§ Amendments reported (according to Order).
§ Clause 1:
§ Restrictions on the addition of other substances to any food or drug.
§ (2) No person shall sell any food or drug to which any substance has been so added.
4§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAME moved, in subsection (2), after "sell," to insert "or have in his possession for the purpose of sale." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, I put this Amendment on the Paper to try to make the Bill as consistent as possible. The same words appear in Clauses 9 and 38. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 1, line 17, after ("sell") insert ("or have in his possession for the purpose of sale").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, there is some reason for the distinction of language here, because in practice the sampling officers operating the Food and Drugs law purchase samples and consequently a conviction for selling can be secured, whereas under the Public Health procedure, the medical officer of health normally condemns meat and other food without purchasing it, and the offence is that of "offering or exposing for sale" or "having in possession for the purpose of sale." Therefore I do not think the Amendment is really necessary, but it is, as the noble Lord says, a step in the direction of securing uniformity, and unless any of your Lordships object to it I accept the Amendment.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAMEMy Lords, I am very much obliged to my noble friend.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ CLAUSE 5 [Provisions as to labels]:
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, this Amendment, like practically all the others I have to move, is a drafting Amendment. I do not propose to explain them in detail unless your Lordships desire.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 4, line 27, leave out ("or written").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 4, line 36, leave out ("written or")—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 9:
§ Penalty for sale, &c., of unsound food.
§ (5) If a person licensed under this Act, or the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, to keep a slaughter-house is convicted of an offence under this section, the court may cancel his licence.
5§ VISCOUNT GAGE moved, in subsection (5), after "may," to insert "in addition to any other penalty." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this is to make it clear than cancellation of a licence is to be additional to any monetary penalty that may be imposed.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 7, line 27, at end insert ("in addition to any other penalty").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 14 [Registration of premises used in connection with the manufacture or sale of ice-cream, or preserved food, etc.]:
§
Amendments moved—
Page 12, line 36, leave out ("of the district").
Page 13, line 25, after the first ("the") insert ("last").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, the next Amendment is to make it clear that an inn is included. Certain technical objections would follow if that word were not inserted.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 14, line 5, after ("hotel") insert ("inn").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 15 [By-laws with respect to the handling, wrapping, etc., of food, and the sale of food in the open air]:
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, the first Amendment to this clause is a drafting Amendment to remove a mistake in the original drafting.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 15, line 9, leave out ("A local") and insert ("An").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 15, line 11, leave out from ("with") to ("publish") in line 13, and insert ("any other statutory requirements").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 18 [Provisions as to suspected food]:
6
§
Amendment moved—
Page 16, line 41, leave out the first ("or") and insert ("and either is not to be").(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 19:
§ No part of an animal slaughtered in a knacker's yard to be sold for human consumption.
§ 19.—(1) No person shall sell, or offer or expose for sale, for human consumption any part of an animal which has been slaughtered in a knacker's yard.
§ (2) A person who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be guilty of an offence and, if he is licensed under this Act, or the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, to keep either a slaughter-house or a knacker's yard, the court may, in addition to or in lieu of any other penalty, cancel his licence.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 17, line 29, leave out ("or in lieu of").—(Viscount Gage).
§ On Question Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAME moved, in subsection (2), after "cancel," to insert "or suspend." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, under Clause 21, 1 (d), there is power to suspend, and I think it ought also to be included in this clause.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 17, line 30, after ("cancel") insert ("or suspend").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, the noble Viscount has moved on the ground of uniformity. I understood that he had in mind that a man might not be able to get his licence renewed if it had been cancelled. I am informed that that is not the case and that he would at any time after the licence had been cancelled be able to apply to the local authority for a new one.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAMEMy Lords, I beg leave to withdraw.
§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
§ Clause 22:
§ Power to refuse, or cancel, registration of dairymen.
