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| Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, Update 1 |
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The following letter from Jonathan Duke-Evans at the Home Office has been circulated to many interested parties. It is a follow-up to the information provided by the Liverpool Public Analyst Laboratory a few months ago and will have implications for many who have control of a laboratory. The letter has been slightly modified to make it more appropriate for use on the Website and for users to comunicate through the World Wide Web and e-mail. |
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From : Jonathan Duke-Evans Action Against Crime and Disorder Unit 50 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT Switchboard 020 7273 4000 Fax 020 7273 2703 Direct Line 020 7273 3141 E-mail: Jonathan.Duke-Evans@HomeOffice.gsi.gov.uk |
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This letter informs you of the coming into force on May 31 of new legal obligations on the occupiers of premises where certain dangerous pathogens and toxins are held. You need to consider whether you need to notify any holdings of such pathogens and toxins to the Home Office by 29 June. |
| 2. |
I wrote to many recipients of this letter on 12 November last
year, to inform them of new obligations which, subject to Parliamentary
approval of the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill, were
to be imposed on the occupiers of premises holding stocks of
certain dangerous disease strains and toxins. At the time I wrote,
it was expected that the controls would come into force soon
after the Bill had received Royal Assent, which it did on 14
December. |
| 3. |
The Government, however, subsequently decided to delay implementation
of these new controls for a short period, while intensive consideration
was given to the possibility of excluding pathogens and toxins
from the new controls in circumstances where they did not pose
a substantial risk of terrorist misappropriation. That process
has now been completed, and, subject to Parliament's approval
of the secondary legislation, the new controls will come into
force on May 31, along with a Statutory Instrument setting out
the circumstances in which holdings of pathogens or toxins are
exempt from these controls. |
| 4. | The purpose of this letter is accordingly both to explain the new obligations created by Part 7 of the Anti Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, and to set out the circumstances in which pathogens and toxins which would otherwise be covered by the controls in the Bill would be exempt. For your convenience of reference, the letter repeats where necessary information which was included in the 12 November letter |
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Obligations imposed by new controls |
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| 5. |
Part 7 will create the following obligations on those responsible
for premises holding any of the substances listed in Annex A
if none of the exemptions apply. First, it will be necessary
to notify the Home Office that one or more of the substances
in question is held at the premises. (I will deal with the practicalities
of notification later in this letter). Second, there will be
an obligation to supply the police, when they so request, with
information relating to the substances held and/or the names
of people with regular access to areas of the premises where
the controlled substances are held. Third, the police must be
admitted to the premises, following due notification by them
of their intention to visit, in order to carry out security checks.
Fourth, any reasonable recommendation made by the police as to
security measures must be complied with (there will be an appeal
process in case police recommendations are not considered reasonable).
Fifth, if the Secretary of State directs that a named person
should not be allowed access to areas of the premises where the
controlled substances are held, the person responsible for the
premises must ensure compliance. It will be an offence to fail
to comply with any of these obligations. |
| 6. |
These controls will affect premises throughout the United Kingdom
(England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Guidance is
being drawn up for the police on the exercise of their new responsibilities. |
| 7. | If you are responsible for premises which currently hold one or more of the substances listed in Annex A, you must notify this to the Home Office within 30 days of the commencement of Part 7, i.e. by 29 June. If no such substances are held at any given premises when Part 7 comes into force, but it is subsequently decided to acquire such substances, notification must be given before the substances may be held on the premises. |
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Exemptions |
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| 8. |
The Statutory Instrument of which the text is given at Annex B (Note from Web-Editor, Annex B is not included in this page. The original legislation may be accessed by following this link to the HMSO Website) creates a number of exemptions to the obligation to notify. The text of the Statutory Instrument is of course authoritative, but it may be helpful if I summarise those exemptions here :-
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How to notify |
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| 9. |
If you decide that you do need to notify a holding of pathogens
or toxins, you may send your notification to me by mail, fax,
or e-mail, to the address/number at the head of
this letter. You may wish to use the wording given at Annex
C. Your notification must specify the address of the premises
at which the substance or substances are held, but need not specify
which substance or substances are held, nor do we need to be
notified again if additional listed substances are subsequently
acquired. We do, however, need to be notified if the facility
ceases to hold any listed substance. There is no fee for notification.
Details of notifications will be passed to the local police force,
but will not otherwise be made available outside Government. |
| 10. |
Please note that any notifications made more than 30 days after
Part 7 has come into force should be made not to me but by e-mail
if possible to pathogens@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
or, failing that, to Pathogens Notifications, 6th floor West
Wing, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AT, or
by fax to 020 7273 2773. Any enquiries may be addressed to the
officer on duty on 020 7273 2351. |
| 11. |
I would like to express, on behalf of the Government, our gratitude for the many very constructive comments which we have received on these proposals from members of the research community. As a result, I believe that we have been able to keep these obligations as light as possible while still meeting the requirement to protect the public against the possible terrorist misuse of the substances. I am very grateful for the co-operation which has been shown to us. |
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VIRUSES RICKETTSIAE Bartonella quintana (Rochalimea quintana, Rickettsia quintana) BACTERIA Bacillus anthracis |
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Aflatoxins Botulinum toxins Clostridium perfringens toxins Conotoxin Microcystin (Cyanginosin) Ricin Saxitoxin Shiga toxin Staphylococcus aureus toxins Tetrodotoxin Verotoxin |
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Notes
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Name and address of premises at which dangerous substances are held. Name and address (if different) of person making notification Date of notification Before 29 June 2002, please send to : After 29 June 2002, please send to : |
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