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AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - LONG TITLE

An Act to consolidate the Agricultural Marketing Act (Northern
Ireland) 1933 to 1963.{1}
[5th May 1964]
Agricultural Marketing SchemesFraming of marketing schemes.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 1

1.(1) A scheme regulating the marketing of any agricultural product,
for application to Northern Ireland or some part thereof,

(a)may be framed by the Ministry of Agriculture (in this Act
referred to as "the Ministry") where the Ministry is satisfied that
such a scheme is necessary for the more efficient production and
marketing of that agricultural product;

(b)shall be framed by the Ministry where such a scheme appears to
the Ministry to be necessary for sub-serving any purposes of an
order regulating sales of that agricultural product and made under
Part III of the United Kingdom Act.

(2) The Ministry shall when framing a scheme take into consultation
representatives of the producers of the agricultural product proposed
to be regulated and representatives of any other interests appearing
to the Ministry to be directly affected by the scheme.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 2
Approval of schemes.

2.(1) The Ministry, after compliance with the provisions of Part I
of Schedule 1, may make an order approving the scheme as framed or
with such modifications, if any, as may be made under the said
provisions.

(2) Every scheme approved by an order made by the Ministry under
subsection (1)

(a)shall be subject to negative resolution;

(b)shall in any event cease to have effect upon the expiration of
a period of two years from the date upon which it came into
force, unless at some time before the expiration of that period it
has been approved by a resolution passed by each House of
Parliament.

(3) Subject to the foregoing provisions, a scheme shall come into
force upon the date specified in that behalf in the order approving
the scheme; and the making of the order shall be conclusive
evidence that the requirements of this Act have been complied with
and that the order and the scheme approved thereby have been duly
made and approved and are within the powers conferred by this Act.

(4) Without prejudice to section 17(2) of the Interpretation Act
(Northern Ireland) 1954, the Ministry may at any time, after the
like consultation as is required by section 1(2), by order, amend
or revoke a scheme approved under this section but shall not revoke
a scheme as respects any agricultural product to which section
1(1)(b) applies, in so far as the scheme sub-serves any purposes of
an order regulating sales of that agricultural product and made
under Part III of the United Kingdom Act, nor so amend the scheme
that it will cease to sub-serve any such purposes.

(5) The provisions contained in Part II of Schedule 1 shall apply
with respect to the revocation and cesser of schemes.

(6) As soon as possible after making an order approving, amending
or revoking a scheme, the Ministry shall cause the order or notice
of the making of the order to be published in the Belfast Gazette
and in such other manner as the Ministry thinks best for informing
persons affected.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 3
Constitution of boards to administer schemes.

3.(1) Every scheme shall constitute a board to administer the scheme
and during such period (not being longer than twelve months from
the day on which the scheme comes into force) as may be specified
in the scheme, the board shall, subject to the provisions of the
scheme as to the filling of casual vacancies, be composed of
persons to be named in the scheme.

(2) After the expiration of the said period, the board shall be
composed of such number of members as the scheme may fix, of whom
three shall be appointed by the Minister of Agriculture (in this
Act referred to as "the Minister") and the others shall, subject to
the provisions of the scheme as to the filling of casual vacancies,
be elected in accordance with the scheme, either by registered
producers or by a body or bodies elected by such producers in
accordance with the scheme.

(3) The board shall elect from among their members a chairman and
vice-chairman who shall hold office for such period as may be
specified in the scheme, but during a period of two years (or such
longer period as may be provided by the scheme) from the date of
the coming into force of the scheme the chairman of the board
shall be such member thereof as the Minister may designate.

(4) When the members of the board as fixed by a scheme exceed
eleven in number, the board shall appoint an executive committee
having the full powers of the board for the administration of the
said scheme.

(5) An executive committee appointed under subsection (4) shall
consist of not more than eleven members of the board and the
chairman and the vice-chairman of the board (whether being members
appointed by the Minister or not), and also any members of the
board appointed by the Minister and not being such chairman or
vice-chairman, shall be included in the committee as chairman,
vice-chairman and members.

(6) Every scheme shall provide for the conducting by the Ministry
of the election of the members of the board who are to be
elected, the term during which those members are to hold office,
the filling of casual vacancies arising during such term of office,
and the resignation of office by any such member.

(7) Except as may be otherwise stated in the instrument of
appointment, a member appointed by the Minister otherwise than to
fill a casual vacancy shall, unless he sooner ceases to be a
member during his term of office, hold office for three years from
the date of his appointment and shall be eligible for
re-appointment.

(8) If a casual vacancy occurs amongst the members appointed by the
Minister, the Minister shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy
and such person shall hold office for the remainder of the period
for which his predecessor, if he had continued to be a member,
would have held office, and shall be eligible for re-appointment.

(9) Notwithstanding anything in this section, provision may be made
by a scheme for the board acting notwithstanding any vacancy in the
membership thereof.

(10) The provisions contained in Schedule 2 shall apply with respect
to the incorporation, registration and winding up of any board
constituted by a scheme.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 4
Register of producers and lists.

4.(1) Every scheme shall provide for the registration of any
producer who makes application for that purpose, and for the removal
from the register of the names of persons who have ceased to be
producers.

(2) The Ministry, as soon as practicable after any scheme has been
framed, shall cause a list to be compiled containing

(a)the names of all such persons within the area to which the
scheme applies as the Ministry has reason to believe are producers,
not being persons to be exempted from registration under the scheme;
and

(b)the respective addresses of such persons so far as known to the
Ministry.

(3) The annual agricultural statistics collected by the Ministry may
be used for the purpose of compiling the list under subsection (2)
and when such list has been compiled, the Ministry shall send by
post to every person named in the list particulars of the scheme
framed by the Ministry, together with a form of application for
registration as a producer under the scheme.

