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58 1924

DAIRY PRODUCE ACT, 1924

PART V.

MISCELLANEOUS AND GENERAL.

Unclean milk and cream.

39. —(1) Any person who tenders or supplies any dirty, contaminated, or stale milk or cream, or milk or cream which is contained in a dirty vessel, to a creamery or cream-separating station, or any place where milk or cream is used for the manufacture of any dairy produce for sale shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be punishable accordingly.

(2) Any person who accepts for use in or sale from or who uses in or sells from a creamery or cream-separating station, or any place where milk or cream is used for the manufacture of any dairy produce for sale, any dirty, contaminated, or stale milk or cream, or any milk or cream which is contained in a dirty vessel shall be guilty of an offence under this section and be punishable accordingly.

(3) Every person guilty of an offence under this section shall on summary conviction thereof be liable in the case of a first offence to a penalty not exceeding two pounds, in the case of a second offence to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and in the case of a third or any subsequent offence to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

(4) The Minister may by order make regulations prescribing the methods of determining whether milk or cream is stale, or contaminated.

Inspection and sampling of milk and cream.

40. —(1) Any inspector (subject to the production by him if so required of his authority in writing as such inspector) may at all reasonable times enter any creamery or cream-separating station or any place where milk or cream is used for the manufacture of any dairy produce for sale and may inspect any milk or cream found in such creamery, cream-separating station, or place and may take and remove without payment any samples of any such milk or cream or of any dirt in such milk or cream or in any vessel in which such milk or cream is contained.

(2) Any inspector (subject to the production by him if so required of his authority in writing as such inspector) or any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or of the Gárda Síochána may at any time examine any milk or cream in course of transport to or delivery at any creamery or cream-separating station or any place where milk or cream is used in the manufacture of any dairy produce for sale and may take and remove without payment samples of any such milk or cream or of any dirt in such milk or cream or in any vessel in which such milk or cream is contained.

(3) Any person who, knowing the name or other particulars of the person by whom any such milk or cream inspected or examined under this section is supplied, refuses to give such name or other particulars to any inspector or to any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or of the Gárda Síochána shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be punishable accordingly.

(4) Every person who shall obstruct or impede any inspector or any member of the Dublin Metropolitan Police or of the Gárda Síochána in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on him by this section shall be guilty of an offence against this section and shall be punishable accordingly.

(5) Every person guilty of an offence under this section shall on summary conviction thereof be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.

Dirty butter.

41. —(1) Any person who sells or exposes for sale or offers or consigns for sale or exchanges or barters or for the purpose of re-sale acquires by purchase, exchange or barter—

(a) as an article of food for human consumption or for use in a butter factory or a margarine factory, or

(b) for use in any premises in which any article of human food is manufactured for sale, any butter which is dirty shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be punishable accordingly.

(2) If and whenever any inspector finds in any butter factory, margarine factory, or other premises in which any article of human food is manufactured for sale any butter which is dirty, the person carrying on the business in such factory or premises shall be guilty of an offence under this section and be punishable accordingly, unless he can show to the satisfaction of the court that such butter—

(a) was not intended to be blended, re-worked, or otherwise treated, or to be used for manufacturing purposes in such factory or premises, and

(b) was not intended to be exported or consigned for export from such factory or premises, and

(c) was not intended to be sold or offered or consigned for sale as butter on or from such factory or premises.

(3) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction thereof in the case of a first offence to a penalty not exceeding two pounds, and in the case of a second offence to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and in the case of a third or any subsequent offence to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds.

Meaning and use of word “creamery.

42. —(1) From and after the commencement of Part III . of this Act the word “creamery” shall mean premises registered in the register of creameries or in respect of which a licence under this section has been granted and is in force.

(2) The Minister may if and when during three years from the passing of this Act the special circumstances of the case justify him in so doing, grant to the registered proprietor of any particular premises registered in the register of manufacturing exporters a licence to use the word “creamery” in relation to such premises, and any such licence may be granted subject to such conditions and for such time (not extending beyond three years from the passing of this Act) and may be revoked, as and when the Minister thinks proper.

(3) Any person who, after the expiration of a date to be prescribed, and without having a subsisting licence in that behalf granted under this section, uses in connection with any premises in Saorstát Eireann which are used for the manufacture of or wholesale dealing in butter, cheese, margarine, margarine cheese, or milk-blended butter and are not registered in the register of creameries any name or description stating, implying or suggesting, that such premises are a creamery or are registered in the register of creameries shall be guilty of an offence under this section, and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first offence, to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, and, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

Application of word “creamery” to butter.

43. —(1) From and after the commencement of Part III . of this Act, the word “creamery,” if applied to any butter sold or offered, exposed, or consigned for sale in or exported from Saorstát Eireann, shall (subject to the exception hereinafter contained) be taken to be a trade description signifying that the butter has been manufactured in premises registered in the register of creameries or comprised in a subsisting licence granted under this Act for the use of the word “creamery” and has not been subsequently blended or re-worked.

