The Apple and Pear Research Council (Dissolution) Order 2003

Title and commencement E+W+S

1.  This Order may be cited as the Apple and Pear Research Council (Dissolution) Order 2003 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which it is made.

Interpretation E+W+S

2.  In this Order—

“the Act” means the Industrial Organisation and Development Act 1947;

“apple and pear growers” means those people on whom the Council immediately before its dissolution was entitled to impose a charge under article 9(1) of the principal Order;

“the Council” means the Apple and Pear Research Council established under the provisions of the principal Order;

“the dissolution date” means 31st March 2003;

“the industry” has the meaning given to it by article 2(1) of the principal Order; and

“the principal Order” means the Apple and Pear Research Council Order 1989(1).

Winding up of the Apple and Pear Research Council E+W+S

3.—(1) On the dissolution date, the property, rights and liabilities which immediately before that date were property, rights and liabilities of the Council shall, by virtue of this article, vest in the Secretary of State and the Council shall be dissolved.

(2) Any legal proceedings to which the Council was a party immediately before the dissolution of the Council may be continued after the dissolution by or in relation to the Secretary of State.

(3) A requirement imposed by the Council under article 8 of the principal Order which remains unfulfilled on the dissolution date shall, as from that date, have effect as if the reference to the Council in relation to that requirement were a reference to the Secretary of State.

Final Accounts of the Council E+W+S

4.  The Council shall prepare a statement of accounts for the period commencing on 1st April 2002 and ending on 30th March 2003 and shall deliver it to the Secretary of State by the dissolution date.

Power to impose and recover charges and powers of the Secretary of State E+W+S

5.—(1) The Secretary of State may impose charges on apple and pear growers for the purpose of raising any amount (“the relevant amount”) by which the assets of the Council may be insufficient to meet the Council’s liabilities and the expenses of the winding up.

(2) The amount of any charges that may be raised under paragraph (1) during the year beginning on 1st April 2004 shall be computed so as not to yield more than the relevant amount as calculated by the Secretary of State on the basis of the information known to her on 30th June 2004.

(3) Where any charges are imposed under paragraph (1), the amount of the charge imposed on each apple and pear grower shall be calculated as follows—

A = B / C × D

where—

• “A” is the amount of the charge imposed on each apple and pear grower under paragraph (1) of this article;

• “B” is the amount of the charge which was imposed on that grower under article 9(1) of the principal Order in respect of the year beginning on 1st April 2002;

• “C” is the total amount of such charges imposed on apple and pear growers in respect of that year;

• “D” is any amount to be raised under paragraph (1) of this article.

(4) The provisions of articles 9(3) and (4) and 11(1) of the principal Order shall apply in relation to any charge imposed under paragraph (1) of this article, subject to the substitution for references in articles 9(4) and 11(1) to the Council, or references to the Secretary of State.

Surplus moneys and property E+W+S

6.  The Secretary of State shall have power after the Council’s dissolution to pay or give, as the case may be, any moneys or property which she is satisfied are not, and will not be, required for the purposes of meeting the liabilities of the Council and the expenses of the winding up, to the Horticultural Development Council(2), provided that those moneys or property are used solely for purposes connected with the industry.

Settlement of the Council’s debts and liabilities E+W+S

7.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) below, every creditor shall notify the Secretary of State of each of his debts or claims against the Council within three months of the dissolution date and shall give the Secretary of State such further information relating to the debt or claim as she may reasonably require.

(2) Paragraph (1) above shall not apply to any debt or claim which is the subject of any legal proceedings which have been commenced against the Council prior to the dissolution date.

(3) Every creditor shall state in the notification given to the Secretary of State in accordance with paragraph (1) above the amount of the debt or claim or, where the debt or claim is subject to a contingency or is a claim for damages or bears no specific value, shall include in it as far as possible a just estimate of the debt or claim.

(4) The Secretary of State may admit or reject each debt or claim notified to her in accordance with paragraph (1) above and shall notify the creditor in writing whether she admits or rejects it in whole or in part and, if she rejects it, shall state in the notification the grounds of the rejection.

Revocation E+W+S

8.  The principal Order is revoked with effect from the dissolution date.

Whitty

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

27th March 2003

D. Elis Thomas

Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales Presiding Officer

25th March 2003