§ 241 — Power to take and sample

241.—(1) A food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector may do all or any of the following:(a)

take any relevant material or a sample of any relevant material;

(b)

take a sample from any animal, or of any thing, that is or has been in contact with, or in the vicinity of, any relevant material;

(c)

for the purpose of analysis, take samples of water, soil, vegetation or any other thing that is part of the environment in which —(i)

any licensable activity has been or is being undertaken; or

(ii)

any MSR product is held.

(2) A food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector who wishes to exercise the power in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) by taking a sample of any relevant material that is in an unopened package, may direct —(a)

the owner, or person who appears to be in charge, of the package or the relevant material contained in the package, to open the package; or

(b)

the owner or occupier of the premises where the unopened package is, to open the package.

(3) A food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector who exercises the powers mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) must give notice to —(a)

the owner, or person who appears to be in charge, of the package, thing, relevant material or animal, as the case may be; or

(b)

the owner or occupier of the premises where the package, thing, relevant material or animal (as the case may be) is,

whether or not the food security officer, authorised officer, food inspector (as the case may be) intends to exercise powers mentioned in section 242.

(4) To avoid doubt, a food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector is not required to exercise powers mentioned in section 242 after the giving of a notice under subsection (3).

(5) In this section and section 242 —“sample” includes an example;

“take”, in relation to any relevant material or thing, includes to purchase the relevant material or thing;

“take a sample”, from an animal, means —(a)

to take a swab from the animal or of any part of the animal;

(b)

to take a sample of any part of the animal; or

(c)

to take a sample of any urine, faeces, blood or other article or substance from, or which has been in contact with, the animal.

—(1) A food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector may do all or any of the following:(a)

take any relevant material or a sample of any relevant material;

(b)

take a sample from any animal, or of any thing, that is or has been in contact with, or in the vicinity of, any relevant material;

(c)

for the purpose of analysis, take samples of water, soil, vegetation or any other thing that is part of the environment in which —(i)

any licensable activity has been or is being undertaken; or

(ii)

any MSR product is held.

(2) A food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector who wishes to exercise the power in subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c) by taking a sample of any relevant material that is in an unopened package, may direct —(a)

the owner, or person who appears to be in charge, of the package or the relevant material contained in the package, to open the package; or

(b)

the owner or occupier of the premises where the unopened package is, to open the package.

(3) A food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector who exercises the powers mentioned in subsection (1) or (2) must give notice to —(a)

the owner, or person who appears to be in charge, of the package, thing, relevant material or animal, as the case may be; or

(b)

the owner or occupier of the premises where the package, thing, relevant material or animal (as the case may be) is,

whether or not the food security officer, authorised officer, food inspector (as the case may be) intends to exercise powers mentioned in section 242.

(4) To avoid doubt, a food security officer, an authorised officer or a food inspector is not required to exercise powers mentioned in section 242 after the giving of a notice under subsection (3).

(5) In this section and section 242 —“sample” includes an example;

“take”, in relation to any relevant material or thing, includes to purchase the relevant material or thing;

“take a sample”, from an animal, means —(a)

to take a swab from the animal or of any part of the animal;

(b)

to take a sample of any part of the animal; or

(c)

to take a sample of any urine, faeces, blood or other article or substance from, or which has been in contact with, the animal.