(4) Registration under a scheme of the name or style under which
two or more persons carry on business in partnership as producers
shall operate as the registration of all the partners for the time
being, so, however, that, for the purposes of the provisions of
this Act or of the scheme which relate to elections and voting at
meetings, and to the assessment of contributions on registered
producers, all the partners shall be treated as constituting together
a single registered producer.

(5) The register of producers for the purposes of a scheme shall
be kept by the board constituted under the scheme and shall be
open for inspection, and the board shall furnish a copy of the
register, or of any part thereof, to any person demanding it, upon
payment of such fee as the Ministry may approve.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 5
Regulation of sales of regulated product.

5.(1) Every scheme shall require that no sale of the regulated
product [or any description thereof] shall be made by any producer
who is not either a registered producer or a person exempted from
registration by or under the provisions of the scheme.

(2) A scheme may provide for all or any of the matters set out
in the following paragraphs, that is to say:

(a)for requiring registered producers to sell the regulated product
or any description thereof, or such quantity thereof or of any
description thereof as may from time to time be determined by the
board, only to, or through the agency of, the board;

(b)for the determination from time to time of the quantity of the
regulated product or of any description thereof which may be sold
by any producer;

(c)for the determination from time to time

(i)of the descriptions of the regulated product which may be sold
by any producer;

(ii)of the price at, below or above which, the terms on which, and
the persons to ... whom, the regulated product or any description
or quantity thereof, may be sold as aforesaid;

(d)for empowering the board to receive the whole or any part of
any sums payable by purchasers of the regulated product in respect
of sales of that product by registered producers, and for securing
that any sums so received are distributed by the board to the
sellers in such manner as may be specified in the scheme or
prescribed by the board;

(e)for permitting the board, with the approval of the Ministry, to
pay or allow a discount or similar abatement in respect of the
fixed price of the regulated product or any description thereof
payable for some past period to persons who during the said period
have purchased the product or any description thereof.

In this paragraph the expression "fixed price" means the price at
which the regulated product may be sold by producers under the
scheme;

<[(f)for prohibiting producers from selling the regulated product or any description or quantity thereof through the agency of any persons except the persons, if any, who are authorised by the board in writing to act as agents for the sale of the product or the product of that description or quantity;

(g)for prohibiting

(i)any person other than the board, or

(ii)any such person who is not authorised by the board in writing,

(g)from acting as an agent for the sale of the regulated product
or any description or quantity thereof;

(h)for empowering any person authorised in writing by the board
(including, with the approval of the Ministry, an officer of the
Ministry)

(i)to enter and remain on, at all reasonable times, any land or
premises on which he has reason to believe there are regulated
products or any description thereof, taking with him such other
persons and such equipment as appear to him necessary, and

(ii)to inspect any such products which are found there and weigh or
otherwise measure or count them and for that purpose to use any
such equipment or any weighing or measuring equipment which is on
the land or premises, and

<(iii)to apply or cause to be applied to any such product a mark identifying it as such a product or such a product of any description;

(i)for requiring any person who proposes to act as an agent for
the sale of the regulated product or any description thereof, on
premises used or occupied by whom any such product is found, or
any person who is acting or has acted as an agent for the sale
of any such product

(i)to state to a person authorised as mentioned in paragraph (h),
when requested by him, the name and address of the person on whose
behalf the product is proposed to be sold or, where the product
has been sold, the names and addresses of the seller and the
buyer;

(ii)to make and keep any specified record of any sales of the
product conducted by him or on his behalf;

<(iii)to produce to a person so authorised, when requested by him, and permit him to inspect and to copy the whole or part of any record made and kept under sub-paragraph (ii) in relation to the product or any other books or documents relating to dealings with the product.]

(3) A scheme which provides for the matter set out in subsection
(2)(b) shall either specify the method of determination or require
the board to prescribe it and, without prejudice to the generality
of the foregoing provision, the method of determination may be such
as to secure that the quantity, if any, which any particular
producer may sell is determined wholly or partly by reference to
the quantity of that product or description, as the case may be,
which was, in some past period, produced, sold or otherwise dealt
with on particular land or premises or by particular persons.

(4) A scheme may provide for securing, for all or any of the
purposes of the scheme or of this Act,

(a)that the sale of any product wholly or partly manufactured or
derived from the regulated product shall be deemed to be a sale of
the regulated product if the substance of the transaction between
the seller and the buyer is that the seller, being in possession
of the regulated product, agrees to subject it, or cause it to be
subjected, to some process and to sell the resulting product to the
buyer; and

(b)that, without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this
subsection, where the regulated product is livestock of any kind, a
person shall be deemed to sell the regulated product if he sells
the carcases of any livestock of that kind, being livestock produced
by him in the area to which the scheme is applicable.

(5) Any producer who sells the regulated product [or any description
or quantity thereof] in contravention of any provisions of a scheme
made in pursuance of subsection (1) or [paragraph (a)], paragraph
(b) or paragraph (c) [or paragraph (d) or paragraph (f)] of
subsection (2), shall for each offence be liable on summary
conviction [to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months
or] to a fine not exceeding [#20], [or to both such imprisonment
and such fine] or on conviction on indictment [to imprisonment for
a term not exceeding three months or] to a fine not exceeding two
hundred pounds, [or to both such imprisonment and such fine] and in
either case to an additional fine not exceeding one half of the
price at which the product was sold but the fines imposed on
summary conviction for any offence under this subsection shall not
exceed in the aggregate [#200].

[(6) Any person who acts in contravention of any provision of a
scheme made in pursuance of paragraph (g) of subsection (2) shall
be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
three months or to a fine not exceeding #200 or to both such
imprisonment and such fine.

