So our politicians still pretend that we are not ruled by the EU, yet almost daily new rules and taxes are being imposed, and kept quiet about, without any recourse to the British public.
Regulation and fees, more regulation and more fees.
We did not vote for this political union, and we certainly did not vote to have these regulations and fees imposed upon us. This Statutory Instrument (not debated in Parliament) states that there has been open and transparent public consultation during the preparation and evaluation of the following Regulations. Are you aware of any consultations?
The Meat (Official Controls Charges) (England) Regulations 2009
1. These
Regulations apply in relation to England only. They revoke and replace
the Meat (Official Controls Charges) (England) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/447).
2. These Regulations provide for the execution and enforcement in relation to England of Articles 26 and 27 of Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004
of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls
performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food
law, animal health and animal welfare rules (OJ No. L165, 30.4.2004, p.1; the revised text of Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004
is now set out in a Corrigendum, OJ No. L191, 28.5.2004, p.1, which
should be read with a further Corrigendum, OJ No. L204, 4.8.2007,
p.29), in so far as those provisions—
(a)
require or, in the case of certain
types of poultry (eg quail) permit, fees to be collected in respect of
official controls performed under Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004
of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific
rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal
origin intended for human consumption (OJ No. L139, 30.4.2004, p.206;
the revised text of Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004
is now set out in a Corrigendum, OJ No. L226, 25.6.2004, p.83, which
should be read with a further Corrigendum, OJ No. L204, 4.8.2007, p.26)
at slaughterhouses, game-handling establishments and cutting plants for
the verification of compliance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004
of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific
hygiene rules for food of animal origin (OJ No. L139, 30.4.2004, p.55;
the revised text of Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004
is now set out in a Corrigendum, OJ No. L226, 25.6.2004, p.22, which
should be read with a further Corrigendum, OJ No. L204, 4.8.2007, p.26)
in so far as they apply in relation to meat of domestic ungulates, meat
from poultry and lagomorphs, meat of farmed game and meat of wild game;
(b)
require fees to be collected to
cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed at
slaughterhouses to verify compliance with the animal welfare rules set
out in Council Directive 93/119/EC
on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing (OJ
No. L340, 31.12.93, p.21) in so far as they apply in relation to
animals slaughtered for human consumption at slaughterhouses;
(c)
permit fees to be collected to
cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed outside the
slaughterhouse where domestic ungulates have been slaughtered outside
the slaughterhouse having suffered accidents that for welfare reasons
prevent their transport to the slaughterhouse;
(d)
permit fees to be collected to
cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed where certain
kinds of poultry are slaughtered on farm; and
(e)
permit fees to be collected to
cover the costs occasioned by official controls performed at the place
of origin of farmed ratites, certain farmed game mammals and bison
where for safety or animal welfare reasons the animals concerned are
slaughtered there, rather than at a slaughterhouse.
3. These Regulations make provision for a purpose mentioned in section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 (1972 c.68)
and any reference to a Community instrument defined in Schedule 1 is to
be construed as a reference to that instrument as amended from time to
time.
4. These Regulations —
(a)
require the Agency to notify each
operator who is carrying on a food business at any slaughterhouse,
game-handling establishment, cutting plant, farm or place of origin at
which official controls have been exercised of the official controls
charge that has arisen in relation to those officials controls (the
terms “slaughterhouse”, “game-handling establishment”, “cutting plant”,
“place of origin”, “official controls” and “official controls charge”
are all defined in regulation 2(1)) (regulation 3);
(b)
provide that any official controls charge so notified is payable by the operator to the Agency on demand (regulation 3);
(c)
allow the Agency to refuse to
exercise any further official controls at given premises where, despite
a Court order requiring the operator of the premises to pay the
official controls charge for which he is liable, he fails to comply
with the order (regulation 4);
(d)
require persons to supply the Agency on demand —
(i)
with such information as it may
reasonably require for the purpose of calculating the official controls
charge or notifying the operator of it, and
(ii)
with such evidence as it may reasonably require to enable it to verify that information (regulation 5);
(e)
make provision as to the service of any such demand on the operator (regulation 5); and
(f)
provide that persons to whom such a demand has been made commit an offence if —
(i)
without reasonable excuse, they fail to comply within a reasonable time with the demand, or
(ii)
in purported compliance with the
demand, they knowingly or recklessly furnish information or evidence
that is false or misleading in a material particular (regulation 5).
5. Schedule 2 to these Regulations sets out how the official controls charge is to be calculated.
6. An
impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the
costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the Meat
Hygiene and Veterinary Division of the Food Standards Agency at
Aviation House, 125 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6NH and is annexed to the
Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on
the OPSI website.
So the collection of fees for complying with untold regulations that we never asked for, to pay for an army of regulators that we never wanted, imposed by a body that we never agreed to.
And if you don't believe just how ingrained this EU regulatory bull is in our daily life, here is the list of definitions and regulations that this 1 single Statutory Instrument complies with.
| “Directive 2004/41” means Directive 2004/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing certain Directives concerning food hygiene and health conditions for the production and placing on the market of certain products of animal origin intended for human consumption and amending Council Directives 89/662/EEC and 92/118/EEC and Council Decision 95/408/EC(9); |
|
| “Regulation 178/2002” means Regulation (EC) No.178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety; |
|
| “Regulation 852/2004” means Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the hygiene of foodstuffs(10) as read with Regulation 2073/2005; |
|
| “Regulation 853/2004” means Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin(11) as read with Directive 2004/41, Regulation 1688/2005, Regulation 2074/2005 and Regulation 2076/2005; |
|
| “Regulation 854/2004” means Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption(12) as read with Directive 2004/41, Regulation 2074/2005, Regulation 2075/2005 and Regulation 2076/2005; |
|
| “Regulation 882/2004” means Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules(13) as read with Regulation 2074/2005 and Regulation 2076/2005; |
|
| “Regulation 1688/2005” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1688/2005 implementing Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards special guarantees concerning salmonella for consignments to Finland and Sweden of certain meat and eggs(14); |
|
| “Regulation 2073/2005” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs(15); | |
| “Regulation 2074/2005” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2074/2005 laying down implementing measures for certain products under Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and for the organisation of official controls under Regulation (EC) No. 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, derogating from Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Regulations (EC) No. 853/2004 and (EC) No. 854/2004(16); | |
| “Regulation 2075/2005” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2075/2005 laying down specific rules on official controls for Trichinella in meat(17); and | |
| “Regulation 2076/2005” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2076/2005 laying down transitional arrangements for the implementation of Regulations (EC) No. 853/2004, (EC) No. 854/2004 and (EC) No. 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council and amending Regulations (EC) No. 853/2004 and (EC) No. 854/2004(18) . | |
So next time you go and buy a chicken, some farmed game mammals or a bison, remember just how many bureaucrats were involved, how much time, effort and your money it took to make sure it looked nice on the shelf.
Why don't we British just take care of our own business, and tell these EUrocrats to stuff their chickens elsewhere.
