PROVISIONS AS TO MEDICATED ANIMAL FEEDING STUFFS (Hansard, 18 October 1968)

§ Mr. Mackie

I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

Subsection (3) of Clause 83 requires that for the purposes of subsection (2), which deals with the sale, or supply, or possession of medicated animal feeding-stuffs which are falsely or misleadingly described, statements or marks on a container, package, or leaflet applied in pursuance of the Fertiliser and Feeding-stuffs Act, 1926, shall be disregarded.

This Amendment limits this reference to feedingstuffs of a kind specified in the first column of Part II of Schedule I to that Act, which is in fact now to be found in Regulations (S.I. 1968 No. 218) that have superseded the original schedule and to which all the provisions of the 1926 Act apply.

Since it is only the items in Schedule 1 which may be the subject of criminal proceedings under Section 4 of the Fertilisers and Feedingstuffs Act, 1926 and we might wish to prosecute under Clause 83(2) in relation to an offence for which Schedule 2 of the 1926 Act is relevant, we do not wish this Schedule to be disregarded for the purposes of Clause 83(2). There is a comparable exclusion in Section 2(4) of the Trade Descriptions Act, 1968, in relation to false or misleading trade descriptions. I think that if I had been writing the brief myself I 807 should have said that this is so as not to have two Acts cutting across each other.

§ Mr. Scott-Hopkins

I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his explanation. I did not understand a word of it, because he was going so fast, but I will read it with great interest tomorrow.

In the interests of the people who are dealing with this Act, I would ask the hon. Gentleman if he, or his Ministry, will put out a simple explanation about where and how the law now stands.

The hon. Gentleman said that there could be cases in future where criminal proceedings might be taken. I think it is right that the public and the people dealing with these substances should be clear about their obligations and understand what sections and schedules of what Acts apply to them. They should be able to understand this clearly and easily. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman's Department can put out a simple explanation.