Milk (Special Designations) Act 1949
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1949 c. 34 |
| Year | 1949 |
Milk (Special Designations) Act , 1949.
(12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6) CHAPTER 34.
An Act to render compulsory the use of special designations on sales of milk by retail in specified areas, to enact certain provisions ancillary thereto as to the use of such designations, and to amend certain enactments in relation to such designations.
[31st May 1949]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Obligation to use a special designation on retailing of milk in specified areas, and provisions ancillary thereto.
1 Use of special designation on retailing of milk \(otherwise than as refreshments) in specified areas, and on certain associated sales.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the use of a special designation shall be obligatory for the purpose of all sales of milk by retail for human consumption (other than catering sales) where the place of sale is in an area in which this subsection is in operation by virtue of the subsequent provisions of this Act in that behalf (in this Act referred to as ‘a specified area’).
In this Act the expression ‘special designation’ means—
(a ) in its application otherwise than to Scotland, a designation prescribed by Regulations made under subsection (1) of section twenty-one of the Food and Drugs Act, 1938;
(b ) in its application to Scotland, a designation prescribed by Order made under subsection (1) of section three of the Milk and Dairies (Amendment) Act, 1922, as enacted in section ten of the Milk Act, 1934;
and the said sections twenty-one and three respectively are in this Act referred to as ‘the principal enactment’ for the purposes of the application of this Act otherwise than to Scotland, and for the purposes of its application to Scotland, respectively.
(2) The use of a special designation shall be obligatory also for the purpose of a sale of milk by retail for human consumption (other than a catering sale), notwithstanding that the place of sale is not in a specified area, if the milk is delivered from an establishment (whether in or outside a specified area) where there is carried on a business of selling milk which includes any sales for the purpose of which the use of a special designation is obligatory by virtue of the preceding subsection.
(3) The preceding subsections shall not apply to the selling of milk as therein mentioned by a producer of milk from cows to persons employed by him in or in connection with such production or employed by him otherwise in agriculture, if he does not engage in any other selling of milk as mentioned in those subsections.
(4) In this Act selling milk by retail means selling it—
(a ) to any person other than a milk dealer (that is to say, a person who carries on a business which consists in or comprises the selling of milk) or a manufacturer of milk products (that is to say, a person who carries on a business which consists in or comprises the making of things made from milk or of which milk is an ingredient); or
(b ) to such a dealer or manufacturer otherwise than for the purposes of his business as such.
(5) Any person who sells milk without the use of a special designation under a sale for the purpose of which the use of a special designation is obligatory by virtue of this section shall be guilty of an offence.
(6) It shall be the duty of every Food and Drugs authority within their area, and of every local authority in Scotland within their area, to carry into execution and enforce the provisions of this section.
2 Use of special designation as regards sales in specified areas of milk or milk products as refreshments.
(1) The provisions of this section shall apply to catering sales, and to sales of milk to a person who carries on a business which consists in or comprises making catering sales (in this section referred to as ‘a caterer’).
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a catering sale made in a specified area—
(a ) shall be lawful (unless it is for any reason unlawful apart from this subsection) if the caterer bought the milk under a sale for the purpose of which a special designation was used, or if he holds a licence authorising him to use a special designation in connection with the milk, whether the designation is used for the purpose of the catering sale or not; but
(b ) otherwise shall be unlawful.
(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act, on a sale of milk to a caterer, being a sale for the purpose of which the use of a special designation would be obligatory by virtue of section one of this Act if it were a sale by retail, the use of such a designation shall be obligatory, except where—
(a ) the caterer buys the milk with a view to subjecting it to a process to which milk is required to be subjected as a condition of the use of a special designation in connection therewith, and he is the holder of a licence authorising him to use that designation, or
(b ) the caterer buys the milk for the purposes of a business of his as a milk dealer or a manufacturer of milk products other than his business as a caterer.
(4) Any person who makes a catering sale which is unlawful by virtue of subsection (2) of this section, or who sells milk without the use of a special designation under a sale for the purpose of which the use of a special designation is obligatory by virtue of subsection (3) of this section, shall be guilty of an offence:
Provided that a person shall not be guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (3) of this section if at the time of the sale in question he had reasonable cause to believe that the conditions specified in paragraph (a ) or (b ) of that subsection were satisfied as to that sale or that the buyer was not a caterer.
(5) It shall be the duty of every Food and Drugs authority within their area, and of every local authority in Scotland within their area, to carry into execution and enforce the provisions of this section.
3 Power of the Minister to consent to sales without use of special designation in certain circumstances.
(1) Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) or (2) of section one of this Act, or in subsection (3) of section two thereof, selling milk as therein mentioned without the use of a special designation shall be permissible if done with the consent of the Minister, and he may give consents for the purposes of this section, either generally as respects selling milk as mentioned in those subsections or restricted to a particular retailer or establishment or otherwise, and either unconditionally or subject to conditions, as may appear to him to be requisite in order to meet any circumstances in which use of a special designation which would be obligatory by virtue of those subsections apart from the consent appears to him to be for the time being not reasonably practicable.
(2) A catering sale made in a specified area shall not be unlawful by virtue of subsection (2) of section two of this Act if the milk was sold to the caterer with consent given by the Minister for the purposes of this section.
4 Restriction on use of special designations ‘Accredited’ and ‘Standard.’
(1) After the expiration of five years from the commencement of this Act the special designation ‘Accredited’ shall be excluded from the designations which may be used in satisfaction of an obligation to use a special designation subsisting by virtue of this Act in its application otherwise than to Scotland, and the special designation ‘Standard’ shall be excluded from the designations which may be used in satisfaction of an obligation to use a special designation subsisting by virtue of this Act in its application to Scotland.
(2) A person shall not use the special designation ‘Accredited’ or ‘Standard’ for a purpose for which the use of a special designation is obligatory by virtue of this Act unless the milk in question is all from a single herd, and any person who contravenes this subsection shall be guilty of an offence.
It shall be the duty of every Food and Drugs authority within their area, and of every local authority in Scotland within their area, to carry into execution and enforce the provisions of this subsection:
Provided that the said duty of a Food and Drugs authority shall not extend to execution and enforcement of the said provisions as regards use of the special designation ‘Accredited’ by the producer of the milk in question.
5 Areas for operation of preceding provisions.
(1) The Minister may at any time order that subsection (1) of section one of this Act shall come into operation in any area in which it is not then in operation, or shall cease to be in operation in any area in which it is then in operation.
(2) Before making an order under this section the Minister shall consult with such representative organisations as appear to him substantially to represent the interests concerned with the purposes of the order.
(3) The powers conferred on the Minister by this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument, and—
(a ) a draft of any statutory instrument bringing subsection (1) of section one of this Act into operation in any area shall be laid before Parliament;
(b ) a statutory instrument...
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