Animal Health and Welfare Act 1984
1984 CHAPTER 40
An Act to amend the provisions of the Animal Health Act 1981 relating to the seizure of things for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease, to powers of entry and declarations as to places infected with a disease and to enable certain orders under that Act to operate in or over territorial waters; to amend the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967; to enable provision to be made for controlling the practice of artificial breeding of livestock; to repeal the Improvement of Live Stock (Licensing of Bulls) Act 1931 and the Horse Breeding Act 1958; to amend the Medicines Act 1968 in relation to feeding stuffs and veterinary drugs; and for connected purposes
[12th July 1984]
BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:–
Animal Health Act 1981
1 Seizure and disposal of things likely to spread disease
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section amends the Animal Health Act 1981, ss 35, 36.
2 Power of entry
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section amends the Animal Health Act 1981, ss 63(9), 87(4).
3 Exercise of certain powers in territorial zone
Where, apart from this section, any power to make provision by an order under the Animal Health Act 1981 does not include power to provide for its operation in or over territorial waters of the United Kingdom adjacent to Great Britain, it shall be treated as including such a power unless the context otherwise requires.
4 Removal of restriction on powers as to infected places
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section repeals the Animal Health Act 1981, s 17(4).
Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967
5 . . .
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
Repealed by SI 1995/731, reg 28(1), Sch 13.
6 Licences
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section substitutes the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967, s 3.
7 Codes of practice
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section inserts the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967, s 3A.
8 Powers of entry under 1967 Act
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section substitutes the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967, s 4.
9 Enforcement of 1967 Act
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section substitutes the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967, s 6.
Controls over Breeding of Livestock
10 Artificial breeding of livestock
(1)   The appropriate Minister may make regulations for controlling the practice of artificial breeding of livestock.
   In this section “artificial breeding” includes artificial insemination and transfer of ova or embryos.
(2)   Regulations under this section—
(a)    may, for the purpose of controlling the use for artificial breeding of any specified kind of livestock or of semen, ova or embryos of such livestock, prohibit the carrying on of any specified activity in connection with such livestock or with such semen, ova or embryos except under the authority of a licence or approval issued under the regulations;
(b)    may, for the purpose of controlling their use for artificial breeding, prohibit the importation of semen, ova or embryos of any specified kind of livestock except under the authority of such a licence;
and, accordingly, the regulations may make such provision as appears to the appropriate Minister to be expedient in respect of the issue, modification, suspension and revocation of licences or approvals under the regulations including the conditions subject to which they may be issued.
(3)   Regulations under this section may include provision—
(a)    in respect of advertisements in connection with artificial breeding;
(b)    for the seizure and detention of anything imported in contravention of any provision of the regulations or any conditions of any licence under them or anything which appears to any person authorised in that behalf to have been so imported and for dealing with anything so imported (whether by requiring it to be destroyed or taken out of Great Britain or otherwise);
(c)    for the payment of fees in connection with—
   (i)   the issue of licences or approvals under the regulations, and
   (ii)   tests or examinations carried out for the purposes of the regulations,
and, where the regulations provide for an appeal against a refusal to issue any such licence or approval, in connection with such an appeal, being (in all cases) fees determined with the approval of the Treasury;
but subsection (2) above and this subsection are without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) above.
(4)   For the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of regulations under this section or the conditions of any licence or approval under them are being or have been contravened, a person authorised in writing in that behalf by the appropriate Minister may, on producing his authority, enter at all reasonable times—
(a)    any premises used by the holder of a licence or approval under the regulations, being premises used for or in connection with any of the purposes authorised by the licence or approval; and
(b)    any premises on which he has reasonable grounds for suspecting that an offence under this section is being or has been committed;
and may inspect the premises and any livestock or articles on them and carry out such test or other investigation as he thinks fit.
(5)   For the purposes of any test or investigation under subsection (4) above, the person so authorised may require any person on the premises to give such information as it is in his power to give.
(6)   A person who—
(a)    contravenes any provision of regulations under this section or any conditions of a licence or approval under such regulations;
(b)    intentionally obstructs any person in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by or under this section; or
(c)    refuses to give any such person any information which he is required to give under subsection (5) above;
is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, or both.
. . .
(7)   It is a defence to a charge of committing an offence under subsection (6)(a) above to prove that the accused took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence.
(8)   In this section—
“appropriate Minister” means, in relation to England, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and, in relation to Scotland or to Wales, the Secretary of State;
“contravention” includes failure to comply and “contravene” is to be construed accordingly;
“livestock” includes any animal or bird not in the wild state;
“premises” includes any description of vehicle;
“specified” means specified in regulations under this section;
and anything brought to Great Britain from a country out of Great Britain and landed here [or brought here through the tunnel system as defined in the Channel Tunnel Act 1987] is imported for the purposes of this section.
NOTES
Amendment
Sub-s (6): words omitted repealed by the Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1993.
Sub-s (8): words in square brackets inserted by SI 1990/2371, art 2(1), Sch 1.
Transfer of Functions
Functions of the appropriate Minister and the Treasury, so far as exercisable in relation to Wales, transferred to the National Assembly for Wales, by the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999, SI 1999/672, art 2, Sch 1.