(7) Any person who

(a)acts in contravention of any provision of a scheme made in
pursuance of paragraph (i) of subsection (2), or

(b)does not comply with any request duly made of him as mentioned
in the said paragraph (i), or

(c)in any statement or record made as so mentioned knowingly or
recklessly makes a statement or entry which is false, or

(d)without lawful authority obliterates or defaces a mark applied to
a regulated product under paragraph (h)(iii) of subsection (2), or

(e)wilfully obstructs or impedes a person exercising functions under
any provision of a scheme made in pursuance of paragraph (h) of
subsection (2),

Further provisions as to marketing of regulated product and
provisions for encouragement of co-operation, education and research.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 6

6.(1) A scheme may provide for all or any of the matters set out
in the following paragraphs, that is to say:

(a)for empowering the board to buy the regulated product, to produce
such commodities, the whole or a main ingredient of which is
derived from that product, as may be specified in the scheme and
to sell and (subject to regulations made under subsection (2)) to
grade, pack, store, adapt for sale, insure, advertise, promote the
sale of, and transport the regulated product and any such
commodities;

(b)for empowering the board to buy such ingredients other than the
regulated product as may be necessary for the production of the
commodities specified in the scheme;

(c)for empowering the board to enter into agreements with buyers of
the regulated product or their representatives concerning the prices
at which and the terms on which the regulated product shall be
sold by the board;

(d)for empowering the board to buy or rent or take on hire, and
to sell or let for hire to registered producers, anything required
for the production, adaptation for sale, or sale of the regulated
product;

(e)for empowering the board to buy or rent or take on hire, and
to sell or let for hire to persons other than registered producers
anything designed to promote the sale of the regulated product;

(f)for empowering the board to act jointly with the board
administering any other scheme under this Act, or with a committee
of dealers, in determining any matter mentioned in section 5(2)(c)
and to agree to refer any question which may arise in the course
of such joint action to the decision of a joint body consisting of
such members of the boards, or of the board and the committee of
dealers, as the scheme or schemes may provide.

In this paragraph the expression "committee of dealers" means a
committee constituted under regulations made by the Ministry and
composed of representatives of persons carrying on business as
dealers in a regulated product;

(g)for empowering the board to co-operate with any other person in
doing anything which the board are or might be empowered to do by
virtue of paragraph (a), paragraph (b), paragraph (d) or paragraph
(e);

(h)without prejudice to any functions of the Ministry under section
5 of the Agriculture Act (Northern Ireland) 1949, for enabling the
board to encourage, promote or conduct agricultural co-operation,
research and education;

<[(i)for empowering the board to do anything calculated to procure, promote or facilitate the doing by any other person of anything in the doing of which the board are or might be empowered to co-operate by virtue of paragraph (g).]

(2) For the purposes of any scheme, the Ministry may by regulations
prescribe the persons by whom and the manner in which the regulated
product or any description or quantity thereof is to be graded, and
the manner in which the regulated product or any description or
quantity thereof is to be marked, packed, stored, adapted for sale,
insured, advertised or transported or its sale promoted.

(3) All regulations made under subsection (2) shall cease to have
effect if and when the scheme for the purposes of which the
regulations have been made ceases to have effect.

[(4) Regulations made under subsection (2) may provide that a person
who contravenes the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and
liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding #200.]

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 7
Miscellaneous provisions of schemes.

7.(1) Every scheme shall provide for the following matters, that is
to say:

(a)for exempting from registration under the scheme any producer or
groups, classes or descriptions of producers as may be specified in
the scheme;

(b)for exempting from all or any of the provisions of the scheme
sales of such classes or descriptions, and to such classes of
persons, as may be specified in the scheme or in regulations to be
made by the Ministry under this Act with respect to the removal of
any agricultural product from Northern Ireland into Great Britain;

(c)for securing that any producer aggrieved by any act or omission
of the board may refer the matter to one or more than one
arbitrator appointed in such manner as may be provided by the
scheme, and for the manner in which any such reference is to be
heard and determined.

(2) A scheme may provide for both or either of the following
matters:

(a)for empowering any person authorised in writing by the board
(including, with the approval of the Ministry, any officer of the
Ministry) for the purpose of securing compliance with the scheme to
enter [and remain on] and inspect at any reasonable time, and on
production of his authority, any part of the land or premises
occupied by any registered producer (being a producer specified in
the authority) which the person so authorised has reason to believe
is used for producing the regulated product, or for doing any of
the following things which is regulated by the scheme, that is to
say, grading, marking, packing or storing the regulated product, or
adapting it for sale [and to take with him such other persons and
such equipment as appear to him necessary], and for requiring
registered producers to permit such entry, [remaining], and
inspection;

(b)for requiring any producer of the regulated product to furnish to
the board his name and address and such information relating to the
regulated product as the board, with the approval of the Ministry,
may determine.

(3) A scheme may provide for securing that where, by reason of a
registered producer dying, or becoming subject to some legal
disability, or entering into a composition or scheme of arrangement
with his creditors, any property in, or control of, the regulated
product is transferred from the registered producer to a personal
representative, trustee, committee, or other person, the personal
representative, trustee, committee, or other person, as the case may
be, shall, in such circumstances and in respect of such matters as
may be specified in the scheme, be deemed to be a producer.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 8
Penalties for contravention of schemes.

8.[(1) Any person who wilfully obstructs or impedes a person
authorised as mentioned in paragraph (a) of section 7(2) in the
exercise of his powers under a provision of a scheme made in
pursuance of that paragraph shall be liable on conviction to a fine
not exceeding #200.]

(2) Any producer from whom any information is required by a board
in the exercise of their powers under a provision of a scheme made
in pursuance of section 7(2)(b) and who fails to comply with the
requirement or knowingly makes any false statement in reply thereto,
[shall be guilty of an offence and] shall for each offence be
liable on conviction to [a fine not exceeding #200].

