The Meat (Official Controls Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2007

Citation, commencement and extent

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Meat (Official Controls Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 and come into force on 26th March 2007.

(2) These Regulations extend to Scotland only.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations–

“accounting period” means a period of less than a year determined by the Agency;

“the Agency” means the Food Standards Agency(1);

“agreed slaughterhouse staff costs” means, in respect of any slaughterhouse at which poultry or lagomorphs are slaughtered–

(a)

the proportion (expressed as a sum of money) of the salaries (including overtime payments and employer’s pension and National Insurance contributions) paid to the staff at that slaughterhouse in respect of an accounting period that the Agency and the operator of the slaughterhouse may agree as being attributable to any such staff assisting with official controls by carrying out certain tasks there during that period under Article 5.6 of Regulation 854/2004; plus

(b)

25% of that sum;

“cutting plant” means an establishment which is used for boning and/or cutting up fresh meat for placing on the market and which–

(a)

is approved or conditionally approved under Article 31.2 of Regulation 882/2004; or

(b)

(although lacking the approval or conditional approval that it requires under Article 4.3 of Regulation 853/2004) was, on 31st December 2005, operating as licensed cutting premises under the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995(2) or the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995(3);

“cutting up” has the meaning that it bears in Regulation 853/2004 and “cut up” shall be construed accordingly;

“Directive 2004/41”, “Regulation 178/2002”, “Regulation 852/2004”, “Regulation 853/2004”, “Regulation 854/2004”, “Regulation 882/2004”, “Regulation 1688/2005”, “Regulation 2073/2005”, “Regulation 2074/2005”, “Regulation 2075/2005”, “Regulation 2076/2005”, “Regulation 776/2006”; “Regulation 1662/2006”, “Regulation 1663/2006”, “Regulation 1664/2006”, “Regulation 1665/2006”, “Regulation 1666/2006” and “Regulation 1791/2006” have the meanings respectively given to them in Schedule 1;

“domestic ungulates” has the meaning given to it in point 1.2 of Annex I to Regulation 853/2004;

“employer’s National Insurance contributions” means those social security contributions for which an employer is liable under Part I of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(4);

“establishment” has the meaning given to it in Article 2.1(c) of Regulation 852/2004;

“farmed game” has the meaning given to it in point 1.6 of Annex I to Regulation 853/2004;

“food business operator” has the meaning given to it in Article 3.3 of Regulation 178/2002;

“fresh meat” has the meaning given to it in point 1.10 of Annex I to Regulation 853/2004;

“game” has the meaning that it bears in Regulation 853/2004;

“game-handling establishment” means any establishment in which game and game meat obtained after hunting are prepared for placing on the market and which–

(a)

is approved or conditionally approved under Article 31.2 of Regulation 882/2004; or

(b)

(although lacking the approval or conditional approval that it requires under Article 4.3 of Regulation 853/2004) was, on 31st December 2005, operating as a licensed wild game processing facility under the Wild Game (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995(5);

“game meat” has the meaning that it bears in Regulation 853/2004;

“lagomorphs” has the meaning given to it in point 1.4 of Annex I to Regulation 853/2004;

“meat” has the meaning given to it in point 1.1 of Annex I to Regulation 853/2004;

“official controls” means the controls performed by the Agency under Regulation 854/2004–

(a)

at slaughterhouses, game-handling establishments and cutting plants, for the verification of compliance with the provisions of Regulation 853/2004, insofar as they apply in relation to meat of domestic ungulates, meat from poultry and lagomorphs, meat of farmed game or, as the case may be, meat of wild game; and

(b)

at slaughterhouses, for the verification of compliance with the provisions of the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995(6), in so far as they apply in relation to animals slaughtered there for human consumption;

“official controls charge” means the charge calculated in accordance with Schedule 2 and notified in accordance with regulation 3(1), (2) or (3);

“operator” means a food business operator who is carrying on the business of a slaughterhouse, game-handling establishment or cutting plant or that operator’s duly authorised representative;

“placing on the market” has the meaning given to it in Article 3.8 of Regulation 178/2002;

“poultry” has the meaning given to it in point 1.3 of Annex I to Regulation 853/2004;

“premises” means any slaughterhouse, game-handling establishment or cutting plant;

“slaughterhouse” means an establishment used for slaughtering and dressing animals, the meat of which is intended for human consumption and which–

(a)

is approved or conditionally approved under Article 31.2 of Regulation 882/2004; or

(b)

(although lacking the approval or conditional approval that it requires under Article 4.3 of Regulation 853/2004) was, on 31st December 2005, operating as a licensed slaughterhouse under the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995 or the Poultry Meat, Farmed Game Bird Meat and Rabbit Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1995;

“verification” means checking, by examination and provision of objective evidence; and

“wild game” has the meaning given to it in point 1.5 of Annex I to Regulation 853/2004.

Charges

3.—(1) The Agency shall, subject to the following provisions of this regulation, notify the operator of each slaughterhouse, game-handling establishment and cutting plant in which official controls have been exercised in any accounting period of an official controls charge in respect of those official controls as soon as practicable after the end of that period.

(2) Where the Agency cannot comply with paragraph (1) because it has insufficient information available to it to enable it to calculate the official controls charge for any accounting period in respect of any such premises as are specified in that paragraph, it shall notify the operator of those premises of an interim charge, being such amount as the Agency estimates (having regard to the information it has) the official controls charge to be.

(3) Where the Agency has notified an operator of an interim charge in accordance with paragraph (2) and sufficient information becomes available to the Agency to calculate the official controls charge, it shall calculate that charge and–

(a) where it exceeds the interim charge, notify the operator of the final charge, being the amount by which the official controls charge exceeds the interim charge; or

(b) subject to paragraph (6), where it is less than the interim charge, credit to the operator the amount by which the interim charge exceeds the official controls charge.

(4) Any charge notified to an operator under paragraph (1), (2) or (3) shall be payable by the operator to the Scottish Ministers and shall be recoverable on demand by the Scottish Ministers or by the Agency acting on their behalf, as a debt from the occupier concerned.

(5) Where any agreed slaughterhouse staff costs have been used to calculate a charge falling to be notified under paragraph (1), (2) or (3), those costs shall be set off against the amount of that charge in calculating the actual charge notified thereunder, provided that no refund shall be made to the relevant operator.

(6) Where under paragraph (3)(b) a sum is to be credited to an operator, the Scottish Ministers may if they so determine pay such sum to the operator concerned instead of crediting such sum to the operator.

Withdrawal of official controls

4.  Where the Scottish Ministers, or the Agency acting on their behalf have obtained decree against an operator of any premises for any sum which is payable to Scottish Ministers under regulation 3(4) and the operator fails within a reasonable time thereafter to comply with that decree, the Scottish Ministers may (without prejudice to any other legal remedy open to them) direct the Agency not to exercise any further official controls at those premises in respect of which the debt accrued until the debt has been satisfied.

Information

5.—(1) Any person shall, on demand being made by the Agency, supply–

(a) such information as the Agency may reasonably require for the purpose of calculating the official controls charge or notifying an operator of it; and

(b) such evidence as the Agency may reasonably require to enable it to verify information supplied under sub-paragraph (a).

(2) Any person who–

(a) in purported compliance with paragraph (1), knowingly or recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in a material particular; or

(b) without reasonable excuse, fails to comply within a reasonable time with a demand made under that paragraph,

is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

Revocation

6.  The Meat (Official Controls Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2006(7) are revoked.

LEWIS MACDONALD

Authorised to sign by the Scottish Ministers

St Andrew’s House,

Edinburgh

1st March 2007