5.—(1) These Regulations must be enforced—
(a)By the Department at a border inspection post solely designated and approved for veterinary checks on products referred to in Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002;
(b)by the Agency at—
(i)any cutting plant, game-handling establishment or slaughterhouse; and
(ii)premises at which the Agency enforces the Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006(1) by virtue of regulation 5 (2)(b) of those Regulations;
(c)subject to paragraph (2), by each district council within its area, including at any border inspection post in that area, except at a border inspection post referred to in sub-paragraph (a) and at premises referred to in sub-paragraph (b).
(2) At points of entry, regulation 16 must be enforced by the Department and not the district council.
(3) In cases where an officer of a district council, when exercising any statutory function, discovers at a point of entry a consignment or product that he considers may have been brought in breach of regulation 16, he shall notify an officer of Revenue and Customs and detain the consignment or product until an officer of Revenue and Customs takes charge of it.
(4) In cases where an officer of a district council who is not an authorised officer for the purposes of these Regulations, when exercising any statutory function, discovers at any place other than a point of entry or a border inspection post, a consignment or product—
(a)in relation to which he considers these Regulations may not have been complied with; or
(b)that he considers is from a third country and may present a risk to animal or public health,
he must notify an authorised officer and detain the consignment or product until an authorised officer takes charge of it.
(5) If the Department considers that a district council is failing or has failed to enforce these Regulations generally, or in any class of cases, or in an individual case, he may empower an authorised officer or the Agency to enforce them in place of that district council.
(6) The Department or Agency may recover from the district council concerned any expenses reasonably incurred by it under paragraph (5).
(7) The Department, the Agency and any district council may exchange information for the purposes of these Regulations, and may divulge information to the enforcement authorities in England, Scotland and Wales for the purposes of these Regulations or the equivalent Regulations in those jurisdictions.
(8) Paragraph (7) is without prejudice to any other power of the Department, the Agency or any district council to disclose information.
(9) No person, including a servant of the Crown may disclose any information received from the Department under paragraph (7) if—
(a)the information relates to a person whose identity—
(i)is specified in the disclosure; or
(ii)can be deducted from the disclosure;
(b)the disclosure is for a purpose other than the purposes specified in paragraph (7); and
(c)the Commissioners have not given their prior consent to the disclosure.
(10) In paragraph (1), the terms “cutting plant”, “game-handling establishment” and “slaughterhouse” have the same meaning that they bear in Regulation 5(6) of the Food Hygiene Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006.
(11) In this regulation, “point of entry” means any place where goods are subject to customs supervision under Articles 37 and 38 of the Customs Code, other than a border inspection post.
S.R. 2006 No.3 as amended by S.R. 2007 No.16