1. These Regulations may be cited as the Sheep Annual Premium Regulations 1992, shall apply throughout Great Britain and shall come into force on 13th November 1992.
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–
“authorised officer” means any person (whether or not an officer of that authority) who is authorised by the competent authority in writing, either generally or specially, to act in matters arising under these Regulations;
“the Commission Regulation” means Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3007/84, laying down detailed rules for the application of the premium for producers of sheepmeat(1), as amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 164/86(2), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1514/86(3), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3984/89(4), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1260/90(5), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 288/91(6), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3107/91(7) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3340/91(8);
“the competent authority” means –
in relation to England, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;
in relation to Scotland and Wales, the Secretary of State;
“the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EEC) No 3013/89 on the common organisation of the market in sheepmeat and goatmeat(9), as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No /1741/91(10) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 2069/92(11);
“marketing year” means a marketing year as defined in Article 3(3) of the Council Regulation;
“premium” means the premium provided for under Article 5 of the Council Regulation;
“producer” means a producer as defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3493/90(12), as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No 2070/92(13).
(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation so numbered in these Regulations.
3.—(1) An application for premium shall be in such form and shall contain such particulars relating to that application as the competent authority may reasonably request.
(2) A producer who applies for a premium in respect of a marketing year shall deliver his application to the competent authority–
(a)on or after 15th November and not later than 15th December in the preceding marketing year; or
(b)on or after 15th January in the calendar year in which the marketing year commences and not later than 20th February in that calendar year.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) above, a producer marketing sheep’s milk or sheep’s milk products who applies for the premium for the heavy category under Article 5(4) of the Council Regulation in respect of a marketing year shall deliver his application to the competent authority on or after 15th November and not later than 15th December in the preceding marketing year.
4. A producer shall be required to keep a register containing the following information–
(a)the dates on which female sheep put to the ram for the first time gave birth and the number of lambs produced;
(b)the number and date of any sheep purchased, sold or otherwise disposed of, the name and address of the seller, buyer or other recipient or in the case of sheep purchased or sold at a livestock market, the name and address of that market; and
(c)in cases of losses of sheep the date the producer discovered the loss, the number lost and the circumstances of the loss;
and retain such register for 3 years from the end of the marketing year to which the last entry therein relates.
5.—(1) An authorised officer may at all reasonable hours and on producing, if so required, some duly authenticated document showing his authority, exercise the powers specified in this regulation for the purposes of–
(a)inspecting and counting any sheep kept by the producer, or
(b)ascertaining whether an offence under regulation 9(2) has been or is being committed.
(2) An authorised officer may enter any premises (other than any premises used only as a dwelling), which are, or which such officer has reasonable cause to believe to be, occupied by, or in the possession of, a producer or any employee, servant or agent of a producer.
(3) An authorised officer who has entered any premises by virtue of this regulation may inspect and count any sheep kept by the producer on those premises.
(4) An authorised officer entering any premises by virtue of this regulation may take with him such other persons as he considers necessary.
(5) An authorised officer may–
(a)require any producer or any employee, servant or agent of a producer to produce any record and to supply such additional information in that person’s possession or under his control relating to an application for premium as the authorised officer may reasonably request;
(b)inspect any such record and, where any such record is kept by means of a computer, have access to, and inspect and check the operation of, any computer and any associated apparatus or material which is or has been in use in connection with that record;
(c)require that copies of or extracts from, any record be produced;
(d)seize and retain any such record which he has reason to believe may be required as evidence in proceedings under these Regulations and, where any such record is kept by means of a computer, require it to be produced in a form in which it may be taken away.
6. A producer or any employee, servant or agent of a producer shall give to an authorised officer such assistance as the authorised officer may reasonably request so as to enable the authorised officer to exercise any power conferred upon him by regulation 5.
7. For the purposes of Article 6(5) of the Commission Regulation, interest shall be calculated at the rate of one percentage point above the sterling three months London Interbank Offered Rate on a day to day basis for the period specified in that Article.
8. A competent authority may recover from any person any payment that person is required to return under Article 6 of the Commission Regulation together with interest thereon as specified in paragraph (5) of that Article.
9.—(1) If any person–
(a)intentionally obstructs an authorised officer (or a person accompanying him and acting under his instructions) in the exercise of a power conferred by regulation 5; or
(b)fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a request made under regulation 6,
he shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) If any person for the purpose of obtaining the whole or any part of the premium or in purported compliance with any requirement imposed under regulation 5(5)–
(a)furnishes information which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular; or
(b)recklessly furnishes information which is false or misleading in a material particular,
he shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) or (2) above shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(4) Proceedings in England and Wales for an offence under paragraphs (1) and (2) above may be brought within a period of six months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to justify proceedings comes to his knowledge, and in any case within twelve months from the commission of the offence.
(5) Summary proceedings in Scotland for an offence under paragraphs (1) and (2) above may be commenced within a period of six months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the procurator fiscal to justify proceedings comes to his knowledge, and in any case within twelve months from the commission of the offence, and proceedings shall be deemed to be commenced on the date on which a warrant to apprehend or to cite the accused is granted, if such a warrant is executed without undue delay.
(6) A certificate purporting to be signed–
(a)for the purposes of paragraph (4) above, by or on behalf of the prosecutor, or
(b)for the purposes of paragraph (5) above, by the procurator fiscal,
shall be conclusive evidence of the date on which evidence sufficient to justify proceedings came to the knowledge of the prosecutor or the procurator fiscal (as the case may be).
(7) Where an offence under this regulation which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(8) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, the provisions of paragraph (7) above shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
(9) In paragraphs (7) and (8) above references to a “body corporate” include references to a partnership in Scotland and, in relation to such partnership, any reference to a director or other officer of a body corporate is a reference to a partner.
10. The Regulations specified in the Schedule to these Regulations are hereby revoked.
In witness whereof the Official Seal of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is hereunto affixed on
L.S.
John Selwyn Gummer
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
28th October 1992.
Hector Monro
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office
28th October 1992