Schemes to provide for establishment of a fund, payment of
contributions, etc.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 9

9.(1) Every scheme shall provide for the following matters, that is
to say:

(a)for the establishment of a fund (in this section referred to as
the "the fund") to be administered and controlled by the board, for
the payment into the fund of all moneys received by the board, and
for the payment out of the fund of any moneys required by the
board for the operation of the scheme or otherwise for the purposes
of this Act;

(b)for the payment by producers of contributions to the fund of
such amounts as the board, with the approval of the Ministry, may
determine to be necessary for the operation of the scheme or
otherwise for the purposes of this Act, and for the manner in
which the contributions of producers will be assessed;

(c)for exempting from the payment of contributions under the scheme
such classes of producers being producers exempted from registration
under the scheme, as the Ministry may determine;

(d)for the distribution among producers, in such manner as may be
provided by the scheme, of all moneys standing to the credit of
the fund and not required for the operation of the scheme or
otherwise for the purposes of this Act;

(e)for the manner in which the moneys of the board may be
invested;

(f)for the accounts to be kept by the board and for the audit of
those accounts;

(g)for the furnishing by a board to the Ministry of Finance, so
long as the board is under any financial liability to that
Ministry, of the audited accounts of the board together with such
relevant information as that Ministry may require;

(h)for the furnishing by the board to the Ministry and to
registered producers of accounts, returns and other information;

(i)for the furnishing by the board of a copy of the accounts of
the board to any person requiring it, upon payment of such fee as
the scheme may specify.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) a scheme may provide that
contributions to defray the cost of any capital expenditure shall be
assessed separately from contributions to defray the cost of any
other expenditure or expenses of the board.

(3) The Ministry may by order require the board administering a
scheme to impose a special levy or levies

(a)for the purpose of securing that the provisions of the scheme
operate equitably as between all classes of producers; or

(b)for the purpose of covering any loss which the board have
sustained in trading under the scheme;

(4) The amount of any contribution payable under a scheme by a
producer to the fund, and the amount of any levy imposed upon a
producer under subsection (3), shall be a debt due to the board
from such producer.

(5) A scheme may provide for empowering the board, in such class
of cases as may be specified in the scheme, to pay compensation to
registered producers in respect of any loss which, in the opinion
of the board, has been occasioned to such producers by the
operation of any scheme, whether administered by that board or not.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 10
Power of marketing boards to make loans and grants and to enter
into guarantees.

10.(1) A scheme may provide for empowering the board, subject to
such limitations as may be specified in the scheme

(a)to lend or grant money to any other board;

(b)to guarantee payment by any other board of any sums which that
board may be liable to pay on account of principal or interest in
respect of any loan raised by them.

(2) A scheme which contains such a provision as is authorised by
subsection (1) may further provide for securing that any loan, grant
or guarantee not specifically authorised by the scheme shall not be
made or given by the board except in pursuance of a resolution of
the board specifying all material particulars relating to the
proposed transaction being a resolution which has been previously
notified to, and approved by, the Ministry.

(3) Any scheme may empower the board to pay on account or lend to
any registered producer a portion of the amount which the board
estimate that he will receive from the sale of any quantity of the
regulated product produced or in course of production or held in
store by him.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 11
Borrowing power of boards and application of loans and grants made
to boards.

11.(1) Every scheme shall provide for empowering the board to borrow
money for the purpose of exercising their functions under the
scheme.

(2) A board shall have power to accept from any other person any
grant to be applied for any of the purposes for which the board
are empowered to expend money.

(3) A scheme may provide for empowering the board, where a loan or
grant is proposed to be made to them, to agree with the person
proposing to make the loan or grant, as the case may be, and, in
the case of a loan, with any person proposing to guarantee the
repayment thereof, that if the loan or grant is duly made or the
guarantee duly given, the board will apply the money obtained by
them by means of the loan or grant subject to such conditions
(including conditions as to the persons on whose advice the board
are to act in applying the said money) as may be specified in the
agreement.

(4) Where a scheme provides for empowering the board to make any
such agreement as aforesaid, the scheme

(a)shall impose upon the board the duty of carrying into effect any
such agreement entered into by them; and

(b)may provide that where such an agreement contains conditions
requiring the board to act on the advice of any specified persons,
the provisions of the scheme entitling a registered producer
aggrieved by any act or omission of the board to refer the matter
to arbitration shall not apply in relation to anything done, or
omitted to be done, by the board in pursuance of the agreement.

(5) The Ministry of Finance may, on the recommendation of the
Ministry, guarantee, in such manner as the Ministry of Finance
thinks fit, the payment of the interest and principal, or of either
interest or principal, of loans proposed to be borrowed by a board
for the purpose of meeting the expenses incurred in connection with
the initiation and operation of a scheme. Any such loan shall be
repaid by the board within two years but may, with the guarantee
of the Ministry of Finance, from time to time be renewed for a
further period of two years, if the Ministry so recommends.

Effect of schemes on contracts.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 12

12.(1) Subject to subsection (2), a contract of which neither the
making nor the performance was, at the time when the contract was
made, prohibited by or under any scheme in force shall not, unless
the terms of the contract otherwise provide, be void or
unenforceable by reason that, at the time for the performance of
any provision of the contract, the performance thereof is so
prohibited.

(2) Where the performance of any such contract as is referred to
in subsection (1) is prohibited by or under any scheme in force,
subsection (1) shall cease to apply to that contract upon the
expiration of three months after the prohibition first takes effect,
unless that contract is registered under section 13.

(3) Where, in conformity with a scheme in force, any contract for
the sale of the regulated product by a registered producer otherwise
than to, or through the agency of, the board purports to confer on
the board any right to receive from the purchaser the whole or any
part of the purchase price payable under the contract or of any
damages for which the purchaser may be liable in respect of a
wrongful rejection of articles tendered in accordance with the
contract, the board may enforce that right against the purchaser,
notwithstanding that the board are not a party to the contract and
notwithstanding that, as between the board and the purchaser, there
is no consideration.

