21Q   Powers of inspectors

(1)  An inspector may exercise all or any of the following powers for the purposes of this Part:

(a)  the power at all reasonable times to enter and inspect all premises for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not a provision of this Part or a regulation made for the purposes of this Part is not being or has not been complied with or is being or has been contravened,

(b)  the power to inspect:

(i)  all blood, blood products or semen kept on those premises,

(ii)  all containers that the inspector reasonably believes to contain or to have contained blood, blood products or semen, and

(iii)  all equipment kept on the premises that the inspector reasonably believes to be or to have been used for processing, packing or storing blood, blood products or semen,

(c)  the power to take and remove for analysis or testing a sample of any blood, blood product or semen kept on the premises,

(d)  the power to inspect all records kept on those premises and the power to require any person whom the inspector reasonably believes to have custody or control of those records to produce them for inspection,

(e)  without limiting paragraph (d), the power to inspect, and the power to require a person to produce for inspection, any records in the custody or under the control of the person, being records which relate:

(i)  to the question of whether or not a provision of this Part or a regulation made for the purposes of this Part is not being or has not been complied with or is being or has been contravened, or

(ii)  to financial transactions relating to a business of supplying blood, blood products or semen,

(f)  if any records inspected, produced or required to be produced in accordance with paragraph (d) or (e):

(i)  are not in writing,

(ii)  are not written in the English language, or

(iii)  are not decipherable on sight,

      the power to require the person who has custody or control of those records to produce a statement in the English language and decipherable on sight setting out the contents of those records,

(g)  the power to make and take away copies of the whole or any part of a record inspected or produced in accordance with paragraph (d) or (e) or a statement produced in accordance with paragraph (f),

(h)  the power to seize and detain:

(i)  any blood, blood product or semen in relation to which the inspector reasonably believes an offence against this Part or against a regulation made for the purposes of this Part is being or has been committed,

(ii)  any container in which any such blood, blood product or semen is kept, and

(iii)  any equipment which the inspector reasonably believes is being or has been used in connection with any such offence,

(i)  the power:

(i)  to place any blood, blood product or semen, referred to in paragraph (h), in a container,

(ii)  where any blood, blood product, semen, container or equipment referred to in that paragraph has been seized on premises entered in accordance with paragraph (a), to place the blood, blood product, semen, container or equipment in a room, compartment or cabinet located on those premises, and

(iii)  to mark, fasten and seal that container or, as the case may be, the door or opening providing access to that room, compartment or cabinet,

(j)  in order to make copies of records or of parts of records which may be inspected in accordance with paragraph (d) or (e) or of statements produced in accordance with paragraph (f), the power to take away and retain, for such period as may be reasonably necessary, any such records or statements,

(k)  if the inspector concerned reasonably believes that any such records or statements are evidence of an offence against this Part or a regulation made for the purposes of this Part, the power to take away and retain those records or statements until proceedings for the offence have been disposed of.

(2)  Subsection (1) (a) does not authorise an inspector to effect an entry to premises by the use of force or to enter a part of premises that is used for residential purposes without the consent of the occupier of that part.

(3)  Before taking away a record or statement under subsection (1), an inspector must tender an appropriate receipt to the person from whom it is taken.

(4)  Any blood, blood product, semen, container or equipment seized under subsection (1) (h) may, at the option of the inspector who made the seizure or another inspector acting in place of that inspector, be detained on the premises where it was found or be removed to other premises and detained there.

(5)  If any information whatever is given to an inspector by an officer of a corporation which is carrying on or has carried on a business of supplying blood, blood products or semen, the information is, for the purposes of any proceedings against the corporation for an offence against this Part or a regulation made for the purposes of this Part, binding on and admissible in evidence against the corporation, unless it is proved that the information was given in relation to a matter in respect of which the officer had no authority to bind the corporation.

(6)  The provisions of subsection (5) are in addition to any enactment or rule of law relating to the binding effect and admissibility in evidence of statements made by an officer of a corporation.

(7)  In subsections (5) and (6), officer, in relation to a corporation, has the same meaning as that expression has in the Companies (New South Wales) Code.