The Common Agricultural Policy (Control and Enforcement, Cross-Compliance, Scrutiny of Transactions and Appeals) Regulations 2014

25 Offences and penalties

(1) It is an offence for any person— (a) to fail to comply with Article 82(1) of the Horizontal Regulation (which relates to the supply of commercial documents and additional information); (b) to fail to comply with a requirement under Article 82(2) of the Horizontal Regulation (which relates to the supply of extracts or copies of commercial documents); (c) to fail to comply with a requirement under the third sub-paragraph of Article 82(3) of the Horizontal Regulation (which enables the determination of the place and time at which an undertaking must, in certain circumstances, make available for inspection commercial documents required for scrutiny pursuant to Articles 79 to 90 of that Regulation); (d) intentionally to obstruct an authorised person (or a person accompanying the authorised person and acting under the authorised person's instructions) acting in the exercise of a power conferred by regulation 21 or 22 or by virtue of regulation 24; or (e) to fail to comply with a request made under regulation 23. (2) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale. (3) It is an offence for a specified beneficiary or a specified contributor to fail to comply with— (a) Article 43 of the Horizontal Finance Implementing Regulation (which lays down requirements relating to the retention of commercial documents); (b) a direction under the first sub-paragraph of Article 82(3) of the Horizontal Regulation (which enables an undertaking to be directed to maintain future records for scrutiny); or (c) a determination under the second sub-paragraph of Article 82(3) (which enables the determination of the date from which records referred to in the first sub-paragraph are to be established). (4) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (3) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. (5) Proceedings in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland for an offence under paragraph (1), (3) or (9) may be brought within a period of six months from the date of which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the competent authority to justify proceedings comes to its knowledge, and in any case within twelve months from the commission of the offence. (6) Summary proceedings in Scotland for an offence under paragraph (1), (3) or (9) may be commenced within a period of six months from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to justify proceedings comes to the prosecutor's knowledge, and in any case within twelve months from the commission of the offence. (7) For the purposes of paragraph (6), proceedings are deemed to be commenced on the date on which a warrant to apprehend or to cite the accused is granted, if such a warrant is executed without undue delay. (8) A certificate purporting to be signed— (a) for the purpose of paragraph (5), by or on behalf of the competent authority, or (b) for the purpose of paragraph (6), by the prosecutor, is conclusive evidence of the date on which evidence sufficient to justify proceedings came to the knowledge of that authority or prosecutor, as the case may be. (9) It is an offence for any person— (a) to fail to comply with Article 103(2) of the Horizontal Regulation (which restricts the communication of information collected in the course of scrutiny); or (b) for a relevant purpose, to knowingly or recklessly— (i) furnish any information, (ii) make or sign any document, (iii) deliver any document, (iv) make in a record, register or document any entry, which is false or misleading in any material particular. (10) In paragraph (9)(b)— (a) “a relevant purpose” means— (i) the purpose of obtaining for that person or any other person the whole or any part of any sum by or for the account of CMO support; or (ii) the purpose of evading payment of the whole or any part of such a sum for which that person or any other person is liable; (b) “document” includes any declaration, notice or certificate; (c) the references to furnishing information, to making or signing any document, to delivering any document and to making any entry, in each case, include a reference to causing or permitting that act to be done; (d) the reference to knowingly or recklessly delivering a document which is false or misleading in any material particular includes a reference to transmitting such a document with the intent to secure that the false or misleading information is recorded by the machine to which it is transmitted so as to be accessible for subsequent reference, in the knowledge that the information as recorded is false or misleading in any material particular, or being reckless as to the possibility that it may be so. (11) A person guilty of an offence under paragraph (9) is liable— (a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both; or (b) on conviction on indictment to a fine, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.