HL Deb 29 June 1926 vol 64 cc652-9

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.

House in Committee accordingly:

[The EARL OF DONOUGHMORE in the Chair.]

Clause 1:

Obligation to furnish statutory statements.

1.—(1) It shall be the duty of every person who sells for use as a fertiliser of the soil or as food for cattle or poultry any article included in the first column of the First or Second Schedule to this Act, whatever may be the name under which the article is sold, to give the purchaser on or before delivery, or as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter, a statement in writing (hereinafter referred to as a statutory statement) in such form (if any) as may be, prescribed, containing the following particulars:—

(c) where the article, if a feeding stuff, contains any ingredient included in the Third Schedule to this Act, or any ingredient not so included which is worthless for feeding purposes, the name of such ingredient:

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, in subsection 1 (c), to leave out "or any ingredient not so included which is worthless for feeding purposes." The noble Lord said: As regards this first Amendment we think that on the whole it is desirable to omit these words. Nearly all feeding stuffs contain some substance which might be regarded as worthless if separated from other ingredients and considered by itself. Moreover, all these worthless ingredients are supposed to be contained in the Third Schedule to the Bill and if they are not so contained they can be added hereafter by Regulation.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 1, leave out from ("Act") to ("the") in line 2.—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 2 [Implied warranties]:

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, in subsection (2), to omit the words "or any ingredient not so included which is worthless for feeding purposes." The noble Lord said: This is a similar Amendment to the one which has just been agreed to.

Amendment moved— Page 2, line 31, leave out from ("Act") to the end of subsection (2).—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 2, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 3 and 4 agreed to.

Clause 5 [Consignments ex ship quay]:

LORD BLEDISLOE

The Amendment to this clause is merely a drafting Amendment to conform with other similar clauses in the Bill.

Amendment moved— Page 5, line 28, after ("inspector") insert ("in the prescribed manner").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 5, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 6:

Sales in small quantities.

6. Where an article is sold for use as a fertiliser of the soil or as food for cattle or poultry in small quantities from a parcel which purports to be labelled in manner hereinbefore provided, and from an analysis of a sample thereof taken by an inspector in the prescribed manner on the premises on which the parcel is kept it appears that the particulars stated on the label are false to the prejudice of the purchaser, or do not include any particulars which are required by this Act to be contained in a statutory statement, the seller shall be guilty of an offence against this Act.

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, before "seller," to insert "owner or." The noble Lord said: This clause deals with the taking of samples by official samplers, and it is clear that a sample may be taken by an inspector without actually purchasing it. Hence it is desirable to introduce the word "owner" before seller.

Amendment moved— Page 6, line 2, after ("the") insert ("owner or").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 6, as amended, agreed to.

Clause 7:

Deleterious ingredients in feeding stuffs.

7.—(1) Any person who sells or offers or exposes for sale for use as food for cattle or poultry any article which contains any ingredient deleterious to cattle or poultry, or has in his possession, packed and prepared, for sale for such use any such article, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act:

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, immediately before the proviso in subsection (1), to insert:— unless he proves

  1. "(a) that he did not know, and could not with reasonable care have known, that the article contained a deleterious ingredient; and
  2. "(b) where he obtained the article from some other person, that on demand by or on behalf of the prosecutor he gave all the information in his power with respect to the person from whom he obtained it, and as to the statutory statement given to him, and as to any mark applied to the article when he obtained it."
The noble Lord said: This is a more important matter. These words are proposed to be inserted in order to prevent a vendor who is morally free from any blame being convicted on a criminal charge. I may mention that this Bill will not prevent his being successfully sued in a civil action, should a civil action lie. I do not think that I need explain these words further. They appear in a similar connection in another place.

Amendment moved— Page 6, line 9, after ("Act") insert the said words.—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 7, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 8 to 11 agreed to.

Clause 12 [Powers of entry and sampling]:

LORD BLEDISLOE

A drafting Amendment to This clause appears in my name upon the Paper, but I propose to move it in a different form, with your Lordships' permission, on the Report stage. I think we can find a simpler form of words.

Clause 12 agreed to.

Clause 13:

Provisions as to analysis of samples.

13.—(1) Where a sample has been taken by an inspector or official sampler in the prescribed manner he shall divide it into three parts and cause each part to be marked, sealed and fastened up and he shall send two of the parts to the agricultural analyst together with a signed statement that the sample was taken in the prescribed manner, and the third part he shall send to the owner or seller:

Provided that if the inspector does not know the name and address of the owner or seller it shall be sufficient if he delivers or offers such third part as aforesaid to the occupier or person in charge of the premises upon which the sample was taken.

(6) Where a sample taken in the prescribed manner has been analysed by the agricultural analyst, he shall furnish to the person who submitted the sample for analysis and, where that person is not the purchaser, also to the purchaser and in every case to the owner or seller of the article a copy of his certificate of analysis:

Provided that if the agricultural analyst does not know the name and address of the owner or seller, he shall send a copy of his certificate intended for the owner or seller to the person who submitted the sample, who shall forward it to the owner or seller.

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, in subsection (1), after "shall" ["the third part he shall send"] to insert "deliver or." The noble Lord: This clause lays down provisions as to the analysis of samples of feeding stuffs and fertilisers and this Amendment contemplates the case where the owner or seller is present when the sample is taken. It is obvious that in that case it will be quite sufficient to deliver the third sample, which he is entitled to have independently, instead of sending it to him.

