1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Food (Animals and Animal Products from Belgium) (Emergency Control) (No. 3) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999 and shall come into operation on 19th August 1999.
(2) In this Order—
“the 1991 Order” means the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991;
“the amending Commission Decision” means Commission Decision 1999/551/EC amending Decision 1999/449/EC on protective measures with regard to contamination by dioxins of certain products of animal origin intended for human or animal consumption(1);
“animal” includes any bird;
“the Commission Decision” means Commission Decision 1999/449/EC on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of certain animal products intended for human or animal consumption(2), as amended by the amending Commission Decision;
“free circulation” shall be construed in accordance with Article 23.2 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;
“member State” means a member State of the European Community other than Belgium or the United Kingdom;
“relevant animal or animal product” means an entity coming within any of the following descriptions—
live animals and hatching eggs as referred to in Article 3 of the Commission Decision;
products of Belgian origin covered by Article 1.4 of the Commission Decision, and
products which are derived or partly derived from live animals or hatching eggs referred to in sub-paragraph (a) or contain any of the products referred to in sub-paragraph (b),
but only includes food and food sources.
(3) Other expressions used both in this Order and in the Commission Decision have, in so far as the context admits, the same meaning in this Order as they bear in that Decision.
2.—(1) Article 3 shall not apply to—
(a)the importation of any food or food source if, when imported, that food or food source is accompanied by valid certification relating to it, as specified in paragraph (3);
(b)any subsequent commercial operations in relation to the food or food source if it can be proved by the person carrying out the operation that at the time of importation it was so accompanied; or
(c)the return to Belgium, in accordance with Article 5 of the Commission Decision as read with Article 2 of the amending Commission Decision, of any product covered by this Order.
(2) Article 5 shall not, save for sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph (1), apply to any imported food or food source which is accompanied by valid certification relating to it as specified in paragraph (3).
(3) The certification to which paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) and (2) apply is—
(a)in the case of live poultry or hatching eggs as referred to in Article 2.2 of the Commission Decision, an official declaration signed by the Belgian competent authority in the form called for by that Article, as read with Article 2.4 of that Decision, and not issued in contravention of Article 2 of the amending Commission Decision;
(b)in the case of bovine animals or pigs as referred to in Article 2.3 of the Commission Decision, an official declaration signed by the Belgian competent authority in the form called for by that Article, as read with Article 2.4 of that Decision, and not issued in contravention of Article 2 of the amending Commission Decision;
(c)in the case of products referred to in Article 2.1 of the Commission Decision, an official certificate signed by the Belgian competent authority in the form called for by that Article, as read with Article 2.4 of that Decision, and not issued in contravention of Article 2 of the amending Commission Decision.
3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), no person shall carry out commercial operations with respect to any relevant animal or animal product.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be taken to prohibit the bringing into Northern Ireland from a member State of any relevant animal or animal product in free circulation in that member State.
4.—(1) This Order shall be enforced and executed by each district council within its district.
(2) For the purposes of the return to Belgium of any product as specified in Article 2(1)(c), the competent authority for the purposes of the official certificate shall be any authorised officer of a district council.
(3) Each district council shall give such assistance and information to the Department as it may request for the purpose of its duties under Article 12 of the 1991 Order in connection with the implementation of the Commission Decision or the amending Commission Decision with respect to food and food sources.
5.—(1) Article 8 of the 1991 Order (inspection and seizure of suspected food) shall apply for the purposes of this Order, subject to the following modifications—
(a)paragraphs (1) and (2) shall extend to food and food sources which appear to an authorised officer to come within the definition of “relevant animal or animal product”;
(b)paragraphs (3) to (9) shall apply—
(i)to any food or food source falling within sub-paragraph (a) above as it applies to food which appears to an authorised officer to fail to comply with food safety requirements or to be likely to cause food poisoning or any disease communicable to human beings, and
(ii)to any relevant animal or animal product as if it were food which failed to comply with food safety requirements,
save that where a notice under paragraph (3)(a)(i) is given in relation to a food source, the notice is to relate to food which may come to be derived from the food source, that paragraph (6) shall apply in relation to the destruction or disposal of a food source so as to prevent food which may come to be derived from it from being used for human consumption, and that a justice of the peace shall decline to condemn food or food sources falling within sub-paragraph (a) above under paragraph (6) if and only if it is proved to him that they do not compromise relevant animals or animal products, or that they are to be returned to Belgium as specified in Article 2(1)(c) of this Order.
(2) The following provisions of the 1991 Order shall apply, for the purposes of this Order and any reference in those provisions to the 1991 Order shall be construed for the purposes of this Order as a reference to this Order—
(a)Article 34 (obstruction etc. of officers); and
(b)Article 36(1) (punishment of offences) in so far as it relates to offences under Article 34 as applied by sub-paragraph (a).
6. The Food (Animals and Animal Products from Belgium) (Emergency Control) (No. 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 1999(3) is hereby revoked.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Health and Social Services on
L.S.
P. A. Conliffe
Assistant Secretary
18th August 1999.