S.I. No. 237/1977 - European Communities (Measuring Container Bottles) Regulations, 1977.

1. Every manufacturer of measuring container bottles shall submit for the approval of the Minister a mark by which his products can be identified.

2. The manufacturer shall, on his own responsibility, affix the EEC sign to any measuring container bottles manufactured by him. However, the date, origin and reference number provided for in Annex I, subsection 6.3 to the Council Directive No. 71/316/EEC of the 26th day of July, 1971, shall not be required.

3. Every manufacturer or importer of measuring container bottles shall facilitate the carrying out by inspectors of weights and measures of the checks on the accuracy of such bottles required by these regulations and described in Annex II of EEC Council Directive 75/107/EEC.

THIRD SCHEDULE.

Form of licence to be issued by the Minister in pursuance of

Regulation 3 of these Regulations.

Licence.

The person or firm named below has undertaken to comply with all the provisions of the European Communities (Measuring Container Bottles) Regulations, 1977 (

S.I. No. 237 of 1977

), and the Minister is satisfied that this person or firm, if manufacturing bottles, can comply with the First and Second Schedules of these Regulations and if importing, exporting or selling bottles can comply with the Second Schedule. The Minister therefore authorises the person or firm named to manufacture, import, export and sell measuring container bottles as provided in the EEC Council Directive 75/107/EEC of 19th December, 1974.

Licence

Authentication

GIVEN under my Official Seal this 20th day of July, 1977.

DESMOND O'MALLEY,

Minister for Industry and Commerce.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations have been made to give effect to the European Communities Council Directive No. 75/107/EEC of 19th December, 1974 (O.J. No. L42/15 of 15th February, 1975) providing for free movement throughout the Community of bottles manufactured to a specified degree of accuracy and marked with certain indications.

4. (1) The greatest differences permitted (positive or negative) at a temperature of 20°C and under the control conditions laid down in Annex II, of Council Directive No. 75/107/EEC between the actual capacity and the nominal capacity Vn of a measuring container bottle shall be in accordance with the following table

Nominal Capacity Vn in millilitres

Maximum permissible errors

as a % of Vn

in millilitres

From 50 to 100

—

3

From 100 to 200

3

—

From 200 to 300

—

6

From 300 to 500

2

—

From 500 to 1,000

—

10

From 1,000 to 5,000

1

—-

(

b

) The maximum permissible error in the brim capacity shall be the same as the maximum permissible error in the corresponding nominal capacity.

(

c

) The systematic exploitation of tolerances is prohibited.

SECOND SCHEDULE.

S.I. No. 237 of 1977.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (MEASURING CONTAINER BOTTLES) REGULATIONS, 1977.

I, DESMOND O'MALLEY, Minister for Industry and Commerce, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

section 3

of the

European Communities Act, 1972

(No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 75/107/EEC,

1

hereby make the following regulations

1 Citation and commencement.

1.

These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Measuring Container Bottles) Regulations, 1977, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1977.

2 Interpretation.

2.

In these Regulations—

" the EEC sign "means a sign, at least 3 millimetres in height which is in the form of sign 3 (reversed epsilon) referred to in Article 6 of Council Directive No. 71/316/EEC

2

dated the 26th day of July, 1971, relating to common provisions for both measuring instruments and methods of metrological control, as amended by the Act

3

concerning the conditions of Accession and adjustments to the Treaties, and which sign certifies that such measuring container bottle complies with the requirements of Council Directive No. 75/107/EEC

1

O.J. No. L42, 15/2/1975, P. 15.

2

O.J. No. L202, 6/9/1971, P. 1.

3

O.J. No. L73, 27/3/1972, P. 14.

" measuring container bottle "means any container commonly called a bottle which—

(

a

) is made of glass or any other substance having such rigidity or stability that it offers the same metrological guarantees as glass,

(

b

) is stoppered, or designed to be stoppered,

(

c

) is intended for the storage, transport or delivery of liquids,

(

d

) has a nominal capacity of not less than 0.05 litres nor more than 5 litres, or

(

e

) is so designed or manufactured that it can be used as a measuring container, that is to say, when it is filled to a specified level or to a specified percentage of its brim capacity, the contents can be measured with sufficient accuracy;

" the Minister "means the Minister for Industry and Commerce.

3 Licences.

3.

(1) No person or firm shall manufacture, import, export or sell measuring container bottles otherwise than in accordance with a licence issued by the Minister pursuant to this Regulation.

(2) The Minister shall issue a licence under this Regulation only when he is satisfied that—

(

a

) the applicant, if he is a manufacturer of measuring container bottles, complies with the requirements of the First and Second Schedule to these Regulations, or

(

b

) the applicant, if he is an importer of measuring container bottles, complies with the requirements of the Second Schedule to these Regulations.

(3) In any case where the holder of a licence issued under this Regulation fails to comply with the provisions of the First and Second Schedule to these Regulations, or with the provisions of the Second Schedule to these Regulations, as the case may be, the Minister may revoke such licence.

(4) Every licence issued under this Regulation shall be in the form specified in the Third Schedule to these Regulations.

4 Offences.

4.

It shall be an offence to mark a measuring container bottle with the EEC sign, or to import, export or sell an empty measuring container bottle affixed with that sign unless—

(

a

) the person or firm so doing holds a licence issued under Regulation 3 of these Regulations, and

(

b

) the holder of the licence, and the measuring container bottle so imported, exported or sold comply with the provisions of the First and Second Schedules to these Regulations.

5 Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1961.

5.

(1) Nothing in the Weights and Measures Acts, 1878 to 1961, or any instrument made thereunder shall prohibit, prevent or restrict, or authorise or empower the prohibition, prevention or restriction of, or the refusal to authorise or permit, the placing on the market or the use of measuring container bottles affixed with the EEC sign.

(2) An Inspector of Weights and Measures, appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Weights and Measures Acts 1878-1961, shall, on notification by the Minister to the authority appointing the Inspector under those Acts, carry out the checks provided for in Annex II of Council Directive No. 75/107/EEC.

6 Fees.

6.

(1) There shall be charged in respect of the cost of any service performed by an inspector of weights and measures in carrying out his function under Regulation 5 (2) of these Regulations such fees as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines.

(2) Fees under these Regulations shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of that Minister.

(3) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in relation to fees under these Regulations.

7 Penalties.

7.

A person who fails to comply with any provision of these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500.

FIRST SCHEDULE.