(4) A person shall not be liable to any penalty in respect of a
contravention of any scheme, if he proves that the contravention was
necessary for the performance of a contract which, by reason of
subsections (1) and (2), was not, at the time of the contravention
void or unenforceable.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 13
Registration of certain contracts.

13.(1) It shall be the duty of the board, on the application of
any party to such a contract as is referred to in section 12(1),
to register the contract within the period of fourteen days after
the application is made, unless

(a)the application is made after the said section 12(1) has, by
virtue of section 12(2), ceased to apply to the contract; or

(b)as respects a contract made during the relevant period, the board
are of opinion that the contract was made with a view to evading
the operation of the scheme by or under which the performance of
the contract is prohibited.

(2) Any party to a contract who is aggrieved by the omission of a
board to register the contract within the period referred to in
subsection (1), may, within twenty-one days after the expiration of
that period, appeal to the court, and, pending the determination of
any such appeal, section 12(1) shall, notwithstanding anything in
section 12(2), continue to apply to the contract.

(3) On any appeal under this section, the board concerned and any
party to the contract may appear and be heard, and if, on the
hearing of any such appeal, the court finds

(a)that the application for registration of the contract was made
before the expiration of the period on the expiration of which
section 12(1) ceased, by virtue of section 12(2), to apply to the
contract; and

(b)as respects a contract made during the relevant period, that the
contract was not made with a view to evading the operation of the
scheme;

(4) Where the court does not by order direct the registration of a
contract made during the relevant period, any party to that contract
who is certified by the court to have entered into the contract in
good faith without a view to evading the operation of the scheme
may recover the amount of any damage suffered by him by reason of
the avoidance of the contract from any party thereto who is
certified by the court to have entered into the contract with a
view to evading the operation of the scheme.

(5) For the purposes of an appeal under this section with respect
to any contract, the court shall, subject to subsection (6), be the
county court for any division within which any party to the
contract has dwelt or carried on business at any time during the
period within which the appeal may be brought.

(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (5)

(a)if, before proceedings in respect of any appeal under this
section are commenced in the county court, the board and all
parties to the contract agree that the appeal should be heard by
the High Court, the High Court shall be the court for the purposes
of the appeal; and

Para.(b) rep. by 1978 c.23 s.122(2) sch.7 Pt.II

(7) For the purposes of this section, the expression "the relevant
period", in relation to a scheme, means a period beginning twelve
months before the date when notice of the framing of the scheme
was published by the Ministry and ending six months after the date
when the scheme comes into force.

Directions by Minister to boards as respects certain matters.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 14

14.(1) This section shall have effect with respect to any powers
exercisable by a board by virtue of any provision of a scheme
providing for any of the following matters, that is to say

(a)for empowering the board to buy the regulated product, to produce
such commodities the whole or a main ingredient of which is derived
from that product as may be specified in the scheme and to sell
the regulated product and any such commodities;

(b)for the determination from time to time

(i)of the quantity of the regulated product or of any description
thereof which may be sold by any producer;

(ii)of the descriptions of the regulated product which may be sold
by any producer;

<(iii)of the price at, below or above which, the terms on which, and the persons to whom, or through the agency of whom, the regulated product, or any description or quantity thereof, may be sold by any producer;

(c)for empowering the board to enter into agreements with buyers of
the regulated product or their representatives concerning the prices
at which and the terms on which the regulated product shall be
sold by the board;

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, if it appears to
the Minister that the result, or one of the results, of any act
or omission of the board or intended act or omission of the board
is or will be ...

(a)to restrict the purposes for which the regulated product or any
description thereof is used, or to limit the quantity of the
regulated product, which is used for any particular purpose; or

(b)to limit the quantity of the regulated product or of any
description thereof, or of any commodity produced therefrom, which is
produced or sold, whether by producers or by other persons; or

(c)to regulate the price at which the regulated product, or any
description or quantity thereof, or any commodity produced therefrom,
is sold, whether by producers or by other persons; or

(d)to limit the classes of persons to whom or through the agency
of whom the regulated product, or any description or quantity
thereof, or any commodity produced therefrom, is sold, whether by
producers or by other persons;

(3) Before making an order under subsection (2) the Minister shall
give to the board notice in writing stating the general nature of
the action which he proposes to take and of his reasons for taking
it, and shall not make any order under that subsection for at
least twenty-eight days after the date of the notice.

(4) If within the said period of twenty-eight days or such longer
period as the Minister may allow the board make representations to
the Minister regarding the action which he proposes to take, the
Minister shall not make an order under subsection (2) until he has
considered such representations.

(5) The Minister may at any time, after consultation with the
board, by order revoke or vary any order in force under subsection
(2) so as either

(a)to withdraw the whole or any part of the directions in force
thereunder; or

(b)to vary or add to those directions in any manner which he
thinks necessary or expedient in order better to attain the purposes
for which those directions were given;

Temporary directions by Minister.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 15

15.(1) Where the Minister gives any such notice as is provided for
by section 14(3), the Minister, if he considers it necessary to
take immediate action for the purpose of preventing injury to the
public interest from any change made or intended to be made by the
board in their course of action in any matter relevant to the
subject of the notice, may, at or after the time of the giving of
the notice, make a temporary order giving to the board such
directions as to their course of action in that matter as he may
think necessary for that purpose, and it shall be the duty of the
board to comply with the order.

(2) A temporary order under this section made by the Minister in
connection with the giving of such a notice as is provided for by
section 14(3) shall be limited so as to expire on such date as
may be specified in the order, not being later than four months
from the date of the making thereof.

(3) An order amending or altering a temporary order under this
section shall not extend the duration thereof beyond the period
prescribed by subsection (2).

