S.I. No. 309/2011 - European Communities (Sheep Identification) Regulations 2011.

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 24th June, 2011.

I, SIMON COVENEY, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 ? (as amended by section 2 of the European Communities Act 2007 (No. 18 of 2007)) of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) for the purpose of giving full effect to Council Regulation (EC) No. 21/2004 of 17 December 2003¹ as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1791/2006 of 20 November 2006² , Council Regulation (EC) No. 1560/2007 of 17 December 2007³ , Commission Regulation (EC) No. 933/2008 of 23 September 2008⁴ , Commission Regulation (EC) No. 759/2009 of 19 August 2009⁵ , and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 506/2010 of 14 June 2010⁶ , and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1505/2006 of 11 October 2006⁷ as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1033/2010 of 15 November 2010⁸ and Commission Decision 2006/968/EC of 15 December 2006⁹ as amended by Commission Decision 2008/337/EC of 24 April 2008¹⁰ and Commission Decision 2010/280/EU of 12 May 2010¹¹ in so far as they relate to animals of the ovine species, hereby make the following regulations:

PART 1

Preliminary and General

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Sheep Identification) Regulations 2011.

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“authorised officer” means—

(a) an authorised officer within the meaning of section 17A (inserted by section 2 of the Diseases of Animals (Amendment) Act 2001 (No. 3 of 2001)) of the Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (No. 6 of 1966),

(b) a member of the Garda Síochána,

(c) an officer of Customs and Excise, or

(d) a person appointed under Regulation 12;

“bolus” means an electronic identifier in the form of a ruminal bolus used as a means of identification of a sheep approved by the Minister in accordance with points 1, 2 and 3(a) of Section A. of the Annex to the Council Regulation;

“Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 21/2004 of 17 December 2003 as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1791/2006 of 20 November 2006, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1560/2007 of 17 December 2007, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 933/2008 of 23 September 2008, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 759/2009 of 19 August 2009 and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 506/2010 of 14 June 2010;

”EID tag” means an electronic identifier in the form of an electronic ear- tag used as a means of identification of a sheep approved by the Minister in accordance with points 1, 2 and 3(a) of Section A. of the Annex to the Council Regulation;

“ear-tag” means an ear-tag used as a means of identification of a sheep approved by the Minister in accordance with point 3(b) of Section A. of the Annex to the Council Regulation;

“Minister” means Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

“premises” includes land (including land under water) with or without buildings, an establishment, a vehicle, railway wagon, container or other thing used in connection with, or ancillary to, such a thing;

“sell” includes offer, expose or keep for sale, invite an offer to buy, or distribute for reward or otherwise (whether directly or through another person);

“slaughter ear-tag” means an ear- tag used as a means of identification of a sheep approved by the Minister in accordance with point 7 of Section A of the Annex to the Council Regulation;

“Sheep identification legislation ” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 21/2004 of 17 December 2003 as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1791/2006 of 20 November 2006, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1560/2007 of 17 December 2007, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 933/2008 of 23 September 2008, Commission Regulation (EC) No. 759/2009 of 19 August 2009, and Commission Regulation (EU) No. 506/2010 of 14 June 2010 and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1505/2006 of 11 October 2006 as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 1033/2010 of 15 November 2010 and Commission Decision 2006/968/EC of 15 December 2006 as amended by Commission Decision 2008/337/EC of 24 April 2008 and Commission Decision 2010/280/EU of 12 May 2010;

“supply” includes to give without reward;

“third country” means a country situated outside of the European Union;

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Sheep identification legislation has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Sheep identification legislation.

Establishment of an identification system for sheep

3. The system known as the “National Sheep Identification System” or “NSIS” approved by the Minister shall be the approval system for the identification, registration and movement of sheep in accordance with Article 1 of the Council Regulation.

Possession and identification of sheep

4. (1) A keeper shall not have in his or her possession or control, a sheep unless it is identified in accordance with the Sheep identification legislation and these Regulations.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3) and (4), a keeper who owns or has sheep under his or her possession or control shall identify the sheep with—

(a) an EID tag and an ear-tag, or

(b) a bolus and an ear-tag

before the sheep moves from the holding on which it is born or not later than 6 months after its birth.

(3) By way of derogation from paragraph (2) the Minister may extend the period, which may not exceed nine months, to identify a sheep kept in extensive or free-range farming conditions.

(4) By way of derogation from paragraph (2), a keeper who keeps a sheep for the purposes of Article 4(3) of the Council Regulation may identify the sheep with a slaughter ear-tag.

