Agricultural Marketing Act (Northern Ireland) 1964

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

(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;

and any such levy shall be imposed by the board upon such producers, and in such proportions, as may be specified in the order.

(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.