HC Deb 11 November 1954 vol 532 cc1467-8

For paragraph (a) of the proviso to subsection (1) of section eighty of the principal Act (which provides a time-limit for prosecution in certain cases) there shall be substituted the following paragraph:

  1. "(a) where a sample has been procured under this Act, no prosecution in respect of the article or substance shall be begun after the expiration of—
    1. (i) in the case of a sample of milk, twenty-eight days,
    2. (ii) in any other case, two months, 1468 beginning with the date on which the sample was procured, unless the justice of the peace before whom the information is laid, on being satisfied on oath that having regard to the circumstances of the particular case it was not practicable to lay the information at an earlier date, gives a certificate to that effect; and, if the prosecution is in respect of a sample of milk, it shall not in any case be begun after the expiration of forty-two days beginning with the said date."—[Dr. Hill.]

Brought up, and read the First time.

Dr. Hill

I beg to move, "That the Clause be read a Second time."

On Second Reading, in response to the hon. Member for Deptford (Sir L. Plummer) I accepted the principle that however desirable it might be to extend the interval between the taking of the sample and the commencement of proceedings in respect of other substances, it was not so necessary in the case of milk. This new Clause, which is to take the place of Clause 24, meets the point which the hon. Gentleman made, which we are glad to accept.

Sir L. Plummer

We are very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his consideration of this matter. I am sure that the new Clause will relieve the milk producer and the milk distributor of a great deal of anxiety. I do not want to go over the ground all over again. The hon. Gentleman has made it quite clear that milk, which is perishable in three or four days, should be treated quite differently from other foods not in that category. I am convinced that the new Clause meets the point I put on the previous occasion.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.