HC Deb 18 June 1974 vol 875 cc400-1
Mr. Harold Walker

I beg to move Amendment No. 120, in page 93 line 27, leave out from 'under' to 'under' in line 29 and insert: 'a provision of this Act and of the Customs and Excise Act 1952, the Act'. Again this is a drafting amendment. The purpose of paragraph 2(2) is to enable health and safety regulations which deal with the importation, loading or unloading of dangerous goods to state in the regulations either that a contravention is to be an offence under the Customs and Excise Act 1952 and to attract the penalties in that Act, or that a contravention is to be an offence under the Bill, and to attract the penalties in the Bill. This deals with the situation where there may be an overlap between offences under the two Acts.

The subparagraph is too inflexible as at present drafted. It says that regulations must specify the section under which offences are to be punished. But under the Customs and Excise Act contraventions may be tried under either of two sections, depending on the circumstances of the individual case. This amendment preserves that position, by stating that health and safety regulations need only say under which Act an offence is to be punished.

Amendment agreed to.

Forward to