(5) A person shall not remove or replace a bolus, EID-tag, ear-tag, or slaughter ear-tag, on a sheep except in accordance with Article 4(6) of the Council Regulation or the approval of the Minister.

(6) A person shall not possess, manufacture, sell or supply a bolus, EID-tag, ear-tag, or slaughter ear-tag for the purpose of identifying sheep, unless it is approved under these Regulations and the Sheep identification legislation.

(7) A person shall not export a sheep to another Member State or a third country unless it is identified in accordance with paragraph (2).

(8) A person shall not import a sheep from a third country unless it is identified within 14 days in accordance with Article 4(4) of the Council Regulation.

Registration of a holding

5. (1) A keeper shall not have a sheep in his or her possession or control on a holding, unless the holding is a registered holding (“registered holding”) in accordance with Article 7 of the Council Regulation.

(2) The Minister may grant registration and assign a sheep herd number to a keeper in respect of a holding in accordance with these Regulations and Article 7 of the Council Regulation.

(3) A holding that immediately before the making of these Regulations was registered under the European Communities Registration of Holdings and Identification of Animals Regulations 1996 ( S.I. No. 1 of 1996 ) is to be a registered holding under this Regulation.

Flock Register

6. (1) The Minister shall approve a flock register for use by a keeper in accordance with Article 5 of the Council Regulation (“flock register”).

(2) A keeper shall maintain a flock register and furnish information to the Minister in accordance with Article 5 and Section B of the Annex to the Council Regulation.

Movement of sheep

7. (1) The Minister shall approve a movement document for use by a keeper in accordance with Article 6 of the Council Regulation, (“sheep dispatch/movement document”)

(2) A keeper shall not move a sheep unless it is accompanied by a sheep dispatch/movement document approved by the Minister and is identified in accordance with these Regulations and the Sheep identification legislation.

(3) Subject to paragraph (4) a keeper shall complete a sheep dispatch/movement document in accordance with Article 6 and Section C of the Annex to the Council Regulation.

(4) The Minister may authorise a keeper in accordance with the second paragraph of point 2 of Section C of the Annex to the Council Regulation.

(5) A keeper who is authorised by the Minister in accordance with paragraph 4 may complete the sheep movement/dispatch document in accordance with the second paragraph of point 2 of Section C of the Annex to the Council Regulation.

(6) A keeper shall keep the sheep dispatch/movement document for a period of 3 years and in accordance with Article 6 of the Council Regulation.

(7) The Minister may publish, in a manner that he or she considers appropriate, a list of persons to whom paragraph (4) applies.

Information required

8. A keeper shall supply such information and material as the Minister may determine to him or her in accordance with Articles 7 and 8 of the Council Regulation.

Approval of manufacturers and suppliers of ear-tags, EID-tags, slaughter ear-tags, and boluses.

9. (1) The Minister may grant an approval to a person, for the purposes of the manufacture, sale and supply of ear-tags, EID-tags, boluses, and slaughter ear- tags in accordance with these Regulations, the Sheep identification legislation and the NSIS, (“approved tag supplier”).

(2) A person who, immediately before the making of these Regulations was approved as a tag supplier under the Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (National Sheep Identification System) Order 2001 ( S.I. No. 281 of 2001 ) is approved as if he or she were approved under this Regulation.

(3) The Minister may attach conditions to the approval, vary a condition, attach a new condition, revoke an approval or refuse an application.

(4) A person seeking an approval shall provide such information and such material as the Minister may require.

(5) An approval under this Regulation is valid for a period that the Minister determines.

(6) The Minister shall not consider an application for approval unless the application contains all the material and particulars sought by the Minister.

(7) Notwithstanding the generality of paragraph (1) the Minister may refuse an application or revoke an approval if in his or her opinion—

(a) an act of the institutions of the European Union, the Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (No. 6 of 1966) or these Regulations have not or are not likely to be complied with,

(b) the applicant has committed an offence, in the previous 3 years, relating to sheep identification, animal or public health, animal welfare or the environment, or

(c) the applicant or holder of an approval has failed to comply with a condition of an approval.

(8) If the Minister proposes to withdraw or revoke or to refuse an application, he or she shall—

(a) notify the applicant or holder of the approval in writing of the reason for the proposal and that he or she may make representations to the Minister in relation to the proposal within 14 days of the issue of the notification,

(b) consider a representation made before deciding whether to proceed with, modify or annul the proposal, and

(c) notify the applicant or holder of the approval of the decision and the reasons for the decision.

