The Organic Products Regulations 2004
2004 No. 1604
AGRICULTURE
The Organic Products Regulations 2004
Made 23th June 2004
Laid before Parliament 25th June 2004
Coming into force 19th July 2004
The Secretary of State, being a Minister designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to the common agricultural policy of the European Community, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by the said section 2(2) save in relation to fees charged by the Secretary of State, and, in relation to such fees, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by section 56(1) and (2) of the Finance Act 19733and with the consent of the Treasury, makes the following Regulations:—
Title and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Organic Products Regulations 2004 and shall come into force on 19th July 2004.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“authorised officer” means any person (whether or not an officer of a local authority) who is authorised by a local authority in writing, either generally or specially, to act in matters arising under these Regulations;
“business” includes the undertaking of a canteen, club, school, hospital or institution, whether carried out for profit or not and any undertaking or activity carried on by a public or local authority;
“the Commission Regulations” means the Commission Regulations listed in Schedule 1;
“Commission Regulation 1452/2003” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1452/2003maintaining the derogation provided for in Article 6(3)(a) of the Council Regulation with regard to certain species of seed and vegetative propagating material and laying down procedural rules and criteria relating to that derogation4;
“the Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2092/915on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs, as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 392/20046;
“the database” means the computerised database, established under Article 6(1) of Commission Regulation 1452/2003, listing varieties of seed and seed potatoes obtained by the organic production method prescribed in Article 6(2) of the Council Regulation which are available in the United Kingdom;
“holding” has the meaning given in Article 2(b) of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/20037establishing common rules for direct support schemes;
“importer” means any person who imports from a third country any products referred to in Article 1 of the Council Regulation with a view to the subsequent marketing of such products;
“justice of the peace”, in relation to Scotland, means a full justice as defined by section 9 of the District Courts (Scotland) Act 19758;
“local authority” means—
(a) in relation to England—
(i) for each non-metropolitan county, metropolitan district, and London borough, the council of that county, district or borough, and
(ii) for the City of London and the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, the Common Council of the City of London;
(b) in relation to Wales, as respects each county or county borough, the council of that county or county borough;
(c) in relation to Scotland, as respects each local authority area, the council for that area constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. Scotland Act 19949; and
(d) in relation to Northern Ireland, each district council, and for this purpose, “district council” has the meaning given to it in section 44 of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 195410;
“notification” means a notification of the information specified in Annex IV to the Council Regulation made by an operator under Article 8(1)(a) of that Regulation;
“organic product” means a product referred to in Article 1(1) of the Council Regulation;
“private inspection body” means an inspection body holding a current approval from the Secretary of State under Article 9 of the Council Regulation;
“public analyst”, except in relation to Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the Food Safety Act 199011and, in relation to Northern Ireland, has the same meaning as in the Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 199112;
“the Soil Association” means the Soil Association Limited, a company limited by guarantee and registered charity No. 206862 of Bristol House, 40-56 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6BY;
“specified Community provisions” means those provisions of the Council Regulation which are specified in column 1 of Schedule 2, as read with—
(a) any supplementary provisions specified in column 2 of that Schedule;
(b) Article 3 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1804/199913supplementing Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2092/91to include livestock production; and
(c) any additional provisions thereto contained in the livestock standards set out in the Compendium of UK Organic Standards, May 2004 Edition, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
(2) Other expressions used in these Regulations have the same meaning as in the Council Regulation, the Commission Regulations or Commission Regulation 1452/2003.
Designation of authority for the receipt of notifications, operation of inspection system, establishment of database and information to local authorities
3.—(1) The Secretary of State is designated as—
(a)
(a) the inspection authority responsible for the operation of the inspection system referred to in Article 9(1) of the Council Regulation;
(b)
(b) the authority responsible for the approval and supervision of private inspection bodies, in accordance with Articles 9(4) to (9) and (12) and 10(3) of the Council Regulation; and
(c)
(c) the competent authority for the purposes of—
(i) Articles 8, 9, 10(3)(b) and 11(6) of, and Annex I to, the Council Regulation, and
(ii) Articles 5(4), 8(2),11, 12 and 13 of Commission Regulation 1452/2003.
(2) Where the Secretary of State or a private inspection body has reason to believe that any person is using, in any local authority area, any indication which the Secretary of State and the private inspection body are required by Article 9(9) or 10(3) of the Council Regulation to prevent him from using—
(a)
(a) the Secretary of State or the private inspection body, as appropriate, shall notify in writing that use to the local authority of that area;
(b)
(b) where such notification is given by a private inspection body, it shall also notify in writing that use to the Secretary of State; and
(c)
(c) the Secretary of State or the private inspection body, as the case may be, giving such notification shall give the local authority any information which the local authority may reasonably require for the purpose of enforcement under regulation 10 of these Regulations in relation to the use of that indication.
Additional requirement relating to the labelling of organic products
4. For the purposes of Article 5(1)(d),(3)(g),(5)(e) and (5a)(h) of the Council Regulation, the operator shall include on the labelling a reference to the code number of the inspection authority or private inspection body to which he is subject.
Manager of the database
5. The Soil Association is designated pursuant to Article 6(2) of Commission Regulation 1452/2003 as manager of the database.
Registration fees
6.—(1) The Soil Association shall, subject to paragraph (2), charge a supplier a fee in respect of any expenses reasonably incurred by it in registering and maintaining in the database information given to it by a supplier for the purposes of Articles 7(1) and 9(1) of Commission Regulation 1452/2003.
(2) The Soil Association may waive, in whole or in part, a fee payable under paragraph (1).
(3) The fee payable under paragraph (1) shall be specified in an invoice given to the supplier by the Soil Association, and any amount not paid in accordance with the invoice shall be payable on demand.
(4) In any proceedings for recovery of an amount under this regulation a certificate of the Soil Association stating the amount recoverable shall be evidence of the amount in question.
Fees for ingredient authorisations and import authorisations
7.—(1) The Secretary of State may charge an operator a fee in respect of any expenses reasonably incurred by her in—
(a)
(a) issuing, pursuant to Article 5(3)(b) and (5a)(b) of the Council Regulation, a provisional authorisation for an ingredient of agricultural origin not obtained by organic production to be included in an organic product; or
(b)
(b) renewing any such authorisation.
(2) The Secretary of State may charge an importer a fee in respect of any expenses reasonably incurred by her in—
(a)
(a) issuing, pursuant to Article 11(6)(a) of the Council Regulation, an authorisation to market products imported from a third country that is not included in the list referred to in Article 11(1)(a) of that Regulation; or
(b)
(b) varying or renewing any such authorisation.
(3) Any fee payable under paragraph (1) or (2) shall be notified to the operator or, as the case may be, the importer by the Secretary of State, and any amount not paid in accordance with such notification shall be payable on demand.
(4) In any proceedings for recovery of an amount under this regulation a certificate of the Secretary of State stating the amount recoverable shall be evidence of the amount in question.
Inspection system
8.—(1) Each private inspection body shall charge an operator a fee in respect of any expenses reasonably incurred by it in carrying out an inspection of the holding, premises or facilities of the operator.
(2) The fee payable under paragraph (1) shall be specified in an invoice given to the operator by the private inspection body...
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