Agriculture Act 1970

69 Marking of material prepared for sale

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person who has material of a prescribed description on his premises for the purpose of selling it in the course of trade for use as a fertiliser or feeding stuff shall—

(a) as soon as practicable after it is made ready for sale, or

(b) if it is ready for sale when it comes on to the premises and is not then already marked as required by this section, as soon as practicable after it comes on to the premises,

and in either case before it is removed from the premises, mark it in such manner, if any, as may be prescribed with the matters required to be contained in a statutory statement relating to that material, and shall secure that the material continues to be so marked until it leaves the premises.

(2) For the purposes of the foregoing subsection material which is normally packed before being delivered to a purchaser shall not be treated as ready for sale until it is so packed if the packing takes place on the premises where the material is manufactured but, if the packing takes place elsewhere, shall be treated as ready for sale when it is ready for packing.

(3) In the case of material which has been imported, subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall have effect subject to such modifications as may be prescribed.

(4) Where, at a time when subsection (1) of this section applies to any person, that person has on his premises for the purpose of selling it as mentioned in that subsection any material to which that subsection applies which is ready for sale and which—

(a) is not marked in the manner required by or under this section; or

(b) is not marked with all the information or instructions referred to in section 68(1)(b) of this Act with which it is required by this section to be marked; or

(c) is marked with a mark which, as respects a sampled portion of the material—

(i) does not contain all the particulars referred to in section 68(1)(a) of this Act with which the material is required by this section to be marked; or

(ii) contains any such particulars which are false to the prejudice of a purchaser,

that person shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £400, or, on a second or subsequent conviction under this subsection, to a fine not exceeding £400 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both ; but, except where the time in question is the time of the removal of the material from the premises, it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this subsection to show that it was not practicable for the material to be marked in accordance with the requirements of this section by the time in question.

(5) In proceedings for an offence under subsection (4)(c) of this section the fact that any particulars ought to have been included or are false shall be proved by evidence of the result of an analysis of the sample taken from the portion in question.

(6) Regulations may provide for enabling the matters required by this section to be marked on any material to be denoted by a mark whose meaning can be ascertained by reference to a register kept in such manner and form as may be specified in the regulations ; and any material marked in accordance with the regulations shall be treated for the purposes of this Part of this Act as marked with the matters which the mark denotes.

(7) A person keeping a register pursuant to regulations under subsection (6) of this section shall preserve the register for such period as may be prescribed and a person who has such a register in his possession or under his control shall on demand by an inspector produce it for his inspection and allow him to take copies of it; and any person who fails to comply with this subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50.