(9) An approved tag supplier shall inform the Minister if significant changes are made in the operation or organisation of the activities to which the approval relates.

List of Approved Tag Suppliers

10. (1) The Minister may publish, in a manner that he or she considers appropriate, a list of approved tag suppliers.

(2) If the Minister withdraws an approval or the approval expires by effluxion of time, an entry on the list maintained under paragraph (1) ceases to have effect and the Minister shall, as soon as may be after withdrawing the approval, remove details of the withdrawn approval from the list and update it accordingly.

Annual census

11. (1) A keeper who keeps sheep permanently shall submit to the Minister on a date or dates specified by the Minister the number of sheep on holdings in accordance with Article 7(2) of the Council Regulation.

Appointment of an authorised officer

12. (1) The Minister may, by instrument in writing, appoint such and so many persons as he or she thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of some or all of these Regulations as may be specified in the instrument.

(2) The Minister may terminate the appointment of an authorised officer whether or not the appointment was for a fixed period.

(3) An appointment as an authorised officer ceases—

(a) if it is terminated pursuant to paragraph (2),

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

(c) if the person appointed is an officer of the Minister, upon the person ceasing to be such an officer.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (3) is to be construed so as to prevent the Minister from reappointing as an authorised officer a person to whom that paragraph relates.

(5) An officer of the Minister shall furnish an authorised officer (other than an officer of Customs and Excise or member of the Garda Síochána) with a warrant of his or her appointment as an authorised officer and, when exercising a power conferred on him or her, the officer, officer of Customs and Excise or member of the Garda Síochána shall, if requested by a person affected, produce the warrant or evidence that he or she is such an officer or member to the person.

Functions of an authorised officer

13. (1) If an authorised officer has reasonable cause to suspect that—

(a) a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus or slaughter tag, is present, has been present or may be present on a premises,

(b) a container, equipment, machinery, plant, vehicle, vessel or other thing used in connection with a sheep, an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus or slaughter tag, is present, has been present or may be present on a premises,

(c) a premises is being used, has been used or may be used in connection with the keeping, sale, supply, processing of a sheep, an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, slaughter of a sheep, or manufacture of an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus or slaughter tag,

(d) a database or record relating to or used in connection with a sheep an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, is present, was present or may be present on a premises,

the authorised officer may enter the premises and he or she may—

(i) search the premises,

(ii) stop a person, vehicle, vessel,

(iii) board and search a container, equipment, machinery, plant, vehicle, vessel or container or other thing,

(iv) examine a sheep, an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, database, record, container, equipment, machinery, plant, vehicle, vessel or other thing,

(v) take, without payment, extracts from, samples from, copies of or photographs of a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, database, record, container, equipment, machinery, plant, vehicle, vessel, container or other thing or an article, substance or liquid as he or she may reasonably require and carry out or cause to be carried out on a sample such tests, analyses, examinations or inspections as may be reasonably necessary or expedient,

(vi) seize and detain (for so long as is necessary) a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, database or record, including a record in non-legible form, vehicle, vessel, container and anything considered to be evidence of or connected to an offence under these Regulations,

(vii) require the production of an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, database, record, container, equipment, machinery, plant, vehicle, vessel, or other thing,

(viii) retain a record, equipment or thing (for so long as is necessary),

(ix) give a direction to, or request information of, a person regarding a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, database, record, container, equipment, machinery, plant, vehicle, vessel or other thing as he or she considers necessary,

(x) require the name and address of a person and the name and address of any other relevant person including the person to whom a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus or slaughter tag is being delivered or who is causing it to be delivered,

(xi) require of a person the ownership, identity and origin of a sheep, record referred to in subparagraph (xii), container, equipment, machinery, plant, vessel, vehicle or other thing, or

(xii) mark or otherwise identify a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, equipment, a record or thing referred to in subparagraph (viii), or a specimen taken under subparagraph (v).

(2) If an authorised officer has reasonable cause to suspect that—

(a) an offence is being or has been committed under these Regulations or the Sheep identification legislation,

(b) a contravention of an act of the institutions of the European Union relating to identification of a sheep is being or has been committed,

or

(c) evidence of an offence or contravention may be, is or has been on a premises,

the authorised officer may, in addition to the functions exercisable under paragraph (1)

(i) search a person, where the authorised officer considers it necessary,

(ii) seize and detain, a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, database, record, container, equipment, machinery, plant, vessel, vehicle, or other thing,

(iii) dispose of, or require the owner or person in charge of or in possession of a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus or slaughter tag to deal with or dispose of it (or any equipment, machinery, plant or other thing used in connection with, or that may have been in contact with, a sheep, EID tag, ear-tag, bolus or slaughter tag) in a manner that the authorised officer sees fit.

