Regulation 17 Obtaining samples and analysis etc.

An authorised officer may, for the purposes of ascertaining whether any offence under these Regulations has been committed, purchase or take a sample of any organic product.

An authorised officer who considers that the sample should be analysed, examined or tested, must submit it for that purpose to the public analyst for the area in which it was obtained (or, if the office of the public analyst for the area is vacant, to the public analyst for some other area).

The public analyst must then—

In any proceedings, the production by one of the parties—

is evidence (and, in Scotland, sufficient evidence) of the facts stated in it unless, in a case falling within sub-paragraph (a), the other party requires that the analyst be called as a witness.

In any such proceedings, if a person charged or summonsed intends to produce a certificate of a public analyst or require, under paragraph (4), the analyst to be called as a witness, written notice of the intention together with a copy of the certificate (if appropriate) must be given to the other party at least three clear days before the hearing or trial.

If such notice is not given, the court may adjourn the proceedings on such terms as it thinks fit.

In this regulation, “public analyst” has the same meaning as in—