(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order, which forms part of Scots law only, contains emergency prohibitions restricting various activities in order to prevent human consumption of food rendered unsuitable for that purpose by virtue of shellfish having been affected by the toxin which causes amnesic shellfish poisoning in human beings.
The Order designates an area of sea off Dumfries and Galloway within which taking scallops is prohibited (articles 3 and 4 and the Schedule). It prohibits the movement of scallops out of that area (article 5). Other restrictions are imposed in relation to the use of any scallops taken from that area (article 6). The designated area extends to the limit of the Scottish Zone. For the purposes of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (“the 1985 Act”), the “Scottish Zone” is as defined in section 126(1) of the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) (“the 1998 Act”). Detailed co ordinates for the purposes of this definition are contained in The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 (S.I.1999/1126), made under section 126(2) of the 1998 Act.
It is an offence by virtue of section 1(6) of the 1985 Act as read with Schedule 1, paragraph 4 to the 1998 Act as inserted by paragraph 10(13) of the Schedule to the Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1756), to contravene any of the prohibitions contained in this Order anywhere in the United Kingdom or in United Kingdom waters.
Under section 21 of the Act the penalty for contravening an emergency prohibition is–
(a)on summary conviction, a fine of an amount not exceeding the statutory maximum (at present £5,000);
(b)on conviction on indictment, an unlimited fine, or imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or both.
Powers of enforcement in relation to emergency prohibitions are conferred by section 4 of, and Schedule 2 to, the 1998 Act. Obstruction of enforcement officers is an offence under paragraph 10 of that Schedule.