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 16
Savings for effect of sections 14 and 15 and provisions as to
orders thereunder.

16.(1) Nothing in section 14 or section 15 shall be construed as
authorising or requiring a board to do anything that they are not
lawfully empowered to do.

(2) An order made under any of the provisions of section 14 or
section 15 shall state the general nature of the reasons for the
making thereof.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 17
Power of the Ministry to make regulations and orders.

17.(1) The Ministry may by regulations make such provision as
appears to the Ministry to be necessary for all or any of the
following purposes:

(a)for giving full effect to this Act;

(b)for regulating the removal from Northern Ireland into Great
Britain of any agricultural product the marketing of which is
regulated by a scheme for the time being in force under this Act
or under the United Kingdom Act, the quantity of the product or
any description thereof which may be so removed, and the
descriptions of the product which may be so removed, and in
particular (without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing
provision of this paragraph) for the following matters:

(i)the registration of persons carrying on business in Northern
Ireland as dealers in the regulated product;

(ii)the exemption from registration of such classes of persons
carrying on business as aforesaid as the regulations may specify;

(i)requiring the person who is in charge of a vehicle in which the
product is being carried to have in his possession a document which
complies with the requirements of the regulations;

(ii)empowering persons authorised in writing to exercise functions
under the regulations to halt any vehicle suspected to contain the
product, inspect the vehicle and any agricultural product which is
being carried in it, inspect and detain any document such as is
mentioned in sub-paragraph (i), require the vehicle to be taken to
the nearest suitable and available weighing or measuring equipment,
require the product to be unloaded from the vehicle and to be
weighed or require the person in charge of the vehicle to have it
check-weighed, and require that person to state the name and address
of the owner of the product, the address from which it has been
moved, the address to which it is being moved and, where the
product has been the subject of a sale, the name and address of
the seller;

<(iii)designating the person by whom any expenses incurred in complying with any requirement made under sub-paragraph (ii) are to be defrayed;

<(iv)providing for the seizure and detention and the disposal or destruction of the product where it is suspected of being or having been moved in contravention of the regulations and of any vehicle, container or thing in or with which it is being or is suspected of having been carried or handled, and for the forfeiture of, or of the proceeds of sale of, any such product, vehicle, container or thing;]

(c)for constituting, for the purposes of this Act committees composed
of representatives of persons carrying on business as dealers in a
regulated product;

(d)for sub-serving the purposes of any order under Part III of the
United Kingdom Act regulating sales of an agricultural product;

(e)for sub-serving the purposes of an agricultural marketing scheme
under the United Kingdom Act.

(2) Where the Ministry by regulations under subsection (1)(b) makes
provision for the registration of persons carrying on business in
Northern Ireland as dealers in the regulated product, then, if the
regulations so provide, there shall be payable to the Ministry by
each such dealer a licence fee consisting of

(a)such annual sum not exceeding ten pounds as the regulations may
fix; or

(b)a sum payable at such times and calculated at such rate as the
regulations may prescribe, but not being in any case a rate higher
than three per cent. of the value of the regulated product removed
into Great Britain by such dealer; or

(c)the said annual sum together with a sum payable at such times
and calculated at such rate as aforesaid.

(3) Subject to any directions which may be contained in regulations
made under this section, it shall be the duty of boards to
exercise their powers in such manner as appears to them to be
necessary for securing that the regulations are not contravened.

(4) Any person who removes or attempts to remove any agricultural
product from Northern Ireland into Great Britain in contravention of
the provisions of any regulation made under subsection (1)(b) shall
be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
three months, or to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to
both such imprisonment and such fine.

[(4A) Any person who acts in contravention of any regulations made
under subsection (1)(ba) or does not comply with any requirement
duly made of him under such regulations or when required to produce
any document or to make any statement under such regulations
produces any document which he knows to be false or knowingly or
recklessly makes any statement which is false shall be liable on
conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or
to a fine not exceeding #200 or to both such imprisonment and such
fine; and any agricultural product which has been moved in
contravention of the regulations and any vehicle, container or thing
which has been used for the carriage, handling or concealment of
the product, if not already forfeited by virtue of subsection
(1)(ba)(iv), shall be liable to be forfeited.

(4B) Any person who wilfully obstructs or impedes a person
exercising functions under regulations made in pursuance of subsection
(1)(ba) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding
#200.]

(5) The Ministry may by order do any matter or thing which is
necessary for removing any difficulty arising in the bringing into
operation of any provision of a scheme under this Act or any order
under Part III of the United Kingdom Act regulating sales of an
agricultural product.

(6) Every order made under subsection (5) shall come into force
upon the date specified therein in that behalf and shall be laid
before Parliament as soon as may be after it is made, and shall
cease to have effect upon the expiration of a period of six months
from the date upon which it came into force, unless before the
expiration of that period it is approved by a resolution passed by
each House of Parliament.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 18
Employment of officers and payment of members.

18.(1) The number, grading, remuneration and terms and conditions of
service of officers and servants employed by a board for the
performance of their functions under this Act or under a scheme
shall be determined by the board subject, except in such cases and
to such extent as may be specified in the scheme, to the approval
of the Ministry.

(2) The appointment and terms of employment of every such officer
and servant as aforesaid shall, except in such cases as may be
specified in the scheme, be subject to the approval of the
Ministry.

(3) A board shall furnish to the Ministry such information regarding
persons employed or being considered for employment by the board as
the Ministry may require for the purposes of its functions under
subsection (1) or subsection (2).

(4) No salary or remuneration shall be paid to any member of a
board except with the approval of the Ministry.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 19
Inspection of premises and furnishing of returns.

