Specified Risk Material Order (Northern Ireland) 1997

Import of class I specified risk material

6.—(1) A person shall not import into Northern Ireland from any place outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man—

(a) any class I specified risk material, except where it is to be transported directly to licensed premises; or

(b) any food or feedingstuff listed in Schedule 1, except a food or feedingstuff which—

(i) does not contain any class I specified risk material; and

(ii) is accompanied by a certificate in the form set out in Schedule 2 issued by the appropriate veterinary authority of the place from which the food or feedingstuff was despatched.

(2) Where class I specified risk material is imported in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1)(a) the importer shall ensure that it is transported to licenced premises without delay.

(3) For the purposes of this Article a food or feedingstuff shall be treated as containing class I specified risk material if it contains anything derived from it.

(4) A person shall not be considered to have contravened any prohibitions in paragraph (1) where he is able to prove—

(a) where it is alleged that he imported a food or feedingstuff listed in Schedule 1 containing class I specified risk material, that he did not know or have any reason to believe that the food or feedingstuff imported by him contained any class I specified risk material;

(b) where it is alleged that he imported a food or feedingstuff listed in Schedule 1 without the certificate referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(ii) accompanying it, that the food or feedingstuff listed in Schedule 1 was accompanied by a document purporting to be the certificate required by that paragraph, which he did not know or have any reason to believe to be false; and

(c) where it is alleged that he imported a food or feeding stuff listed in Schedule 1 which contained class I specified risk material without the certificate referred to in paragraph (1)(b)(ii) accompanying it, that he did not know or have reason to believe that the food or feedingstuff contained class I specified risk material.

(5) A person shall not be considered to have contravened any prohibitions in paragraph (2) in relation to any imported class I specified risk material where he is able to prove that he took all reasonable steps to ensure that it was transported to licenced premises as required by that paragraph.