Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1963

23 Cold and chemical storage of eggs

(1) For the purposes of section 4 of the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act 1928 (which regulates the cold and chemical storage of eggs)—

(a) eggs shall not be treated as being kept in cold storage in any premises unless the temperature at which they are kept there is artificially reduced to below fifty degrees Fahrenheit;

(b) premises shall not be treated as being used by way of trade or for purposes of gain for the cold storage of eggs by reason only that eggs intended to be sold in the course of a retail trade carried on there are kept there in cold storage in the ordinary course of that trade.

(2) In subsection (2) of the said section 4 the following shall be substituted for paragraph .(b):—

“(b) it shall not be lawful to cause British eggs to be placed in cold storage or chemical storage in any registered premises unless notice in writing containing the prescribed particulars is given at or before the time of the placing to the council by which the premises are registered, and either—

(i) the eggs are marked in the prescribed manner; or

(ii) the eggs are not intended for sale by retail in shell and are kept in a container which is marked in the prescribed manner;

and if any person contravenes or fails to comply with (the provisions of this paragraph he shall be guilty of an offence under this section:

(ba) where British eggs have been placed in cold storage or chemical storage in any registered premises without being marked in the prescribed manner it shall not be lawful to cause them to be removed from those premises unless not less than forty-eight hours' notice in writing containing the prescribed particulars has been given to the council by which the premises are registered, and either—

(i) the eggs are marked in the prescribed manner; or

(ii) the eggs are kept in a container marked in the prescribed manner and such evidence has been furnished to that council as is reasonably sufficient to satisfy the council that they are not intended for sale by retail in shell;

and if any person contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of this paragraph he shall be guilty of an offence under this section:

(bb) the occupier of any registered premises and any person who causes British eggs to be placed in cold storage or chemical storage in such premises shall keep the prescribed records and permit any duly authorised officer of the council of the county or county borough to inspect those records at all reasonable times; and if any person fails to comply with the provisions of this paragraph he shall be guilty of an offence under this section”.

(3) This section shall not come into operation until such day as the Ministers may by order made by statutory instrument appoint.