§ (5) An authority may require a person who applies to them for registration as a retail purveyor of milk to give to them, before his application is considered, information as to whether he is, or has been, registered as such 7 a purveyor, either in their district or in the district of any other authority, and, if an applicant who is so required gives to the authority any information which is false, he shall be guilty of an offence.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAME moved, in subsection (5), after "false," to insert "in any material respect." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, in these cases I think these words generally appear, and in fact the latest example is in the Road Haulage Bill, which has been before your Lordships already.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 21, line 26 after ("false") insert ("in any material respect").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 24 [Certain additions not to be made to milk, and certain liquids not to be sold as milk]:
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAMEMy Amendment is consequential on the first Amendment which my noble friend accepted.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 22, line 12, after ("sale") insert ("or have in his possession for the purpose of sale").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, of the next two Amendments the first is drafting and the second consequential.
§
Amendments moved—
Page 22, line 18, leave out ("there has been used")
Page 22, line 19, at end insert ("has been used").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
§ Clause 27:
§ Regulation of sale of artificial cream.
§ (2) No person shall use any vessel for conveying artificial cream intended for sale for human consumption, or for containing artificial cream at any time when it is exposed for such sale, unless the words "artificial cream" are printed in large and legible letters of uniform size, either on the vessel itself, or on a label securely attached thereto.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAME moved, in subsection (2), after "size," to insert "and conspicuously visible." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, owing to certain words appearing in Clause 5 of 8 the Bill I think these words seem advisable in this clause.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 23, line 25, at end insert ("and conspicuously visible").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 33 [Conditions to be observed in dealings in margarine, margarine-cheese, and milk-blended butter]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 27, line 2, leave out ("package") and insert ("container").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 37 [Provisions as to ice-cream likely to cause milk-borne disease]:
§ Amendments moved—
§ Page 30, line 30, leave out the first ("or") and insert ("and either is not to be")
§ Page 31, line 8, after ("owner") insert ("of the ice-cream or other substance in question")
§ Page 31, line 13, after the first ("of") insert ("the").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
§ Clause 42:
§ Prosecutions and penalties for offences under Part IV.
§ (6) In any such proceedings, the part of the sample retained by the Commissioners shall be produced at the hearing and the court may, if it thinks fit, and upon the request of either party shall, cause it to be sent for a joint analysis and report to the Government Chemist and a person qualified to be a public analyst, and the costs of the analysis shall be paid by the prosecutor or defendant as the court may order.
§ VISCOUNT GAGE moved, in subsection (6), to leave out "a person qualified to be a" and insert "some other person holding such qualifications as may be prescribed for the office of." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this is to make clear that the person concerned need not actually hold the appointment of a public analyst.
9
§
Amendment moved—
Page 35, line 42, leave out ("a person qualified to be a") and insert ("some other person holding such qualifications as may be prescribed for the office of").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 44 [Establishment, or acquisition of market by local authority]:
§
Amendments moved—
Page 37, line 11, leave out ("subsection (1) of this section") and insert ("the preceding subsection")
Page 37, line 15, leave out ("this Part of").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
§ Clause 47 [Stallages, tolls and other charges]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 38, line 25, leave out ("the foregoing provisions of").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 56 [Power of any local authority maintaining a market to make market by-laws]
§
Amendment moved—
Page 41, line 29, leave out ("this Part of").—(Viscount Gage.)
LORD STRABOLGIMy Lords, although this is a drafting Amendment, may I raise on it what appears to me to be a very interesting point? This is a Bill which has been through the machinery of a Joint Committee. It is a consolidating measure. It is using the wording of other Acts. Why must we have so many drafting alterations? Not only has the Parliamentary draftsmen put many Amendments down, but the noble Viscount, Lord Bertie, with his usual vigilance, is also assisting with a number of proper drafting Amendments. What has happened to the art of Parliamentary draftsmanship in these days?
