65Notification of proposed destruction

65 Notification of proposed destruction

(1)  An authorised officer must not destroy any thing in the performance of a function under this Part unless, before taking that action –

(a) the authorised officer gives written notice of the proposed destruction to the owner or person in charge of the thing; or

(b) the authorised officer is satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that the owner or person in charge of the thing has already been given written notice of the proposed destruction.

(2)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , notice of the proposed destruction must be given at least 48 hours before the thing is destroyed.

(3)  A requirement to give notice of the proposed destruction of a thing under subsection (1) does not apply to the destruction of a thing if –

(a) the destruction of the thing is authorised, or required, to be performed immediately or without notice under –

(i) an emergency order; or

(ii) a control order; or

(iii) the regulations; or

(b) there appears to be no-one immediately in control of it, and the owner or person in charge cannot, after reasonable efforts, be determined or located; or

(c) the authorised officer reasonably believes that the function must be performed without delay in order to assess, prevent, eliminate, minimise, control or manage an immediate and significant biosecurity risk posed by the thing and it is not practicable to give notice before the thing is destroyed; or

(d) in the case of an animal, the authorised officer reasonably believes that delaying the destruction of the animal will cause unreasonable and unjustifiable pain or suffering to the animal.

(4)  This section does not apply to the destruction of a thing that has been forfeited to the Crown, regardless of the value of the thing.