Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act 1998

55.—(1) Where the Board is satisfied that an authorised officer, or any other member of the staff of the Authority, has discharged his or her duties in pursuance of the functions of the Authority in a bona fide manner, the Board shall indemnify the authorised officer, or such member of the staff of the Authority, against all actions or claims howsoever arising in respect of the discharge by him or her of his or her duties.

(2) A member of the Garda Síochána shall not be liable for any loss or damage occasioned by or in the course of assisting an authorised officer in accordance with section 50(3).

56 Service of notices, etc.

56.—(1) Any notice required to be served or given by or under this Part shall be addressed to the person concerned and served or given in one of the following ways—

(a) by addressing it to the person by name and delivering it to him or her,

(b) by leaving it at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or carries on business,

(c) by sending it by post in a prepaid registered letter addressed to the person at the address at which he or she ordinarily resides or carries on business,

(d) if an address for the service of notices has been furnished by the person, by leaving it at, or sending it by prepaid registered post addressed to him or her to, that address,

(e) where the address at which the person ordinarily resides or carries on business cannot be ascertained by reasonable inquiry and notice is required to be served on, or given to, him or her in respect of any premises by delivering it to a person over the age of 16 years resident in or employed on the premises, or by affixing it in a conspicuous position on or near the premises, or

(f) where there is a facility for receiving a facsimile of the notice by electronic means at the address at which the person ordinarily resides or carries on business, by transmitting a facsimile of the notice by such means to that address, provided that the notice is also served or given in any of the other ways referred to in this subsection.

(2) Where the name of the person concerned cannot be ascertained by reasonable inquiry, a notice under this Act may be addressed to “the occupier”, “the owner” or “the person in charge”, as the case may be.

(3) For the purposes of this section, a company registered under the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990, shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal office or place of business.

(4) A person shall not at any time during the period 3 months after a notice is affixed under subsection (1)(e) remove, damage or deface the notice without lawful authority.

(5) A person who contravenes subsection (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding £25 for each day on which the offence is continued.

57 Prosecution of summary offences under food legislation.

57.—(1) Proceedings in relation to a summary offence under any food legislation may continue to be brought and prosecuted by the official agency which had responsibility, immediately before the commencement of section 45, for the enforcement of the food legislation concerned.

(2) Proceedings in relation to a summary offence under any food legislation, committed after the commencement of section 45, may be also brought and prosecuted by the Authority.

PART V Dissolution of Former Authority

58 Dissolution of former Authority.

58.—(1) The former Authority shall, on the establishment day, become and be dissolved.

(2) References in any Act of the Oireachtas passed before the establishment day or in any instrument made before that day under an Act of the Oireachtas to the former Authority shall, on and after that day, be construed as references to the Authority.

59 Transfer of assets and liabilities of former Authority.

59.—(1) The following shall be and hereby are transferred to the Authority on the establishment day—

(a) all property and rights relating to such property held or enjoyed immediately before that day by the former Authority or any trustee or agent thereof acting on its behalf, and

(b) all liabilities incurred before that day by the former Authority or any trustee or agent thereof acting on its behalf that had not been discharged before that day,

and, accordingly, without any further conveyance, transfer or assignment—

(i) the said property, real and personal, shall, on that day, vest in the Authority for all the estate, term or interest for which, immediately before that day, it was so vested in the former Authority, as the case may be, but subject to all trusts and equities affecting the property subsisting and capable of being performed,

(ii) the said rights shall, as on and from that day, be enjoyed by the Authority, and

(iii) the said liabilities shall, as on and from that day, be liabilities of the Authority.

(2) All moneys, stocks, shares and securities transferred to the Authority by this section that, on the establishment day, are standing in the name of the former Authority or any said trustee or agent thereof shall, upon the request of the Authority, be transferred into its name.

(3) Every right and liability transferred to the Authority by this section may, on or after the establishment day, be sued on, recovered or enforced by or against the Authority in its own name and it shall not be necessary for the Authority to give notice to the person whose right or liability is transferred by this section of the transfer.

