Section 16: Offences generallyAs Amended by Section 5 of the PRODUCE (ENFORCEMENT OF EXPORT STANDARDS) (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2016.

(1) Any person who in Lagos or at any port of shipment-
(a) hinders or molests any produce officer, assistant produce officer, chief produce inspector, senior produce inspector, inspector, or other person charged with any duties or powers under this Act or any regulations made hereunder in the exercise of any of his duties or powers;
(b) without lawful excuse, fails to comply with any order lawfully given under the provisions of this Act or of any regulations made hereunder;
(c) without lawful excuse, removes, cleans or in any way tampers with any produce or any receptacle, which has been seized or detained by a produce officer, assistant produce officer, chief produce inspector, senior produce inspector, or inspector in accordance with the provisions of this Act or of any regulations made hereunder;
(d) without lawful excuse, breaks or removes any seal placed upon a receptacle containing produce by a produce officer, assistant produce officer or inspector, whether after the grading of the produce contained therein or after the seizure and detention of such produce and receptacle in accordance with the provisions of sections 14 and 15 of this Act, or any twine, wire or other means of securing such receptacle or seal;
(e) without lawful excuse, substitutes for any produce which has been inspected and passed or graded any other produce, or adds extraneous matter or any uninspected produce to any produce which has been so inspected and passed or graded;
(f) without lawful excuse, fails to furnish any information lawfully demanded under the provisions of this Act, or furnishes information which he knows to be false in a material particular or does not believe to be true;
(g)
without lawful excuse possesses or has in his custody or under his control whether for sale or other purpose, and whether for the use or benefit of himself or any other person or whether as agent or servant of any other person-
(i) any produce which has been inspected or passed or graded, and of which the containers have been tampered with as described in this section; or
(ii) any produce which has been substituted for produce which has been passed or graded; or
(h) without lawful excuse, ships or exports or attempts to ship or export or delivers or causes to be delivered for shipment or export any produce which is not of exportable standard,
shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to a fine of N30,000 or to imprisonment for one year, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(2)
In any prosecution for an offence against this section, the onus of proving the existence of a lawful excuse shall lie on the persons charged.
(3)
No person shall be convicted of an offence under paragraph (g) of subsection (1) if he proves to the satisfaction of the court-
(a) that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have known that the produce or containers thereof had been tampered with or suffered substitution as aforesaid;
(b) that he had taken all reasonable precautions against the commission of the offence;
(c) that as soon as he discovered or became aware that an offence had been or was being committed he made immediate report in writing to a produce officer; and
(d)
that on demand made by a produce officer, assistant produce officer, chief produce inspector, senior produce inspector or inspector he gave all the information in his power with respect to the produce and containers thereof, the person from whom he obtained the produce and the person who conveyed or delivered it to him or to any other person on his behalf or into the possession custody, control of himself or any other such person.