(2) The application of the word “creamery” or any colourable imitation of the word “creamery” to any butter which has not been manufactured in premises registered in the register of creameries or comprised in a subsisting licence granted under this Act for the use of the word “creamery” or which, having been manufactured in such premises, has been subsequently blended or re-worked or has been brought on to any premises (other than premises registered or required to be registered solely by virtue of sub-section (4) of section 7 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899) registered or required to be registered under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875 to 1907, or any premises used for the manufacture or treatment of dairy produce for sale which are not registered in the register of creameries or comprised in a subsisting licence granted under this Act for the use of the word “creamery” shall (subject to the exception hereinafter contained) be taken to be a false trade description of such butter within the meaning of the Merchandise Marks Acts, 1887 to 1911, and the provisions of those Acts, including the penal provisions, shall apply accordingly.

(3) Nothing in this section shall apply to or prevent the application to butter imported into Saorstát Eireann of the word “creamery” in conjunction with a word or words clearly indicating that the butter was imported into or was not manufactured in Saorstát Eireann: Provided that this sub-section shall not apply to butter which is imported directly or indirectly from any place outside Saorstát Eireann and is subsequently exported from Saorstát Eireann.

(4) For the purposes of this section the word “creamery” shall be deemed to be applied if it is applied within the meaning of the Merchandise Marks Acts, 1887 to 1911.

(5) This section shall come into operation at a date to be prescribed.

(6) This section shall not apply to any butter contained in a package consigned and forwarded through Saorstát Eireann from any place outside Saorstát Eireann to any other such place but not otherwise dealt with in Saorstát Eireann.

Analysis of samples.

44. —(1) Where any person who has taken a sample of any milk, cream, or other material under a power in that behalf conferred on him by this Act, requires such sample to be analysed with a view to a prosecution for an offence under any section of this Act the following provisions shall apply and be observed, that is to say:—

(a) the analysis shall be made by or under the direction of the Analyst appointed by the Minister under this section;

(b) the person by whom the sample was taken shall divide the sample into three parts and shall cause each such part to be marked, sealed, and fastened up, and shall deliver or send by post two of such parts to the said Analyst and shall deliver or send by post the other such part to the person against whom the prosecution is proposed to be brought or, if such person is not then known, to the owner or the consignor of the milk, cream, or other material from which the sample was taken;

(c) upon receipt of parts of a sample sent to him for analysis under this section the said Analyst shall make or cause to be made under his direction an analysis of one of the parts of such sample so sent to him, and shall retain the other part;

(d) the said Analyst shall send to the Minister duplicate certificates in the prescribed form of the result of every analysis made by him or under his direction pursuant to this section;

(e) before instituting any prosecution against any person in respect of any milk, cream, or other material of which a sample shall have been analysed under this section, the Minister shall deliver or send by post to the person against whom the prosecution is proposed to be brought one of the duplicate certificates aforesaid;

(f) at the hearing of any prosecution for an offence under any section of this Act in respect of any milk, cream, or other material of which a sample shall have been analysed under this section the production of a document purporting to be one of the duplicate certificates aforesaid shall be prima facie evidence of the matters stated in such certificate;

(g) if the prosecutor or the defendant in any such prosecution as aforesaid is dissatisfied with the certificate of the said Analyst, such party shall upon payment of the prescribed fee be entitled to have the part of the sample retained by the said Analyst as aforesaid analysed by the principal chemist of the State Laboratories and to obtain from such principal chemist a certificate of the result of such analysis.

(2) The Minister may appoint a fit person to be the Analyst for the purposes of this section and may, subject to the sanction of the Minister for Finance, prescribe the terms and conditions of his appointment to and tenure of that office.

(3) The said Analyst shall receive such remuneration as shall be determined by the Minister for Finance.

Consultative council.

45. —(1) The Minister shall, after consultation with such bodies and persons as he may consider most representative of the several interests concerned establish by order a consultative council for giving advice and assistance to the Minister in connection with any matter in relation to the making of regulations under, or otherwise carrying into execution of, the provisions of this Act, or any other matters affecting the dairying industry.

(2) The said consultative council shall consist of such persons as the Minister after such consultation as aforesaid shall from time to time nominate to be members thereof, each of whom shall unless he previously dies or resigns, retain his membership for two years only from the date of his nomination but shall be eligible for re-nomination.

(3) The said consultative council shall meet whenever summoned by the Minister and also on such other occasions as the council may from time to time determine.

(4) Payments may be made by the Minister out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas to members of the said consultative council and committees thereof, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, in respect of repayment of travelling expenses and payment of subsistence allowance.

General regulations.

46. —(1) The Minister may by order make regulations in regard to any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or as being or to be prescribed, but no such regulation shall be made in relation to the assessment or collection of fees without the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(2) Any regulations made by the Minister under this Act may relate to several matters in respect of which the power to make regulations is conferred by different sections of this Act.

(3) Regulations made by the Minister under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat annulling such regulations, such regulations shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulations.

Saving clause as to powers under other Acts.

47. —The powers conferred on the Minister by this Act shall be and be exercised without prejudice to the exercise by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health of the powers conferred on him by the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907, or to the exercise by the Minister for Industry and Commerce or any inspector appointed under the Factory and Workshops Acts, 1901 to 1911, of any powers conferred by those Acts.

Offences.

48. —Every offence under any section of this Act may be prosecuted by or at the suit of the Minister as prosecutor.

Expenses.

49. —All expenses of carrying this Act into effect shall, to such extent as shall be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance be paid out of moneys to be provided by the Oireachtas,