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, I cannot do more than indicate that when the noble Lord's Party was in power much the same thing happened in connection with Bills of this length. Here thirty-six Acts are being co-ordinated into one, covering a period which goes right back 10 to the time of King Henry VIII. Although the Joint Committee have done a very remarkable work in co-ordinating this great number of Acts, a few of the very minor points indicated in the Amendments might well have escaped their notice without anyone being very much surprised.
LORD STRABOLGIThis is not a Party question and I do not make any sort of reflection on the noble Viscount. I do not see any reason why what happened under previous Governments should arise now. This is a Bill that originated in your Lordships' House, and I should have thought that these drafting alterations could have been made before the Bill was printed. This is a very bulky document, and it must have cost a great deal to print. I do not want to resist any of the drafting Amendments at all, but I am making the constructive proposal that the Parliamentary draftsmen should be warned that public money would be saved if care were taken to see that these matters received attention before Bills were presented to Parliament.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAMEMy Lords, the trouble is that all these Bills are rushed through at one time, and therefore the Parliamentary draftsmen are given more to do than they ought to be called upon to do.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 57 [Licensing of slaughterhouses and knackers' yards]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 42, line 7, leave out ("of the district").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 42, line 41, after ("time") insert ("authorising their use as a slaughter-house or, as the case may be, a knacker's yard").(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAMEMy Lords, thanks to my noble friend's advisers, my Amendment is consequential to an Amendment which I moved and your Lordships accepted, but which I had overlooked.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 43, line 32, after ("false") insert ("in any material respect").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 58 [By-laws as to slaughterhouses and knackers' yards]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 44, line 21, leave out ("last").— (Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 44, line 26, leave out ("or in lieu of").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 59 [Sign to be displayed on slaughter-house or knacker's yard]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 44, line 29, leave out ("this Part of").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 61 [Elimination of private slaughter-houses]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 45, line 38, leave out ("this Part of").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 71:
§ Special provisions as to the sampling of milk and proceedings subsequent thereto.
§ (2) It shall be a defence for a defendant charged with any offence under this Act, or under Milk and Dairies Regulations, in respect of a sample of milk taken after the milk has left his possession, to prove that the churn or other vessel in which the milk was contained was effectively closed and sealed at the time when it left his possession, but had been opened before the person by whom the sample was taken had access to it.
§ VISCOUNT GAGE moved, in subsection (2), after "Regulations," to in- 12 sert "or Food Regulations." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this is practically a drafting Amendment. Subsection (2) of the clause provides that it shall be a good defence with regard to prosecutions relating to milk sampled from a container in transit that the container had been opened since it left the defendant. Prosecutions may be taken under the Bill itself or under the Milk and Dairies Regulations and, in addition, as milk for the purposes of this Bill includes cream, they may be taken under the Food Regulations. This last possibility has been hitherto overlooked.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 55, line 17, after ("Regulations") insert ("or Food Regulations").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 75 [Expenses]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 57, line 31, after ("to") insert ("and determined by") and leave out ("whose decision shall be final").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 77:
§ Power to enter premises.
§ (5) If any person who in compliance with the provisions of this section, or of a warrant issued thereunder, is admitted into a factory or workplace discloses to any person any information obtained by him in the factory or workplace with regard to any manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall, unless such disclosure was made in the performance of his duty, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
§
VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAME moved, in subsection (5), after "liable," to insert "on summary conviction." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, the two Amendments in my name under this clause are inter-dependent. I am afraid I relied upon a precedent without actually looking at it from the Coal Mines Act, 1930, and my memory played me false, because the penalty is not quite so big as I have suggested. Perhaps I ought first to draw your Lordships' attention to the subsection itself, which reads:
If any person who in compliance with the provisions of this section, or of a warrant issued thereunder, is admitted into a factory
13
or workplace discloses to any person any information obtained by him in the factory or workplace with regard to any manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall, unless such disclosure was made in the performance of his duty, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
That seems to me a rather serious offence; and I remembered that in the Coal Mines Act a person who offended in that sort of way was liable, on conviction on indictment, to a long term of imprisonment.
