17.— (1) The Council shall register a retail pharmacy business in the retail pharmacy businesses’ register if the applicant for registration—

(a) is the pharmacy owner,

(b) specifies in the application the address of the premises in which the business is being or is to be carried on and the name under which it is being or is to be carried on and otherwise meets the prescribed requirements for the application,

(c) specifies in the application the name of the registered pharmacist who is or is to be in whole-time charge of the carrying on of the business there,

(d) complies with any requirement of the Council to—

(i) verify anything contained in the application,

(ii) supply further information in relation to the application,

(iii) make a statutory declaration supplying that information,

(e) pays the prescribed fee to the Council,

(f) satisfies the Council that the retail pharmacy business will be conducted in accordance with regulations under section 18.

(2) Where a pharmacy owner carries on business as such in two or more premises, each of those premises shall, for the purposes of subsection (1), be regarded as separate premises in which a retail pharmacy business is being or is to be carried on.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply also in respect of the continued registration of a retail pharmacy business.

(4) A change in the ownership of a retail pharmacy business shall have the effect of cancelling its registration.

(5) The cancellation of the registration of a retail pharmacy business under subsection (4) shall take effect—

(a) in the case of a change in ownership brought about by the death of an owner or joint owner, at the end of the period of three months beginning with the date of the death, and

(b) in any other case, at the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of the change in ownership.

(6) In subsection (4), a “change in the ownership of a pharmacy”—

(a) in the case of a pharmacy which is owned by two or more persons, includes a change of one of the co-owners,

(b) in the case of a pharmacy which is not so owned, includes a change which results in its being so owned, and

(c) in the case of a pharmacy which is owned by a company, includes the acquisition or disposal in one transaction or in a series of transactions of shares amounting in value to more than half of those issued by the company.