European Communities (Sampling Methods and Methods of Analysis For The Official Control of the Levels of Certain Contaminants in Foodstuffs) Regulations 2003
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Sampling Methods and Methods of Analysis for the Official Control of the Levels of Certain Contaminants in Foodstuffs) Regulations 2003 and they shall come into operation on 7 July 2003.
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paragraphs: (1) In these Regulations:
“the Act of 1998” means the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act 1998 (No. 29 of 1998);
“the Act of 1999” means the Health (Eastern Regional Health Authority) Act 1999 (No. 13 of 1999);
“approved examiner” for the purposes of these Regulations means:
(a) those persons referred to at paragraphs (i), (ii) and (iii) of Article 2 of the European Communities (Official Control of Foodstuffs) (Approved Examiners) Order 1998 ( S.I. No. 465 of 1998 ),
(b) the State Chemist in the State Laboratory, and
(c) the Senior Chemist in the Institute;
“authorised officer” means -
(a) an authorised officer appointed under section 49 of the Act of 1998,
(b) in relation to the functional area of a health board, a person or a person belonging to a class of persons, authorised by the chief executive officer of the health board concerned to perform the functions of an authorised officer under these Regulations,
(c) a person authorised by the Minister for Agriculture and Food to be an authorised officer for the purposes of these Regulations,
(d) a person authorised by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to be an authorised officer for the purposes of these Regulations, or
(e) a person appointed as an authorised officer under the European Communities (Sampling Methods and Methods of Analysis for the Official Control of the Levels of Certain Contaminants in Foodstuffs) Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 401 of 2001 ) and holding office as an authorised officer under those Regulations immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations;
“the Authority” means the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, established under section 9 of the Act of 1998;
“the Directives” means Commission Directive 98/53/EC7 of 16 July 1998 laying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of the levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs as amended by Commission Directive 2002/27/EC8 of 13 March 2002, and Commission Directive 2001/22/EC9 of 8 March 2001 laying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and 3-MCPD in foodstuffs, and Commission Directive 2002/26/EC10 of 13 March 2002 laying down the sampling methods and methods of analysis for the official control of the levels of ochratoxin A in foodstuffs, and Commission Directive 2002/69/EC11 of 30 July 2002 laying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of dioxins and the determination of dioxin-like PCBs in foodstuffs;
“foodstuff” means any substance or product, whether processed partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans. ‘Foodstuff’ includes drink chewing gum and any substance, including water, intentionally incorporated into the food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment. It includes water after the point of compliance as defined in Article 6 of Directive 98/83/EC12 and without prejudice to the requirements of Directives 80/778/EEC13 and 98/83/EC14 ;
“foodstuff” shall not include:
(a) feed,
(b) live animals unless they are prepared for placing on the market for human consumption,
(c) plants prior to harvesting,
(d) medicinal products within the meaning of Council Directives 65/65/EEC15 and 92/73/EEC16
(e) cosmetics within the meaning of Council Directive 76/768/EEC17 ,
(f) tobacco and tobacco products within the meaning of Council Directive 89/622/EEC18 ,
(g) narcotic or psychotropic substances within the meaning of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 and the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971, or
(h) residues and contaminants;
“functional area” means
(a) in relation to a health board established under section 4 of the Health Act 1970 (No. 1 of 1970), the functional area of the health board as specified in the Health Boards Regulations 1970 ( S.I. No. 170 of 1970 ),
(b) in relation to an Area Health Board established by section 14(1) of the Act of 1999, the functional area of each Area Health Board as specified in section 14(4) of the Act of 1999;
“functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of functions include references to the exercise of powers and the performance of duties;
“health board” means
(a) a board established under section 4 of the Health Act 1970 (No. 1 of 1970), or
(b) an Area Health Board established by section 14(1) of the Act of 1999;
“the Institute” means the Marine Institute, established under section 3 of the Marine Institute Act 1991 (No. 2 of 1991);
“Minister” means the Minister for Health and Children;
“official control of foodstuffs” hereinafter called “control of foodstuffs” means an inspection by authorised officers of the compliance of:
(a) foodstuffs,
(b) food additives, vitamins, mineral salts, trace elements and other additives intended to be sold as such, or
(c) materials and articles intended to come into contact with food,
with provisions aimed at preventing risks to public health, guaranteeing fair commercial transactions or protecting consumer interests including the provision of consumer information;
“official laboratory” for the purposes of these Regulations means
(a) the Public Analyst's Laboratory, Dublin,
(b) the Public Analyst's Laboratory, Cork,
(c) the Public Analyst's Laboratory, Galway,
(d) the State Laboratory, or
(e) the Institute.
(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and that is also used in the Directives has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directives.