(3) An authorised officer shall not enter, except with the consent of the occupier, a private dwelling, unless he or she has obtained a search warrant under Regulation 14 other than if he or she has reasonable cause to suspect that before a search warrant could be sought in relation to the dwelling anything to which paragraph (1) relates is being or is likely to be destroyed or disposed of.

(4) An authorised officer may use reasonable force, if necessary, in the exercise of his or her functions under this Regulation.

(5) An authorised officer, when exercising a function under this Regulation may be accompanied by other persons and may take with him or her, or those persons may take with them, any equipment or materials to assist the officer in the exercise of the function.

(6) An authorised officer is not liable in any proceedings for anything done in the purported exercise of his or her functions under these Regulations if the court is satisfied that the act was done in good faith and that there were reasonable grounds for doing it.

(7) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), a direction or requirement of an authorised officer may include conditions prohibiting, restricting or otherwise controlling the use of or processing of an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag or movement of or processing of a sheep as may be specified by the authorised officer.

(8) Nothing in this Regulation operates to prejudice any power to search, or to seize or detain property, which may, apart from these Regulations, be exercised by a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of Customs and Excise.

(9) If a member of the Garda Síochána has reasonable grounds to suspect that a person has committed an offence under these Regulations, the member may without warrant arrest the person.

Search warrant

14. (1) If a judge of the District Court is satisfied by information on oath of an authorised officer that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting—

(a) evidence of or relating to the commission or intended commission of an offence under these Regulations is to be found on a premises,

(b) there is or was a sheep or equipment or other thing made, used or adapted for use (including manufacture and transport) in connection with a sheep, or

(c) an EID tag, ear-tag, bolus, slaughter tag, database or record related to a thing to which subparagraph (a) or (b) refers is or may be on the premises, the judge may issue a search warrant.

(2) A search warrant under this Regulation shall be expressed and operate to authorise a named authorised officer, accompanied by such authorised officers or other persons as the named authorised officer thinks necessary, at any time, within one month from the date of issue of the warrant, on production if so requested of the warrant, to enter (if necessary by use of reasonable force) the premises, vehicle, vessel, or aircraft named in the warrant.

(3) If a premises is entered pursuant to a warrant issued under this Regulation, an authorised officer so entering may exercise all or any of the functions conferred on an authorised officer under these Regulations.

Obstruction

15. A person shall not—

(a) obstruct or impede an authorised officer in the exercise of his or her functions under Regulation 13 or 14,

(b) fail, without reasonable cause, to comply with a requirement or direction of an authorised officer under Regulation 13 or 14,

(c) in making an application for approval under Regulation 9 or in purporting to give information to an authorised officer for the performance of the officer’s functions under Regulation 13 or 14—

(i) make a statement that he or she knows to be false in a material particular or recklessly make a statement which is false in a material particular, or

(ii) fail to disclose a material particular,

(d) tamper or otherwise interfere with a sample taken under Regulation 13, or

(e) aid or abet a contravention of an act of the institutions of the European Union or these Regulations.

Notice

16. (1) An authorised officer may, by notice in writing require a keeper to identify a sheep for the purposes of these Regulations and the Sheep identification legislation.

(2) If a keeper fails to comply with paragraph (1), an authorised officer may seize, destroy or cause to be destroyed a sheep.

(3) If an authorised officer destroys or causes to be destroyed a sheep the costs (including ancillary costs) may be recovered by the Minister—

(a) by deducting the costs from any moneys due or becoming due to the keeper who owns or is in control or possession of the sheep, or

(b) as a simple contract debt in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Forgery

17. (1) A keeper shall not include on any flock register, sheep dispatch/movement document, database or record, a particular which he or she knows to be false, or recklessly include in such flock register, sheep dispatch/movement document, database or record a particular which is false.

(2) A keeper shall not tamper with, deface or otherwise alter an ear-tag, EID-tag, bolus, slaughter ear- tag, flock register, sheep dispatch/movement document, database or record and shall not, without lawful authority, have possession or control of, an ear-tag, EID-tag, bolus, slaughter ear- tag, flock register, sheep dispatch/movement document, database or record that has been tampered with, defaced or otherwise altered or interfered with.

