Commentary on provisions of Act Section 16: Offence relating to disclosure under section 14(4)(b)
The section restricts how a person who receives EU information on non-food product safety can use that information.
	Subsection (1) provides that if a person discloses non-food product safety information without the consent of a Minister or the Health and Safety Executive, and a person’s identity is revealed by that disclosure, the person will have committed an offence. This includes the identity of a legal, as well as a natural, person. As is common with criminal offences, this will not apply to unintentional disclosure.
	Subsection (2) provides a defence for someone charged with an offence under this section, which is if the person reasonably believed that the disclosure was lawful or that the information had already been lawfully made public. For example, a defence would apply if the information had already been made publicly available on an EU database.
	Subsection (3) provides that for an offence under this section to be brought in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions and of the Director of Public Prosecutions Northern Ireland is required, respectively. In Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal handles all prosecutions in the public interest, so there is no need for an equivalent provision to be made for Scotland.
	Subsection (4) provides the penalties for a person guilty of improperly disclosing non-food product safety information.
	Subsection (5) reflects the fact that the provision increasing the statutory maximum term of imprisonment on summary conviction in England and Wales has not yet been commenced. This means that where a person is found guilty of committing an offence in England and Wales in relation to acts of disclosure that took place before this provision is commenced, the maximum term of imprisonment is 6 months.