(3) (a) A reference in these Regulations to a Regulation is to a Regulation of these Regulations, unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulation is intended.
(b) A reference in these Regulations to a paragraph or subparagraph is to the paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.
PART 2
General Provisions
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paragraphs: (1) Sampling for the official control of the levels of aflatoxins in foodstuffs shall be carried out in accordance with the methods described in Annex I of Commission Directive 98/53/EC19 as amended by Commission Directive 2002/27/EC20 .
(2) Sample preparation and methods of analysis used for the official control of the levels of aflatoxins in foodstuffs shall comply with the criteria described in Annex II of Commission Directive 98/53/EC21 as amended by Commission Directive 2002/27/EC22 .
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paragraphs: (1) Sampling for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium mercury and 3-MCPD in foodstuffs shall be carried out in accordance with the methods described in Annex I of Commission Directive 2001/22/EC23 .
(2) Sample preparation and methods of analysis used for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury and 3-MCPD in foodstuffs shall comply with the criteria described in Annex II of Commission Directive 2001/22/EC24 .
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paragraphs: (1) Sampling for the for the official control of the levels of ochratoxin A in foodstuffs shall be carried out in accordance with the methods described in Annex I of Commission Directive 2002/26/EC25 .
(2) Sample preparation and methods of analysis used for the official control of the levels of ochratoxin A in foodstuffs shall comply with the criteria described in Annex II of Commission Directive 2002/26/EC26 .
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paragraphs: (1) Sampling for the official control of the levels of dioxins and furans and the determination of the levels of dioxin-like PCBs in foodstuffs shall be carried out in accordance with the methods described in Annex I of Commission Directive 2002/69/EC27
(2) Sample preparation and methods of analysis used for the official control of the levels of dioxins and furans and the determination of the levels of dioxin-like PCBs in foodstuffs shall comply with the criteria described in Annex II of Commission Directive 2002/69/EC28 .
PART 3
Enforcement
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paragraphs: Control of the foodstuffs affected by these Regulations shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations.
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paragraphs: These Regulations shall be enforced by the Authority.
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paragraphs: (1) These Regulations shall be deemed to be food legislation for the purposes of the Act of 1998 and, subject to Regulation 7, the enforcement provisions contained in that Act shall accordingly apply for the purposes of ensuring compliance with these Regulations.
(2) In particular, authorised officers acting under these Regulations shall enjoy the powers conferred on authorised officers by the Act of 1998.
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paragraphs: (1) Without prejudice to Regulations 7 and 9, and save insofar as they are inconsistent with the requirements of these Regulations, the provisions of the European Communities (Official Control of Foodstuffs Regulations 1998 ( S.I. No. 85 of 1998 ), as amended, shall apply for the purpose of ensuring compliance with these Regulations.
(2) In particular, authorised officers and approved examiners acting under these Regulations shall have the same powers as authorised officers and approved examiners acting under the said Regulations of 1998 save insofar as such powers are inconsistent with the requirements of these Regulations.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), Regulations 13 and 14 of the said Regulations of 1998 shall not apply for the purposes of ensuring compliance with these Regulations.
(4) The authorised officer may exercise such other powers as may be reasonably necessary to ensure that these Regulations are being complied with.
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paragraphs: For the purposes of these Regulations, sampling shall be carried out by an authorised officer and analysis shall be carried out by an approved examiner or by a person acting under his or her direction, in an official laboratory.
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paragraphs: (1) The chief executive officer of a health board may appoint in writing such and so many officers of the health board as he or she thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of ensuring compliance with these Regulations in the functional area of the health board.
(2) The Minister for Agriculture and Food may appoint such and so many persons as he or she thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of ensuring compliance with these Regulations.
(3) The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources may appoint such and so many persons as he or she thinks fit to be authorised officers for the purposes of ensuring compliance with these Regulations.
(4) A person appointed as an authorised officer under the European Communities (Sampling Methods and Methods of Analysis for the Official Control of the Levels of Certain Contaminants in Foodstuffs Regulations 2001 ( S.I. No. 401 of 2001 ) and holding office as an authorised officer immediately before the coming into operation of these Regulations shall continue in office as if appointed under these Regulations.
(5) An authorised officer shall be furnished with a certificate of his or her appointment as an authorised officer and when exercising any power conferred on an authorised officer under these Regulations, shall, if requested by any person affected, produce the certificate to that person.
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paragraphs: Where a sample of a foodstuff is taken pursuant to these Regulations:
(1) the authorised officer shall, in the presence of the owner or person in apparent charge or control of such foodstuff, mark, seal and fasten the sample in such a manner as its nature will permit and in such a way that the integrity of the sample cannot be compromised and forward it to an approved examiner in an official laboratory for analysis;