointment of authorised officer.

37.—(1) The Minister or an authorised officer of the Department may for the purposes of enforcing this Act or an EU measure, appoint in writing, such persons or classes of person as he or she considers appropriate to be authorised officers for the exercise of all or any of the functions conferred on an authorised officer under this Act specified in the appointment.

(2) The manager of a local authority for the purposes of enforcing this Act in the functional area of the authority, or other authority in accordance with subsection (6)(b), may, appoint in writing, such officers of the authority as he or she considers appropriate to be authorised officers for the exercise of all or any of the functions conferred on an authorised officer under this Act in the functional area of the authority, or other authority in accordance with subsection (6)(b), specified in the appointment.

(3) A person with whom the Minister enters into a service agreement under section 74 may for the purposes of enforcing this Act, appoint in writing, with the consent of the Minister, such persons as he or she considers appropriate to be authorised officers for the purpose of all or any of the functions that the person may exercise under the service agreement.

(4) An authorised officer appointed under subsection (3) shall not exercise a function conferred on an authorised officer in relation to—

(a) an animal of the bovine, ovine, porcine or caprine species which is kept on a farm for the commercial production of food for human consumption, or

(b) a horse kept on such a farm.

(5) The Minister, the manager of the local authority or a person referred to in subsection (3) may terminate the appointment of an authorised officer appointed by him or her, whether or not the appointment was for a fixed period or specified purpose.

(6) An authorised officer, appointed under subsection (2), may exercise any of the functions conferred on the authorised officer—

(a) within the functional area of the local authority which appointed the authorised officer, and

(b) in the functional area of another local authority with which an agreement exists for the exercise by authorised officers of the first-mentioned authority in the functional area of that other authority of the functions of an authorised officer.

(7) An appointment as an authorised officer ceases—

(a) if it is terminated in accordance with subsection (5),

(b) if it is for a fixed period, on the expiration of that period,

(c) if it is for a specified purpose, on the completion of that purpose, or

(d) if the person appointed is an officer of the Minister or local authority or a person appointed under subsection (3), upon the person ceasing to be such an officer or class of person.

(8) Nothing in subsection (7) is to be construed so as to prevent the Minister, the manager of a local authority or a person who has entered into a service agreement under section 74 from reappointing as an authorised officer a person to whom subsection (7) relates.

(9) An authorised officer appointed under this section shall be furnished with a warrant of his or her appointment and, when exercising a function conferred on him or her as an authorised officer, the officer shall, if requested by a person affected, produce the warrant, or other evidence (including an identity document relating to the officer under section 17 of the Animal Remedies Act 1993 ) that he or she is such an officer, for inspection.