19.(1) Any [person authorised in writing] by the Ministry shall have
power to enter [and remain on at all reasonable times, taking with
him such other persons and such equipment as appear to him
necessary] and to inspect

(a)any land or premises occupied or used by any person registered
under regulations as a dealer, for the purposes of his business as
such dealer; and

(b)any land or premises which the Ministry [or the person so
authorised] has reason to believe to be occupied or used by any
person for the purpose of producing, selling, grading, marking,
packing or storing any regulated product;

[(1A) The power under subsection (1) to inspect land and premises
shall include power to do anything that is reasonably necessary to
ensure that the provisions of a scheme are being complied with.]

(2) The Ministry may for the purposes of this Act by order require
any producer of, or person carrying on business as a dealer in, a
regulated product to make to the Ministry, at such time or times
and in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the order,
returns as to the production, sales and stocks of the regulated
product, and also, in the case of a dealer, returns as to
purchases of the regulated product.

(3) Any person who fails to comply with any requirements of an
order under subsection (2) within the time prescribed by the order,
or knowingly makes any false statement in reply to such requirement,
shall for each offence be liable on conviction to [a fine not
exceeding #200].

Provisions as to expenses of the Ministry, licence fees and
guarantees.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 20

20.(1) Any expenses incurred by the Ministry in respect of

(a)the conduct of any elections of members of a board; or

(b)the compilation of lists of the names and addresses of producers
of a regulated product; or

(c)the employment of any officer of the Ministry by a board on
inspections for securing compliance with a scheme or otherwise for
the purposes of this Act; or

(d)the execution of an order under this Act for removing any
difficulty arising in the bringing into operation of any provision
of a scheme;

(2) All sums received by the Ministry in respect of licence fees
payable under regulations made under section 17 shall be paid to
the Exchequer.

(3) Such sums as may from time to time be required by the
Ministry of Finance for fulfilling any guarantees given under section
11(5) shall be a charge on and payable out of the Consolidated
Fund and for that purpose the Ministry of Finance may borrow money.
All sums received by the Ministry of Finance from time to time in
or towards repayment of any sum paid by the said Ministry under a
guarantee shall be paid to the Exchequer.

(4) The Ministry of Finance shall include with the Finance Accounts
presented to Parliament under section 10(2) of the Exchequer and
Financial Provisions Act (Northern Ireland), 1950

(a)a statement of the guarantees, if any, given or renewed under
section 11(5) of this Act during the then last preceding financial
year;

(b)an account up to the end of that financial year of the total
sums, if any, which under subsection (3) of this section have been

(i)issued out of the Consolidated Fund;

(ii)paid to the Exchequer in or towards repayment of any sums so
issued.

Power of marketing boards to negotiate with other persons.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 21

21.(1) A board shall have power to negotiate with any other person
in respect of any matter concerning the marketing of the regulated
product, or of any agricultural product from which the regulated
product is wholly or partly manufactured or derived, or of any
commodity wholly or partly manufactured or derived from the regulated
product, and to agree with any other party to the negotiations to
bring into consultation in connection therewith such person as may
be agreed upon between the parties or, in default of agreement,
nominated by the Minister or, in a case to which subsection (2)
applies, nominated by the appropriate authority specified in that
subsection.

(2) Where a question arising between a board administering a scheme
under this Act and a board in Great Britain administering a scheme
under the United Kingdom Act is to be decided under this section,
and the parties do not agree upon the person to whose decision the
question is to be referred, that person shall be nominated by the
Secretary of State concerned with agriculture in Northern Ireland,
acting in conjunction with the Minister as defined by section 52(1)
of the United Kingdom Act in relation to the scheme under the
United Kingdom Act administered in Great Britain by the board
concerned.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 22
Power of marketing boards to co-operate with boards in Great Britain
for purposes of s.7 of the United Kingdom Act.

22.(1) Where, in pursuance of section 7 of the United Kingdom Act,
a board administering a scheme in Great Britain are authorised to
exercise any powers in relation to an agricultural product of
Northern Ireland which as respects Northern Ireland is regulated by
a corresponding scheme, then the board administering that
corresponding scheme shall have power to do all such matters or
things as are necessary for the purpose of enabling the
first-mentioned board to exercise their powers in pursuance of the
said section 7.

(2) In this section the expression "corresponding scheme" means a
scheme under this Act for regulating the marketing of the same
agricultural product as the product the marketing of which is
regulated, as respects Great Britain, by the scheme administered by
the board having powers in pursuance of the said section 7.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 23
Restrictions on disclosing information or returns.

23.(1) Subject to subsection (2), any person who discloses any
information obtained by him in the exercise of any power conferred
on him or on the Ministry or on any board by or under this Act
shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall apply to the disclosure of any
information:

(a)made by a board in compliance with a requisition under section
40(1) of the Diseases of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 1958;

(b)made for the purposes of a prosecution or other legal proceedings
(including arbitrations) under this Act or under a scheme or
regulation made under this Act or for the purpose of any report of
such proceedings;

(c)if, and in so far as, the disclosure is required or authorised
by this Act or any scheme or regulation made thereunder.

(3) No individual return or part of a return made to the Ministry
in accordance with an order of the Ministry under this Act shall
be disclosed without the authority of the person by whom the return
was made, except in so far as the disclosure is authorised by
subsection (2).

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 24
Prosecutions and fines.

24.(1) Except where this Act otherwise expressly provides, all
offences under this Act shall be prosecuted, and all fines
thereunder shall be recovered [and, subject to the provisions of any
regulations made under section 17(1)(ba), all forfeitures thereunder
disposed of], in manner provided by the Summary Jurisdiction Acts.

(2) A prosecution for an offence (other than an offence committed
by an officer of the Ministry or of any board established under
this Act) which under this Act may be prosecuted before a court of
summary jurisdiction shall not be instituted except by, or with the
consent of, the Ministry.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 25
Parliamentary control of regulations and orders.

