The Bovines and Bovine Products (Trade) Regulations 1999

Powers to stop and search vehicles and vessels and detain goods

15.—(1) At any time while a vehicle or vessel is–

(a) within the limits of or entering or leaving a port or any land adjacent to a port and occupied wholly or mainly for the purposes of activities carried on at the port;

(b) at, entering or leaving an aerodrome; or

(c) at, entering or leaving an approved wharf, transit shed, customs warehouse or free zone,

an officer or an inspector may, for the purposes of the enforcement of these Regulations, stop and search the vehicle or vessel and may inspect any commercial documents or certificate accompanying any goods carried on the vehicle or vessel.

(2) Where at any place (including any place which is referred to in paragraph (1) above) an officer or an inspector has reasonable grounds to suspect that any vehicle or vessel is or may be carrying a consignment of any goods which are–

(a) of a kind described in regulation 3(1), 4(1) or 6(1), (4), (7) or (9) above;

(b) foreign origin export eligible goods, DBES goods or ECHS goods;

(c) controlled bovine by-products or foreign origin bovine by-products; or

(d) any part of the vertebral column of a bovine animal,

and which he reasonably suspects may be illegal, he may search that vehicle or vessel and may inspect any commercial documents or certificate accompanying any goods carried on the vehicle or vessel.

(3) Where an officer or an inspector has stopped and searched a vehicle or vessel under paragraph (1) above or has searched a vehicle or a vessel under paragraph (2) above, he may detain for not more than three working days any goods which he reasonably suspects may be illegal.

(4) Any goods detained under this regulation shall be dealt with during the period of their detention in such manner as the officer or inspector detaining the goods may direct, at the expense of the person who is or appears to be in control of the consignment.

(5) Goods for “illegal” for the purposes of this regulation if–

(a) they are falsely described on their packaging, wrapping, label or any container in which they are placed, or in any certificate or a document accompanying them;

(b) in the case of any goods of a kind described in–

(i) regulation 3(1), 4(1), 6(4) or (7) above, they are being brought or consigned in contravention of regulation 3(1), 4(1), 6(4) or (6) above respectively, as the case may be;

(ii) regulation 6(1) above, they have been produced in contravention of that provision;

(iii) regulation 6(9) above, there has been a contravention of regulation 6(8) above in relation to any of them;

(c) in the case of DBES goods, or ECHS goods which have undergone a stage of preparation in Great Britain, the goods–

(i) have been prepared in contravention of any provision of these Regulations relating to the goods; or

(ii) are being or have been brought, despatched or consigned otherwise than in accordance with regulation 4(2) above (in the case of ECHS goods) or regulation 4(4) above (in the case of DBES goods);

(d) in the case of ECHS goods which have not undergone a stage of preparation in Great Britain–

(i) they have been prepared in contravention of any provision of the Northern Ireland Regulations relating to the goods; or

(ii) they are being or have been brought, despatched or consigned in contravention of any provision of the Northern Ireland Regulations relating to the goods;

(e) in the case of foreign origin export eligible goods–

(i) they have been prepared in contravention of any provision of these Regulations relating to the goods; or

(ii) they are being or have been brought, despatched or consigned in contravention of regulation 5(1) or 6(5) above;

(f) in the case of controlled bovine by-products, they were produced in contravention of regulation 7 above;

(g) in the case of foreign origin bovine by-products–

(i) they have been produced in contravention of any provision of these Regulations relating to such by-products; or

(ii) they are being or have been brought, despatched or consigned in contravention of regulation 5(2) above; or

(h) in the case of vertebral column of a bovine animal, the goods are not in an impervious container clearly labelled in accordance with regulation 6(3) above.

(6) For the purposes of paragraph (1) above a “port”, an “aerodrome”, an “approved wharf”, “transit shed”, “customs warehouse” and “free zone” have the same meanings as they respectively have in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979(1).

(1)

1979 c. 2.