60 Preservation of certain continuing contracts and adaptation of references to former Authority.

60.—(1) Every bond, guarantee or other security of a continuing nature made or given by or on behalf of the former Authority to any person or given by any person to and accepted by or on behalf of the former Authority and every contract or agreement made between the former Authority, or any trustee or agent thereof acting on its behalf, and any other person and in force but not fully executed and completed immediately before the establishment day shall continue in force on or after that day and shall be construed and have effect as if the name of the Authority was substituted therein for that of the former Authority or, as appropriate, its said trustee or agent and shall be enforceable by or against the Authority.

(2) References to the former Authority, or any trustee or agent thereof acting on its behalf, contained immediately before the establishment day in the memorandum and articles of association of any company shall, on and after that day, be construed as references to the Authority.

61 Saving for certain acts.

61.—Nothing in this Act shall affect the validity of any act that was done before the establishment day by or on behalf of the former Authority and every such act shall, if and in so far as it was operative immediately before that day, have effect on and after that day as if it had been done by or on behalf of the Authority.

62 Pending legal proceedings.

62.—Where, immediately before the establishment day, any legal proceedings are pending in any court or tribunal and the former Authority, or any trustee or agent thereof acting on its behalf, is a party to the proceedings, the name of the Authority shall be substituted therein for that of the former Authority or, as appropriate, the said trustee or agent thereof and the proceedings shall not abate by reason of such substitution.

63 Exemption from capital gains tax.

63.—For the purposes of the Capital Gains Tax Acts (within the meaning of section 1 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997), any gain accruing to the former Authority on a disposal made by virtue of section 59 shall not be a chargeable gain.

64 Revocation.

64.—The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (Establishment) Order, 1997 (S.I. No. 524 of 1997), is hereby, on the establishment day, revoked.

PART VI Amendment of the Radiological Protection Act, 1991

65 Amendment of Radiological Protection Act, 1991.

65.—The Radiological Protection Act, 1991, is hereby amended by—

(a) in section 28(1), the insertion after “Institute” of “and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, after consultation with the Institute,”,

(b) in section 31(1), the substitution for “Environment, Health and the Marine and the Institute” of “Environment and Local Government, Health and Children and the Marine and Natural Resources, the Institute and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland”,

(c) in section 32—

(i) the substitution for “and the Institute” of “, the Institute and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland” in each place it occurs, and

(ii) the insertion after “Health” of “and Children” in each place it occurs,

(d) in section 33(1), the insertion after “Agriculture and Food” of “in co-operation with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland” and after “he” of “or it”,

(e) in section 33(2), the insertion after “Agriculture and Food” of “in co-operation with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland” and after “he” of “or it”,

(f) in section 33(3), the substitution for “The Minister for the Marine” of “The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources in co-operation with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland” and the insertion after “he” of “or it”,

(g) in section 33(4), the insertion after “Finance” of “in co-operation with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland” and after “he” of “or it”,

(h) in section 41(6), after “inspector” of “or by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, in respect of an offence committed after its establishment, if the Food Safety Authority of Ireland appointed that inspector”, and

(i) in section 41, after subsection (6) to insert the following subsection:

“(7) A summary offence under a regulation made under section 32(1) of this Act, committed after the establishment of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, may be prosecuted by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.”.

FIRST SCHEDULE Food Legislation

PART I

PART II

European Communities (Arsenic and Lead in Food) Regulations, 1972 (S.I. No. 44 of 1972)

European Communities (Labelling, Presentation and Advertising of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1982 (S.I. No. 205 of 1982)

European Communities (Erucic Acid in Food) (Method of Analysis) Regulations, 1982 (S.I. No. 271 of 1982)

European Communities (Food Additives) (Purity Criteria Verification) Regulations, 1983 (S.I. No. 60 of 1983)

European Communities (Vinyl Chloride in Food) (Method of Analysis) Regulations, 1984 (S.I. No. 92 of 1984)

European Communities (Antioxidant in Food) (Purity Criteria) Regulations, 1985 (S.I. No. 187 of 1985)

European Communities (Natural Mineral Waters) Regulations, 1986 (S.I. No. 11 of 1986)

European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Cereals) Regulations, 1988 to 1998