25. All regulations made under this Act and all orders made under
section 2(4), section 14, section 15 or section 19(2) shall be
subject to negative resolution and all orders made under section
9(3) shall be subject to affirmative resolution.

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 26
Interpretation.

26.(1) In this Act, the following expressions have the meanings
hereby assigned to them, that is to say:

"agricultural product" includes any product of agriculture or
horticulture and any article of food or drink wholly or partly
manufactured or derived from any such product, and fleeces (including
all kinds of wool, whether from a living animal or from a dead
animal or from the skin of a dead animal) and the skins of
animals;

"board" means a board administering a scheme and, in relation to
any scheme, means the board administering that scheme;

"Minister and "Ministry" respectively mean the Minister and Ministry
of Agriculture;

"producer" means, in relation to any scheme, any person who produces
the regulated product;

"regulated product" means, in relation to any scheme, any product
the marketing of which is regulated by the scheme, but does not
include any product in so far as it is produced outside the area
to which the scheme is applicable;

"registered", in relation to any scheme, means registered under that
scheme;

"regulations" means regulations made by the Ministry under this Act;

"scheme" means a scheme under this Act;

"United Kingdom Act" means the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958.

(2) For the purposes of a scheme regulating the marketing of
livestock of any kind, every person whose business it is to keep
livestock of that kind for the purpose of breeding from it or
selling it in an improved condition shall (except in so far as the
scheme otherwise provides be deemed to produce it.

S.27 rep. by SLR 1973

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACTS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1964 - SECT 28
Short title.

28. This Act may be cited as the Agricultural Marketing Act
(Northern Ireland) 1964.1. Before approving a scheme, the Ministry
shall cause to be published, in the Belfast Gazette and in such
other manner as the Ministry thinks best for informing persons
affected, notice of the framing of the scheme, of the place where
copies thereof may be obtained (on payment of such fee as may be
specified in the notice) and inspected, and of the time (which
shall not be less than six weeks after such publication in the
Belfast Gazette) within which objections and representations with
respect to the scheme may be made.

2. Every objection must be sent to the Ministry in writing and
must state the grounds of objection and the specific modifications
required.

3. Where an objection has been duly made to a scheme by a person
affected thereby and has not been withdrawn, the Ministry, unless it
considers the objection to be frivolous or unless it has modified
the scheme as required by the objection, shall, before taking any
further action under this Act in relation to the scheme, direct a
public inquiry to be held and shall consider the report of the
person who held the inquiry.

4. The Ministry may by regulations provide for such matters as it
thinks necessary regarding an inquiry held under paragrapy 3 and
section 65 of and Schedule 7 to the Health Services Act (Northern
Ireland) 1948 shall, in their application to any such inquiry by
virtue of section 23 of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland)
1954, be subject to the provisions of any regulations made under
this paragraph.

5. After considering any objections and representations duly made
with respect to the scheme as framed and after holding such
inquiries, if any, as it thinks fit or is required to hold under
paragraph 3, the Ministry may make such modifications in the scheme
as it thinks proper.

6. Where a scheme is revoked by a subsequent scheme approved by an
order of the Ministry, the subsequent scheme may provide for the
transfer to the new board of the whole or any part of the
property, rights and liabilities of the existing board, for the
continuation by or against the new board of any legal proceedings
pending by or against the existing board, and for the dissolution,
without winding up, of the existing board.

In this paragraph the expression "new board" means the board
administering the subsequent scheme, and the expression "existing
board" means the board administering the scheme revoked.

7. The Ministry shall revoke a scheme

(a)if an order is made for the winding up of the board
administering the scheme; or

(b)if either House of Parliament passes a resolution under this Act
for the revocation of the scheme.

8. The board administering a scheme shall not be deemed to be
dissolved by reason only that the scheme has been revoked, or has
ceased to have effect by virtue of this Act, and (except where the
board is dissolved under paragraph 6) so much of the scheme as
relates to the winding up of the board shall continue in force
notwithstanding such revocation or cesser.

1. The board shall be constituted by the scheme as a body
corporate and, subject to the provisions of this Act and of the
scheme, section 19 of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954
shall apply to the board.

2. The scheme shall provide for notification to the Ministry of the
address of the office of the board at which communications and
notices will at all times be received, and of any change in that
address, and the Ministry shall cause a register to be kept showing
the address of every board, and the register shall be open for
inspection by the public at such times and at such place as the
Ministry may direct.

3. The scheme shall provide for the winding up of the board, and
for that purpose may apply Part IX of the Companies Act (Northern
Ireland) 1960 subject to the modifications set out in this Schedule.

4. For the purpose of section 349 of the Companies Act (Northern
Ireland) 1960, the principal place of business of the board shall
be deemed to be to the office of the board registered by the
Ministry under this Act.

5. Paragraph (b) of sub-section (5) of section 349 of the Companies
Act (Northern Ireland) 1960 shall not apply, and paragraph (c) of
that subsection shall apply as if the words "or any member thereof
as such" were omitted.

6. A petition for winding up a board may be presented by the
Ministry as well as by any person authorised under the provisions
of the Companies Act (Northern Ireland) 1960 to present a petition
for winding up a company.

7. In the event of the winding up of a board, every person who
at any time during the relevant period was a registered producer
shall be liable to contribute to the payment of the debts and
liabilities of the board and to the payment of the costs and
expenses of the winding up an amount assessed in such manner and
subject to such limitations as may be provided by the scheme, but
save as aforesaid no person shall be liable to contribute to the
assets of the board in the winding up by reason only of his being
or having been a registered producer or a member of the board.

8. In paragraph 7 the expression "the relevant period" means

(a)where the scheme has been revoked before the commencement of the
winding up, the year immediately before the revocation of the
scheme;

(b)in any other case, the year immediately before the commencement
of the winding up.

Schedule 3 rep. by SLR 1973