Service

18. (1) A notification or notice under these Regulations (hereinafter in this Regulation referred to as a “notification”) shall, subject to paragraph (2), be addressed to the keeper concerned by name, and may be served on or given to the keeper in one of the following ways—

(a) by delivering it to the person,

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the keeper ordinarily resides or, in a case where an address for service has been furnished, at that address,

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter to the address at which the keeper ordinarily resides or, in a case where an address for service has been furnished, at that address, or

(d) where the address at which the keeper ordinarily resides cannot be ascertained by reasonable enquiry and the notification relates to a premises, by delivering it to some person over 16 years of age resident or employed on the premises or by affixing it in a conspicuous position on or near the premises.

(2) Where a notification is to be served on or given to a keeper who is the owner or occupier of a premises and the name of the keeper cannot be ascertained by reasonable enquiry, it may be addressed to the keeper by using the words the owner or the occupier.

(3) A person, other than the keeper to whom the notification refers, shall not at any time within 6 months after a notification or notice under paragraph (1)(d) is delivered, remove, damage or deface the notice without lawful authority.

(4) For the purposes of this Regulation, a company within the meaning of the Companies Acts, is deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body is deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

Offences and penalties

19. (1) A person who contravenes these Regulations or Articles 4, 5, 6 or 8 of the Council Regulation commits an offence.

(2) A person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) is liable-

(a) on summary conviction to a Class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €250,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both.

(3) A summary offence under these Regulations may be prosecuted by the Minister.

(4) If an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate and is proven to have been so committed with the consent, connivance or approval of or to have been attributable to willful neglect on the part of any keeper who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate, or a keeper purporting to act in any such capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, commits an offence and is liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he or she is guilty of the offence.

(5) If the affairs of a body corporate or unincorporated body are managed by its members, paragraph (2) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the functions of management as if the member were a director or manager of the body corporate.

Evidence

20. (1) In proceedings for an offence under these Regulations, a certificate purported to be signed by a person employed at a laboratory where a sample taken under these Regulations is analysed stating the capacity in which the person is employed and stating—

(a) that the person received a sample,

(b) that, for the period specified in the certificate, the person had the sample in his or her possession,

(c) that the person gave the sample to another person named in the certificate, or

(d) the person carried out a procedure for the purpose of detecting in the sample, a substance or contamination or that the sample contained a substance as is, or was contaminated in a manner, specified in the certificate, is, (without proof of the signature of the person or that he or she is employed at the laboratory), unless the contrary is proved, evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.

(2) A certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the Minister and to certify that on a specific day or days or during the whole of a specified period—

(a) a particular ear-tag, EID-tag, bolus or slaughter ear-tag was not an approved ear-tag, EID-tag, bolus or slaughter ear-tag,

(b) a sheep dispatch/movement document was not issued or completed in compliance with these Regulations,

(c) a flock register was not maintained in a manner specified by the Minister, or

(d) a notification was or was not issued in compliance with these Regulations, is without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign the certificate or that he or she is an officer of the Minister, evidence, unless the contrary is shown, of the matters stated in the certificate.

(3) In proceedings for an offence under these Regulations the court may, if matters stated in a certificate under paragraph (1) or (2) be given, and may for the purpose of receiving oral evidence adjourn the matter.

(4) In proceedings for an offence, evidence of an act of the institutions of the European Union may be given by production of a copy of the act certified by an officer of the Minister to be a copy of the act, and it is not necessary to prove the signature of the officer or that he or she is an officer of the Minister

(5) Paragraph (4) is in addition to and not in substitution for the European Communities (Judicial Notice and Documentary Evidence) Regulations 1972 ( S.I. No. 341 of 1972 ).

Revocation

1. The Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (National Sheep Identification System) Order 2001 ( S.I. No. 281 of 2001 ) is revoked insofar as they refer to sheep born after 31 December 2009.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

22 June 2011.

SIMON COVENEY,

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

This Regulation gives effect to Council Regulation (EC) No. 21/2004 of 17 December 2003, as amended, establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine animals including the introduction of electronic identification for sheep, animal movement notification and the submission of annual census returns.

1 O.J. No. L 5, 9.1.2004, p.8

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5 O.J. No. L 215 20.8.2009, p.3

6 O.J. No. L 149 15.6.2010, p.3

7 O.J. No. L 280 12.10.2006, p.3

8 O.J. No. L 298 16.11.2010, p.5

9 O.J. No. L 401, 30.12.2006, p.41

10 O.J. No. L 115, 29.4.2008, p.33

11 O.J. No. L 124, 20.5.2010, p.5