Amendment moved— Page 10, line 2, after ("shall") insert ("deliver or").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, in subsection (1), immediately before the proviso, to insert "as may be prescribed." The noble Lord said: This is really a drafting Amendment, but I ought to explain that it is important that a person who may be prosecuted shall be given promptly the third part of the sample, which is sent to him, of course, for his protection.

Amendment moved— Page 10, line 3, after ("seller") insert ("as may be prescribed").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLEDISLOE moved to omit the proviso to subsection (1). The noble Lord said: The omission of this proviso is consequential upon the last Amendment. The Amendment which immediately follows is also consequential.

Amendments moved— Page 10, line 4, leave out lines 4 to 8 Page 10, line 40, leave out ("a copy of").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendments agreed to.

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, in the proviso to subsection (6), to leave out "a copy of." The noble Lord said: We feel that it is important in such a case as this, where criminal proceedings may result, that the actual certificate should be sent and not merely a copy of the certificate from an agricultural analyst.

Amendment moved— Page 11, line 1, leave out ("a copy of").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 13, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 14 to 16 agreed to.

Clause 17:

Financial provisions relating to the councils of county and county boroughs.

17.—(1) The council of any county or county borough may contribute towards the expenses incurred by any agricultural body or association in causing samples to be taken for analysis by the agricultural analyst.

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, after "taken,' to insert" by an official sampler in the prescribed manner." The noble Lord said: The object of this Amendment is to secure that, where an agricultural body or association, with the help of public money, causes an analysis to be made, such analysis shall be made in the same manner as is prescribed by the Bill. Otherwise there may be a considerable waste of public money owing to improper or irregular analyses directed by an agricultural organisation.

Amendment moved— Page 11, line 38, after ("taken") insert ("by an official sampler in the prescribed manner").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 17, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 18 and 19 agreed to.

Clause 20:

Safeguards to traders.

(2) A person shall not be liable to conviction under this Act for applying a false mark to an article or making a false entry in his register or for failure to state the presence in a feeding stuff of an ingredient included in the Third Schedule to this Act or any worthless ingredient if he proves—

  1. (a) that having taken all reasonable precautions against, committing an offence against this Act he had not at the time of committing the alleged offence reason to suspect the correctness of the mark or entry; and
  2. (b) where he obtained the article from seine other person, that on demand by or on behalf of the prosecutor he gave all the information in his power with respect to the person from whom be obtained it and as to the statutory statement given to him, and as to any mark applied to the article when he obtained it.

LORD BLEDISLOE

My first two Amendments to this clause are consequential upon the first Amendment to which your Lordships agreed.

Amendments moved— Page 12, line 41, leave out ("or worthless"), Page 13, line 9, leave out ("or any worthless ingredient").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendments agreed to.

LORD BLEDISLOE moved, in paragraph (a) of subsection (2), after "entry" to insert "or the presence of such ingredients as aforesaid as the case may be." The noble Lord said: This Amendment becomes necessary in order to make this particular line of defence applicable to the failure to state the presence in foodstuffs of a worthless ingredient, as provided by the Third Schedule. As a matter of fact three offences are constituted under Clause 2 in regard to which we deem it desirable that a person should have this opportunity of proving that there is no moral turpitude on his part. We have already referred to two of them but we inadvertently omitted the third and this Amendment is intended to bring it in. For the purpose of greater grammatical accuracy I move it in a slightly different form from that in which it appears on the Paper.

Amendment moved— Page 13, line 15, after ("entry") insert ("or the presence of such ingredient as aforesaid as the case may be").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

LORD BLEDISLOE

My other Amendment to this clause is consequential.

Amendment moved— Page 13, line 26, leave out ("or worthless").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 20, as amended, agreed to.

Clauses 21 and 22 agreed to.

Clause 23:

Regulations.

(3) All regulations made under this section shall be laid before Parliament as soon as may be after they are made, and if either House of Parliament, within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat next after the regulations are laid before them, presents an address to His Majesty praying that the regulations or any part of them may be annulled, His Majesty may annul the regulations without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder or to the making of new regulations.

LORD STRACHIE had given Notice to move, in subsection (3), to leave out "His Majesty may annul the regulations" and to insert "they shall henceforth be void, but." The noble Lord said: The Parliamentary Secretary having intimated that he accepts my Amendment I need only say that it is intended to give your Lordships a similar protection to that provided in all other Agricultural Bills.

LORD BLEDISLOE

I quite agree that this form of the clause gives Parliament greater control, and I am entirely in sympathy with it. My noble and learned friend the Lord Chancellor reminds me that the word "henceforth" ought to read "thenceforth."

LORD STRACHIE

I will move it in that form.

Amendment moved— Page 15, line 31, leave out ("His Majesty may annul the regulations") and insert ("they shall thenceforth be void, but").—(Lord Strachie.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 23, as amended agreed to.

Clause 24 agreed to.

Clause 25 [Interpretation]:

LORD BLEDISLOE

I have a purely drafting Amendment to this clause which is intended to contemplate the case where a mark is put upon the goods instead of an actual description being furnished with them.

Amendment moved— Page 16, line 34, after ("stating") insert ("or indicating").—(Lord Bledisloe.)

On Question, Amendment agreed to.

Clause 25, as amended, agreed to.

Remaining clauses agreed to.

Schedules agreed to.