Agricultural Marketing Act 1958

24 Short-term loans

(1) The Minister may, on the recommendation of the appropriate Agricultural Marketing Facilities Committee, make to the board administering any scheme approved under this Act a loan of such amount as he thinks necessary for the purpose of providing for expenses incurred in connection with the initial working of the scheme:

Provided that (except in the case of a substitutional scheme) a loan of such amount as the Minister thinks necessary for the purpose of providing for expenses incurred in connection with the initial poll may be made without any such recommendation as aforesaid.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this section, any expenses incurred by a board, being expenses incurred by virtue of any of the following provisions of this Act, that is to say, paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (1) of section seven, subsection (2) of section thirteen, subsection (2) of section fourteen and subsections (2) to (4) of section fifteen, within the period of one year after the date on which the scheme came into force, shall, for the purposes of the foregoing subsection, be deemed to be expenses incurred in connection with the initial working of the scheme.

(3) A loan under this section shall be repaid within two years, unless it is renewed as hereinafter provided, and may be made free of interest during any period before renewal, and every such loan shall be made on such terms as the Minister, with the approval of the Treasury, may by regulations prescribe:

Provided that, where a scheme ceases to have effect at or before the expiration of the suspensory period, the amount repayable in respect of any such loan made to the board shall be reduced by the amount of any sums expended by the board under the scheme, or required for the payment of any debt or liability incurred thereunder by the board.

(4) A loan under this section shall not be renewed unless the renewal is recommended by the appropriate Agricultural Marketing Facilities Committee, and that committee shall not recommend the renewal unless they are satisfied that the board are in a position to repay the loan forthwith, that the renewal is required to provide for additional services which the board propose to undertake and that adequate arrangements have been, or will be, made to repay the loan at the expiration of the period for which it is to be renewed.