§
The actual words of the Coal Mines Act are:
… any person who discloses any information so obtained by him shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and liable, on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to both such imprisonment and fine, or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, or to both such imprisonment and fine.
I think the term of imprisonment should be the same and perhaps the fine. Perhaps my noble friend will allow me to put in "one hundred pounds" instead of "five hundred pounds." This is quite another point, but in referring to the Coal Mines Act I found a provision which does not have any counterpart in the present Bill. It is as follows:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to the publication or disclosure of any information in so far as it is required to be published or disclosed for the purposes of legal proceedings (including arbitrations) under this Part of this Act or any scheme made thereunder.…
Some such proviso might be put in by my noble friend, perhaps on Third Reading. In the meantime I beg to move the Amendment that stands in my name.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 60, line 7, after ("liable") insert ("on summary conviction").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, we have been very generous to my noble friend, and perhaps he will not be surprised to learn that we must resist him on this occasion. The noble Viscount has drawn attention to the Coal Mines Act. I have not studied that Act at very great length, but it does not seem to be entirely analogous to the question of food and drugs whereas in the Act on which we are basing these provisions—the Public Health Act, 1936—the same penalties are provided for. 14 We feel that there is considerable advantage in having uniformity between the two provisions. I do not know whether my noble friend, in regard to the other matter he mentioned, has overlooked the words "unless such disclosure was made in the performance of his duty." It seems to me, that the clause is perfectly clear there, and that the matter to which my noble friend has referred is already covered.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAMEMy noble friend said that he hoped I would not be surprised. I am not surprised at anything, especially in politics. I agree, however, that he has been very good to me, and therefore I beg leave to withdraw the Amendment.
§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
§ Clause 80 [Prosecutions]:
§ Amendments moved—
§ Page 61, line 42, leave out from ("effect") to ("in") in line 1 on page 62 and insert ("and")
§ Page 62, line 3, leave out ("date") and insert ("time")
§ Page 62, line 32, leave out from ("and") to ("shall") in line 33, and insert ("a copy of any certificate of analysis obtained on behalf of the prosecutor, and of any certificate given by a justice under proviso (a) to subsection (1) of this section").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendments agreed to.
§ Clause 81.
§ Evidence of certificates of analysis, and presumptions.
§ (4) For the purposes of this Act and of any regulations made thereunder—
§ (b) any article commonly used for human consumption, or in the manufacture of products for human consumption, which is found on premises used for the preparation, storage or sale of that article or, as the case may be, of those products, and any milk kept in a dairy or in the possession of a dairyman, shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be kept for sale, or for manufacturing products for sale, for human consumption;
15
§
Amendment moved—
Page 63, line 19, leave out ("subsection (2) of this section") and insert ("the last preceding subsection.").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
VISCOUNT GAGE moved, in paragraph (b) in subsection (4), to leave out all words preceding "for sale, or for manufacturing products for sale, for human consumption," and insert:
(b) any article commonly used for human consumption which is found on premises used for the preparation, storage, or sale of that article and any article commonly used in the manufacture of products for human consumption which is found on premises used for the preparation, storage or sale of those products, shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be intended".
The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this is really a drafting Amendment. It has been suggested that the paragraph as it stands in the Bill is a little ambiguous and this Amendment is simply to make it clear. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 63, line 36, leave out from the beginning of the line to ("for") in line 43 and insert the said new words.—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 90:
§ Right to carry on business in certain cases while appeal is pending.
§ 90.—(1) Where a decision of an authority under this Act refusing, or cancelling or revoking, registration or a licence, or a decision of a court of summary jurisdiction on appeal against such a decision, makes it unlawful for a person to carry on any business which he, or his immediate predecessor in the business, was lawfully carrying on at the date when the decision of the authority was given, or to use any premises for any purpose for which he, or his immediate predecessor in the business was lawfully using them at the said date, he may carry on that business and use those premises for that purpose until the time for appealing has expired and, if an appeal is lodged, until the appeal is finally disposed of or abandoned, or has failed for want of prosecution.
