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Chamber and committees

Subordinate Legislation Committee, 07 Jun 2005

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 7, 2005

Official Report 123KB pdf

Contents

Instruments Subject to Annulment

Instruments Subject <br />to Annulment

Contaminants in Food (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 <br />(SSI 2005/277)

The Convener:

The regulations raise the on-going issue of failing to cite in the preamble the consultation requirement under article 9 of regulation (EC) 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council. We have raised that matter on several occasions. I suggest that we bring the regulations to the attention of the lead committee on the ground of defective drafting.

I happily support that.

Members indicated agreement.

We need also to deal with some minor drafting points by informal letter. Quite a few of those arise later on our agenda.

Members indicated agreement.

Animals and Animal Products <br />(Import and Export) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/278)<br />Seed Potatoes (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/279)

No substantive points arise on the regulations. Minor drafting points will be dealt with by informal letter.

Members indicated agreement.

Seed Potatoes (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/280)

The Convener:

The regulations before us amend the Seed Potatoes (Scotland) Regulations 2000 (SSI 2000/201), which regulate the production, classification and marketing of seed potatoes in accordance with European Union law. The present regulations make a number of technical amendments to the classification and marketing process.

The aim of regulation 15(e) is to amend paragraph 3(b) of schedule 1 to the principal regulations to update the reference there to the Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 1982 (SI 1982/844). However, it appears that that amendment has already been made, by regulation 25(6)(b) of the Great Britain-wide Seeds (National Lists of Varieties) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3510). We should ask the Executive for an explanation of the purpose of regulation 15(e).

Members indicated agreement.

Perhaps it is the braces to go with the belt.

The Convener:

Possibly. We might also ask the Executive to explain why the explanatory and Executive notes state that the principal regulations

"have not previously been amended",

when in fact they have been. There are also some minor drafting points, which we could raise by informal letter.

Members indicated agreement.

Pesticides (Maximum Residue Levels in Crops, Food and Feeding Stuffs) (Scotland) Amendment (No 2) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/281)

The regulations implement European Commission directive 2004/115/EC to substitute new residue definitions for metalaxyl and metalaxyl-M, and new maximum residue levels for a number of pesticides. There are 39 footnotes listed.

It was rather cowardly of you not to read out the names of all those interesting pesticides, convener. I would have been most interested to hear how they are all pronounced.

I cannot believe that there are so many. Blimey! We should have them all on the record.

Mr Maxwell:

There is a serious comment to make about the footnotes. Schedule 1 refers only to footnotes 1 to 6 and 17, although there appear to be 39 footnotes. There is also a reference made to footnotes 46 to 49, which do not appear to be there. There is obviously some sort of problem with the footnotes, so we should seek clarification about what has happened to the references to those that are there and what has happened with the references to those that are not there.

Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

Members will also note the Executive's plans for consolidation of the principal regulations, which is good news.

Yes; that is very welcome.

Registration of Fish Sellers and Buyers and Designation of Auction Sites (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/286)

The Convener:

The regulations provide for the implementation and enforcement of article 9 of European Council regulation (EEC) 2847/93 and article 22 of European Council regulation (EC) 2371/2002 in relation to the marketing of fisheries products. There is some discrepancy in the regulations.

Regulation 4(2) makes it a criminal offence for a master, owner or charterer of a fishing vessel to sell first-sale fish to a buyer who is not a registered fish buyer. No defence is provided for that offence in the regulations.

However, a different approach is taken at regulation 11(1), which makes it an offence for a person to buy first-sale fish from a fishing vessel unless that fish has been landed by a licensed fishing vessel. Regulation 11(2) provides that it should be a defence for a person to show that they did not know, and that it was reasonable for them not to suspect, that the fish had not been landed by a licensed fishing vessel.

There is a discrepancy between those two regulations, so I suggest that we ask the Executive to clarify why a defence has been provided for offences under regulation 11(1) but not under regulation 4(2). Is that agreed?

Members indicated agreement.

It is bizarre. Did someone not realise that when they were drafting the regulations? It is silly.

We will ask.

It will be interesting to see the response.

The Convener:

Regulation 8(2) provides that any person who would be guilty of an offence under regulation 8(1) and who buys more than 50kg of fish in a day commits an offence.

The final sub-paragraph of article 22.2 of Council regulation (EC) 2371/2002 provides that

"A buyer acquiring products which are not thereafter placed on the market but used only for private consumption shall be exempt from the requirements of this paragraph."

The effect of regulation 8(2) would appear to be that that exemption applies only to persons who buy less than 50kg of fish in a day. The exemption is not limited in that way in the Council regulation. There might therefore be a vires issue. We should ask about that one too.

We should ask.

Members indicated agreement.

Local Government Pension Scheme (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/293)

Does anyone have anything to say about the amendments that have been made so far? They are the eighth amendments to the principal regulations.

Christine May:

It is worth noting that the regulations have not been consolidated because further amendments are expected quite soon. I suggest that we keep an eye on the regulations. They should be flagged for the committee's attention whenever amendments come up so that we can see what is happening.

Members indicated agreement.

There are also minor drafting points that we can deal with through an informal letter.

Food (Chilli, Chilli Products, Curcuma and Palm Oil) (Emergency Control) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/294)

The Convener:

For those of us who have been on the committee for a while, these regulations are very familiar.

These regulations implement European Commission decision 2005/402/EC, which is an emergency decision containing prohibitive measures in relation to chilli, chilli products, curcuma and palm oil. The regulations breach the 21-day rule but there seems to be a very good reason for that. Are we content with the Executive's explanation?

Members indicated agreement.

Road Traffic (Temporary Restrictions) Procedure Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (SSI 2005/299)

No points have been raised on the regulations.

I am delighted that the regulations take a number of things that have to be done, all of which have a cost, and put them all together. That seems very sensible.

Meeting continued in private until 12:14.

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