Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Official Report 310KB pdf

Instrument subject to Negative Procedure

Animal Feed (Basic Safety Standards) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (SSI 2018/15)

Agenda item 3 is consideration of a negative instrument that provides for an offence whereby a person deliberately adds a radioactive substance during the production of animal feed. It will also be an offence if a person imports or exports any feed to which a radioactive substance has been intentionally added during production.

The regulations were laid before the Parliament on 16 January and come into force on 6 February. In that regard, they do not respect the requirement that at least 28 days should elapse between the laying of an instrument that is subject to negative procedure and the coming into force of that instrument.

The committee may wish to find the failure to comply with section 28 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 to be acceptable in the circumstances. The reasons for not complying with it are outlined in the letter from the Scottish Government’s legal services directorate to the Presiding Officer dated 16 January, which is supplemented by the written response to the committee on the regulations.

Does the committee agree to draw the regulations to the attention of the Parliament on reporting ground (j), as they fail to comply with the requirements of section 28(2) of the 2010 act?

Members indicated agreement.

Does the committee also agree to find the failure to comply with section 28 to be acceptable in the circumstances, as outlined in the correspondence from the Government that is contained in our papers?

Members indicated agreement.