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GAZETTE
APRIL 1977
This, of course, falls a good deal short of the closure
orders which I suggested might be vested in a Court and
very properly, there is a right to appeal to the District
Court.
The next part of the Regulations provide for the
registration of food premises, that is to say, premises
where the manufacture, preparation, importation, storage,
distribution or sale of food intended for human
consumption takes place other than raw fruit, raw
vegetables, dairy produce or eggs by the producers of
such produce.
The effect of the Regulations is that all such premises
must be registered and this enables the Local Authority to
make directions as to any requirements relating to the
premises before such registration takes place and to refuse
the registration of unsuitable premises.
After registration, where the proprietor has been
convicted of an offence under the 1947 Act, the Health
Authority may in certain circumstances, apply to the
Minister for an Order cancelling the registration.
An appeal against the decision of the Minister lies to
the District Court.
Section 38 of the Health Act 1953 extended the
powers of the Minister to make Regulations under the
1947 Act and makes explicit the power to make
Regulations prohibiting the preparation and sale of food in
unregistered premises and the cancellation of licences. It
also enables Regulations to be made vesting certain
functions in a Justice of the District Court or a Peace
Commissioner such as ordering the destruction of food
unfit for human consumption, the review of prohibition
orders on importation of food, the review of orders
relating to the registration of food premises, the direction
of Health Authorities to register food premises.
It also contains an interesting provision, viz. that
repairs, structural alterations, etc., required to be carried
out for the purpose of Part V of the 1947 Act may be
carried out, notwithstanding any covenant or agreement
to the contrary contained in any contract of tenancy.
The final Act which I propose to mention is the Food
Standards Act 1974. The main purpose of the Act was to
enable the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, the
Minister for Industry and Commerce or the Minister for
Health to make Regulations providing for standards in
relation to food, and the regulations might prohibit the
import/export, transportation, storage or sale of food
which did not measure up to the standards.
Appropriate powers of enforcement are provided for,
including the taking of samples, the entry on and
inspection of premises by the persons authorised in the
Statute, and the destruction of unfit food, either with the
consent of the owner or by order of the District Court.
It is very satisfactory to note that in this bureaucratic
age, such recent legislation affords protection to an owner
whose food has been wrongfully seized by empowering
the Court to award compensation to be paid by the
responsible Minister.
There is again in this Act a by-passing procedure, such
as we have noted in earlier statutes which is designed to
bring the real culprit to justice.
The penalties for infringement of the Act are afine not
exceeding £200 and in the case of a continuing offence, to
a further fine not exceeding £10 for each day on which
the offence is continued or imprisonment for a term not
exceeding 6 months or to both fine and imprisonment.
The Statute was enacted on 12 June 1974 and
pursuant thereto, three Statutory Instruments have been
issued dealing with sugar, cocoa, and chocolate products
and honey.
The interesting point about these regulations is that the
standards they impose are those set down by E.E.C.
Directives. The Directive relating to sugar was issued on
11 December 1973, that relating to honey on 22 July
1974, and those relating to cocoa and chocolate on 24
July 1973, 1 August 1974, 19 December 1974 and 4
March 1975.
An E.E.C. Directive governing standards in the
composition of dried milk was issued on 18 December
1975 but so far as I have been able to discover, no
regulations have yet been made by our Government to
implement this Directive, and I think in fact this Directive
has not yet been adopted.
It will have been observed that the day to day
operation of the various Statutes mentioned are largely
dependent upon the officials of the Regional Health
Authorities and of the Ministries concerned and
prosecutions are brought without reference to the Garda.
I believe that the duties imposed on the authorities in
the Statutes mentioned are mandatory and not
discretionary and presumably, therefore, an interested
party would be entitled to an Order of Mandamus if the
powers conferred by the Regulations were not enforced.
I have not, and do not intend in this paper to touch
upon the contractual or tortious liability of a vendor
toward a purchaser or of the latter's rights to recover
damages in any circumstances. The law on this subject
leaves much to be desired.
The Consumer Protection Bill 1976
The Consumer Protection Bill, in course of legislation,
deals only with the criminal liability of a vendor and does
not seek to provide an individual purchaser with a
personal remedy.
In England, the Criminal Justice Act 1972 enabled a
Court to award compensation for personal injury, loss or
damage resulting from an offence from which a person
had been convicted by the Court at the time of the
conviction and there appears to be no reason why this
should not be done here. Again in England the Consumer
Protection Act 1961 makes the seller liable in damages to
any person injured by his breach of the Regulations made
under the Act No such provision is contained in the
Consumer Protection Bill we are about to enact and there
appears to be no good reason for the exclusion.
Finally, what of the future and how is our membership
of the E.E.C. going to affect our standards.
By a decision of the Commission of the European
Communities dated 25 September 1973 (Com. 73 (73)
1608 final) a Consumers Consultative Committee was
established, composed of representatives of European
Consumer Organisations as well as of other individuals
specially qualified in consumer affairs.
The task of the Committee was declared to be "to
represent Consumer Interests to the Commission and to
advise the Commission on the formation and
implementation of the policies and actions regarding
consumer protection and information, either when
requested to do so by the Commission or on its own
initiative".
On 21 May 1974 the Commission of the European
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