European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Foodstuffs of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1988 to 1998

European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Fruit and Vegetables) Regulations, 1989 (S.I. No. 105 of 1989)

European Communities (Preservatives in Food) (Purity Criteria) Regulations, 1989 (S.I. No. 262 of 1989)

European Communities (Egg Products) Regulations, 1991 (S.I. No. 293 of 1991)

European Communities (Materials and Articles Intended to Come Into Contact With Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1991 (S.I. No. 307 of 1991)

European Communities (Flavourings for use in Foodstuffs for Human Consumption) Regulations, 1992 (S.I. No. 22 of 1992)

European Communities (Marketing Standards for Eggs) Regulations, 1992 (S.I. No. 254 of 1992)

European Communities (Quick Frozen Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1992 (S.I. No. 290 of 1992)

Radiological Protection Act, 1991 (General Control of Radioactive Substances, Nuclear Devices and Irradiating Apparatus) Order, 1993 (S.I. No. 151 of 1993)

European Communities (Minced Meat) Regulations, 1994 (S.I. No. 215 of 1994)

European Communities (Infant Formulae) Regulations, 1994 (S.I. No. 459 of 1994)

European Communities (Meat Products and Other Products of Animal Origin) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 126 of 1995)

European Communities (Rabbitmeat and Farmed Game Meat) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 278 of 1995)

European Communities (Wild Game Meat) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 298 of 1995)

European Communities (General Provisions on the Control of Additives, and in particular Colours and Sweeteners for use in Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 344 of 1995)

European Communities (Monitoring of Temperature in the Means of Transport, Warehousing and Storage of Quick-Frozen Foodstuffs and Sampling Procedure and Methods of Analysis for Control of the Temperatures of Quick-Frozen Foods Intended for Human Consumption) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 370 of 1995)

European Communities (Fresh Poultrymeat) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 3 of 1996)

European Communities (Hygienic Production and Placing on the Market of Raw Milk, Heat-Treated Milk and Milk-Based Products) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 9 of 1996) (other than Regulations 6 to 11)

European Communities (Live Bivalve Molluscs) (Health Conditions for Production and Placing on the Market) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 147 of 1996)

European Communities (Fishery Products) (Health Conditions and Hygiene Rules for Production and Placing on the Market) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 170 of 1996)

European Communities (Minced Meat and Meat Preparations) Regulations, 1996 (S.I. No. 243 of 1996)

European Communities (Detailed Provisions on the Control of Additives, other than Colours and Sweeteners, for use in Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1997 (S.I. No. 128 of 1997)

European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Fruit and Vegetables) (Amendment) Regulations, 1997 (S.I. No. 218 of 1997)

European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Products of Plant Origin, including Fruit and Vegetables) Regulations, 1997 (S.I. No. 221 of 1997)

European Communities (Suspension of Imports of Pistachios and Certain Products Derived from Pistachios Originating in or Consigned from Iran) Regulations, 1997 (S.I. No. 432 of 1997)

European Communities (Fresh Meat) Regulations, 1997 (S.I. No. 434 of 1997)

European Communities (Pesticide Residues) (Products of Plant Origin, including Fruit and Vegetables) (Amendment) Regulations, 1998 (S.I. No. 71 of 1998)

European Communities (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1998 (S.I. No. 85 of 1998)

European Communities (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 1998 (S.I. No. 86 of 1998)

European Communities (Official Control of Foodstuffs) (Approved Laboratories) Order, 1998 (S.I. No. 95 of 1998).

PART III

Commission Regulation (EC) No. 194/97[^1] of 31 January 1997 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs

Council Regulation (EEC) No. 315/93[^2] of 8 February 1993 laying down Community procedures for contaminants in food

Regulation (EC) No. 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council[^3] of 27 January 1997 concerning novel foods and novel food ingredients.

SECOND SCHEDULE Official Agencies

Each of the following shall be an official agency for the purposes of this Act:

the Director of Consumer Affairs,

a health board,

a local authority,

the Minister for Agriculture and Food,

the Minister for Health and Children,

the Minister for the Environment and Local Government,

the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources,

the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland,

the State Laboratory.