§ VISCOUNT BERTIE OF THAME moved, in subsection (1), to leave out the first "or" and, after "cancelling," insert "suspending." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, the two matters mentioned in the Amendments are interdependent. The Bill already contains power to suspend as well as to cancel the licences, and therefore I think the word "suspending" should be put in here. I beg to move.
16
§
Amendment moved—
Page 68, line 13, leave out the first ("or") and after ("cancelling") insert ("suspending").—(Viscount Bertie of Thame.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 100 [Definitions]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 74, line i6, leave out from ("food") to the second ("or") in line 17, and insert ("does not include a live animal or bird, but save as aforesaid includes in the case of an animal, bird, or fish the whole").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT GAGE moved to insert "'shop' has the same meaning as in the Shops Act, 1934;". The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this definition is proposed in connection with Clause 50, which prohibits the sale of certain articles in market districts on market days elsewhere than, inter alia,shops. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 77, line 39, at end insert ("'shop' has the same meaning as in the Shops Act, 1934;").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 101 [Repeals and construction of references]:
§
Amendment moved—
Page 78, line 29, leave out ("the said repeal").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 102:
§ Application to Scotland and Northern Ireland.
§
102.—(1) This Act, except the provisions of—
(i) Sections eight, thirty, and thirty-one;
(iv) Subsections (1) to (3) of Section ninety-two (so far as relating to Food Regulations and Bread and Flour Regulations);
(viii) Subsection (1) of Section one hundred and three,
shall not apply to Scotland, and the above mentioned provisions shall apply subject to the following modifications:—
(a) the said provisions (other than Part IV of this Act) shall be construed as
17
one with the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928, and shall be deemed to be included in Part I thereof, and any reference in that Act to regulations made under the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907, shall include a reference to regulations made under Section eight or Section thirty of this Act;
(f) the provision to subsection (4) of Section forty-two of this Act shall have effect as if the reference to the regulations therein mentioned included a reference to orders made under subsection (2) of Section twelve of the Milk and Dairies (Scotland) Act, 1914;
(h) Section two of the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907, shall apply to all Food Regulations and to all Bread and Flour Regulations in like manner as that section applies to regulations made under that Act, and if an Address is presented to His Majesty by either House of Parliament within the next thirty clays on which that House has sat after any such regulations have been laid before it praying that the regulations may be annulled, they shall thenceforth be void, without prejudice, however, to the validity of anything previously done thereunder or the making of new regulations.
§ VISCOUNT GAGE moved, in subsection (1) (i), to leave out "and thirty-one" and insert "thirty-me and thirty-three." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this Amendment is interned to apply to Scotland Clause 33 which amends the existing law by permitting other matter than the word "margarine," and any statutory statement as regards weight, on margarine wrappers on retail sale, if such matter is required under any Statute. This is intended to allow statements as to country of origin, which may be required under marking orders, and in fact an application for an order requiring a statement of origin is at present being heard. As the Bill stands, however, such a statement would not be permitted in Scotland. This is done in order to make the regulations effective there, otherwise confusion might arise. I should like to point out that there is nothing new being imposed upon Scotland by this.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 79, line 26, leave out ("and thirty-one") and insert ("thirty-one and thirty-three").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT GAGE moved, in subsection (1) (iv), to leave out "3" and insert "4". The noble Viscount said: My Lords, an Amendment was made by the 18 Joint Select Committee to the effect that the main regulations under the Bill should be the subject of consultation by the Minister with representative organisations before they are made. This Amendment simply applies that to Scotland.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 79, line 29, leave out ("3") and insert ("4").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 79, line 36, after ("cream") insert ("preparation").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, before the next Amendment on the Paper is moved I have two manuscript Amendments which I should like to move. If any noble Lord objects I can put them down on the Third Reading. I will read them:
Page 80, line 8, leave out ("and") and insert "Provided that (i) the expression food shall have the meaning assigned to it by Section one hundred of this Act instead of the meaning assigned to it by the said Act of 1928; and (ii)This is a purely drafting Amendment in paragraph (a) and together with the next Amendment it will provide that for the purposes of the provisions of the Bill which apply to Scotland the definition of food contained in this Bill shall operate rather than that contained in the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928. There are slight differences between these two definitions which, in the absence of this Amendment, would mean that the regulation-making powers under Clause 8 would be different in England and Scotland. If your Lordships desire these Amendments to be put down on Third Reading I am willing to withdraw them now, but they are quite minor matters. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 80, line 8, leave out ("and") and insert ("Provided that (i) the expression" food "shall have the meaning assigned to it by Section one hundred of this Act instead of the meaning assigned to it by the said Act of 1928; and (ii)").—(Viscount Gage).