Subordinate Legislation
UK
Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Animal Health) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2001, SI 2001/380 (made under sub-ss (1), (2)(a)).
Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Emergency Licences) (England) Regulations 2001, SI 2001/1513 (made under sub-ss (1), (2)(a)).
Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Emergency Licences) (Wales) Regulations 2001, SI 2001/1539 (made under sub-ss (1), (2)(a)).
Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Animal Health) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2002, SI 2002/824 (made under sub-ss (1), (2)(a)).
Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Animal Health) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2002, SI 2002/1131 (made under sub-ss (1), (2)(a)).
Scotland
Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Emergency Licences) (Scotland) Regulations 2001, SSI 2001/179 (made under sub-ss (1), (2)(a)).
Artificial Insemination of Cattle (Animal Health) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2002, SSI 2002/191 (made under sub-ss (1), (2)(a)).
11 Provisions supplementary to section 10
(1)   Where an offence committed by a body corporate under section 10 of this Act is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence, and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(2)   Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) above shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.
(3)   Section 17 of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1943 (control of artificial insemination) shall cease to have effect but, without prejudice to section 17 of the Interpretation Act 1978 (repeal and re-enactment)—
(a)    in so far as regulations under section 17 of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1943 could have been made under section 10 of this Act, they shall not be invalidated by the repeal but shall have effect as if so made and as if references in them to subsection (3) of the said section 17 were references to the corresponding provision (if any) of regulations under section 10 of this Act, and
(b)    if at the commencement of section 10 of this Act the importation of any semen is prohibited by regulations under that section except under the authority of a licence issued under the regulations then, in so far as any licence under subsection (3) of the said section 17 could have been issued under the regulations, it shall not be invalidated by the repeal but shall have effect as if so issued;
and references in section 10 of this Act to regulations under that section or licences or approvals under such regulations shall be interpreted accordingly.
(4)   The power conferred by section 10 of this Act to make regulations shall be exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
12 Removal of controls on keeping of bulls and stallions
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section repeals the Improvement of Live Stock (Licensing of Bulls) Act 1931 and the Horse Breeding Act 1958.
Animal feeding stuffs and veterinary drugs
13 Medicated animal feeding stuffs
. . .
NOTES
Appointment
Commencement order: SI 1985/1267.
Amendment
This section substitutes the Medicines Act 1968, s 40 and amends ss 130, 132(1).
14 Registration of merchants in veterinary drugs
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section amends the Medicines Act 1968, s 57.
15 Sampling of animal feeding stuffs
. . .
NOTES
Amendment
This section amends the Medicines Act 1968, s 117.
Supplementary
16 Minor and consequential amendments and repeals
(1)   Schedule 1 to this Act (which contains minor and consequential amendments) shall have effect.
(2)   The enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 to this Act are repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule and the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967 Extension Order 1978 is revoked.
17 Short title, commencement and extent
(1)   This Act may be cited as the Animal Health and Welfare Act 1984.
(2)   Subject to subsection (3) below, this Act shall come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with its passing.
(3)   The following provisions of this Act, that is—
section 13,
paragraph 3 of Schedule 1, and
so much of Schedule 2 as relates to the Medicines Act 1968,
shall come into force on such day as the Agriculture Ministers may by order made by statutory instrument appoint, and different days may be appointed for different provisions and for different purposes.
   In this subsection “the Agriculture Ministers” has the same meaning as in the Medicines Act 1968.
(4)    . . .
(5)   Except for—
(a)    sections 13 to 15, and
(b)    section 16 and Schedules 1 and 2 so far as relating to the Medicines Act 1968,
this Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.
NOTES
Amendment
Sub-s (4): repealed by SI 1995/731, reg 28(1), Sch 13.
SCHEDULE 1
MINOR AND CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
Section 16
1–4
. . .
NOTES
Appointment
Commencement order: SI 1985/1267.
Amendment
Para 1: amends the Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967, ss 1, 2, 7, 8; repealed in part by SI 1995/731, reg 28(1), Sch 13.
Para 2: repealed by SI 1995/731, reg 28(1), Sch 13.
Para 3: amends the Medicines Act 1968, ss 28(3)(i), 108(6)(a), 117, 126(1)(a), 130(4), (6), (9), Sch 4, para 6 and repeals ss 41, 42, 46(3), (4), 130(7).
Para 4: amends the Animal Health Act 1981, s 63(3).
SCHEDULE 2
REPEALS
Section 16
Chapter   Short Title   Extent of Repeal  
1931 c 43.   Improvement of Live Stock (Licensing of Bulls) Act 1931.   The whole Act.  
1943 c 16.   Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1943   Section 17.  
1944 c 28.   Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1944   In section 6, subsections (4) to (6).  
1946 c 26.   Emergency Laws (Transitional Provisions) Act 1946.   In Schedule 2, the entry relating to the Improvement of Live Stock (Licensing of Bulls) Act 1931.  
1958 c 43.   Horse Breeding Act 1958.   The whole Act.  
1963 c 11.   Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1963   In section 16, subsection (4) and, in subsection (5), the words from “or containing” to “prescribing fees”.  
1967 c 24.   Slaughter of Poultry Act 1967.   In section 1(1), the words “for purposes of preparation for sale for human consumption” and, in sections 2 and 7(1), the words “for purposes mentioned in section 1(1) above”.  
    In section 7(1), the words “other than turkeys and domestic fowls”.  
1968 c 67.   Medicines Act 1968.   In section 28(3)(i), the words “or of any substance or article other than a medicinal product incorporated for a medicinal purpose”.  
    Sections 41 and 42.  
    In section 46, subsections (3) and (4).  
    In section 130(6), the words “(subject to the next following subsection)”.  
    Section 130(7).  
    In Schedule 4, in paragraph 6, the words “section 42”.  
1972 c 62.   Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1972   In section 8, subsections (1) to (4).  
    Schedule 3.  
1981 c 22.   Animal Health Act 1981.   Section 17(4).  

NOTES
Appointment

Commencement order: SI 1985/1267.
 

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