Office of Public Sector Information
Article 6
1. Where the Welsh Levy Board has established or acquired a subsidiary or nominated company for any of the activities specified in this Schedule, references to the Welsh Levy Board are references to that subsidiary or other company.
2. In this Schedule “person” (“person”) includes a partnership.
1.—(1) A person who is the occupier of a slaughterhouse (“the slaughterer”) must pay a levy on all cattle, sheep and pigs slaughtered.
(2) Any person who exports live cattle, sheep or pigs (“an exporter”) must pay a levy.
(3) The levy is based on the number of animals slaughtered or exported.
(4) The levy consists of two parts, the producer levy and the slaughter or export levy.
(5) The Welsh Levy Board may make provision for a reduction of the slaughter levy and export levy to cover the administrative costs of the slaughterer or exporter in administering the levy.
(6) If a slaughterer or exporter buys an animal for slaughter or export, he or she must deduct the producer levy from the price he or she pays, and hold it on trust for the Welsh Levy Board.
(7) If a slaughterer slaughters an animal without buying it, he or she must charge the owner both the producer levy and the slaughter levy, and hold it on trust for the Welsh Levy Board.
(8) The maximum rate of levy is in accordance with the following table.
| Levy category | Maximum rate of levy per head (£) |
|---|---|
a
For these purposes a calf is an animal under six months old (in the case of an exported animal) or an animal with a dressed slaughter weight of less than 68 kg (in the case of a slaughtered animal). |
|
| Cattle — slaughterer or exporter (except calves) | 1.75 |
| Cattle (except calves) — producer | 5.25 |
| Calfa — slaughterer or exporter | 0.50 |
| Calfa — producer | 0.50 |
| Sheep — slaughterer or exporter | 0.20 |
| Sheep — producer | 0.60 |
| Pigs — slaughterer or exporter | 0.275 |
| Pigs — producer | 1.075 |
2.—(1) Levy is not payable for animals imported from another member State and slaughtered within 3 months in the case of cattle and 2 months in the case of pigs or sheep.
(2) Levy is not payable if an animal is subject to compulsory slaughter or the entire carcase is declared as unfit for human consumption by the official veterinarian.
3.—(1) A slaughterer must notify the Welsh Levy Board, by the end of each Wednesday, of the number of animals subject to levy slaughtered in the previous week up to the end of Sunday, broken down into types of animal.
(2) If a slaughterer estimates that the total number of animals that will be slaughtered will be fewer than 25 each week in total, he or she may apply to the Welsh Levy Board to be registered as a small operator; and if the Welsh Levy Board agrees to so register him or her, he or she must notify the Board on or before the fifteenth day of each month of the number of animals subject to levy slaughtered in the previous month broken down into types of animal.
(3) Failure to comply with this paragraph is an offence.
4. An occupier of a slaughterhouse must pay the levy due for animals slaughtered in any month within 15 days from the end of the month.
5.—(1) An exporter must notify the Welsh Levy Board, within 30 days of the end of the month, of the number of animals exported the previous month, and failure to do so is an offence.
(2) He or she must pay the levy on invoice.
6.—(1) A person appointed by the Welsh Levy Board may, on producing a duly authenticated document showing his or her authority if required, enter any slaughterhouse at any reasonable hour to check any records to ensure that the correct levy has been paid.
(2) It is an offence to obstruct any person acting under this paragraph or to fail to produce records on demand.
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order creates a new body, the Welsh Levy Board (“the Board”) which has functions and duties relating to the beef, sheep and pig industries in Wales. The Order contains provisions for the constitution and proceedings of the Board.
The Board may raise levies relating to each industry (article 6). Details of payment of the levies, and the maximum permitted levy, are set out in Schedule 3. Under that Schedule, failure to make a return relating to a levy is an offence.
If demanded by a set number of levy payers, the Board must hold a ballot on whether or not the levy system should continue (articles 11 and 12).
There are offences relating to the provision of information to the Welsh Levy Board and record-keeping (article 14).
The penalty for breach of the Order is a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale (currently £5,000).
A full regulatory appraisal of the effect that this instrument will have is available from the Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NW.
The Welsh Levy Board Order 2008