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, I have another manuscript Amendment on Clause 102, page 80, line 8, to leave out 19 "that" and insert" the last mentioned". It is purely consequential on the last Amendment to which your Lordships have been kind enough to agree. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 80, line 8, leave out ("that") and insert ("the last mentioned").—(Viscount Gage).
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Amendment moved—
§
Page 80, line 24, at end insert:
(e) the proviso to subsection (4) of Section forty-two of this Act shall have effect as if the reference to the regulations therein mentioned included a reference to orders made under subsection (2) of Section twelve of the Milk and Dairies (Scotland) Act, 1914;").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 80, line 30, leave out paragraph (f).—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
THE LORD CHAIRMANThere is another manuscript Amendment handed in by the noble Viscount, Lord Gage, to Clause 102, page 80, line 39, at the end to add "for any reference to Section seventy-nine of this Act there shall be substituted a reference to subsection (3) of Section twenty-seven of the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928; and."
VISCOUNT GAGEMy Lords, the Amendment which has just been read is a purely drafting Amendment, but I think I ought to explain it. Clause 92 of the Bill provides that the main regulations to be made under the Bill may make provision for penalties not exceeding those for general offences under the Bill set out in Clause 79. As regards Scotland the substantive food and drug law, apart from regulations, will still be found in the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928, although the regulation powers contained in Clauses 8 and 30 will apply to Scotland. Your Lordships will understand that the main Act only applies in regard to certain sections to Scotland and these provisions regarding regulations will apply to Scotland. In the circumstances we think it is logical that in Scotland 20 the limit for penalties to be contained in the regulations should be the same as that contained in the general Act which, as I have mentioned, is as regards Scotland the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928. If any noble Lord objects to this Amendment being brought forward at such short notice, I should be prepared to withdraw it and put it down on Third Reading.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 80, line 39, at end insert ("for any reference to Section seventy-nine of this Act there shall be substituted a reference to subsection (3) of Section twenty-seven of the Food and Drugs (Adulteration) Act, 1928; and").—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ VISCOUNT GAGE moved, in paragraph (h) in subsection (1), to leave out all words after "1907" and insert "and Section three hundred and nineteen of the Public Health Act, 1936, shall, notwithstanding that the last mentioned enactment does not apply to Scotland, apply to all Food Regulations and to all Bread and Flour Regulations, in like manner as those enactments apply to the regulations respectively mentioned therein." The noble Viscount said: My Lords, Clause 96 of the Bill applies Section 319 of the Public Health Act, 1936, which lays down the procedure for regulations required to be laid before Parliament. In particular this section provides for the annulment of regulations if an Address is presented by either House within thirty days. This Amendment extends that section to Scotland.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 80, line 41, leave out from ("1907") to end of the subsection and insert the said new words.—(Viscount Gage.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Fourth Schedule:
- FOURTH SCHEDULE.
- PART I. cc20-2
- ENACTMENTS REPEALED. 708 words