Welsh Statutory Instruments
SEA FISHERIES, WALES
SEA FISH INDUSTRY
Made
18 October 2006
Coming into force
20 October 2006
1.—(1) The title of this Scheme is the Fishing Boats (Satellite-Tracking Devices) (Wales) Scheme 2006 and it comes into force on 20 October 2006.
(2) This Scheme applies in relation to Wales.
2.—(1) In this Scheme—
“application” (“cais”) means an application for grant under this Scheme and “applicant” (“ceisydd”) is to be construed accordingly;
“approval” (“cymeradwyaeth”) means an approval of an application;
“the Assembly provider” (“darparwr y Cynulliad”) means the provider and installer of satellite-tracking devices selected by the National Assembly for the purposes of the Regulation;
“authorised officer” (“swyddog awdurdodedig”) means any officer authorised in writing by the National Assembly for the purposes of this Scheme;
“National Assembly” (“Cynulliad Cenedlaethol”) means the National Assembly for Wales;
“port of administration” (“porthladd gweinyddu”) means the port from which the licence granted in respect of a fishing boat under section 4 of the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967(3) is issued;
“the Regulation” (“y Rheoliad”) means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2244/2003 laying down detailed provisions regarding satellite-based Vessel Monitoring Systems(4);
“relevant person” (“person perthnasol”), in relation to a fishing boat, means its owner, charterer (if any), or master or the representative of any of them;
“satellite-tracking device” (“dyfais olrhain drwy loeren”) has the same meaning as in the Regulation;
“Wales” (“Cymru”) has the same meaning as in section 155(1) and (2) of the Government of Wales Act 1998(5); and
“Welsh fishing boat” (“cwch pysgota Cymreig”) means a fishing boat which—
is registered in the United Kingdom under Part II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995(6),
or—
is owned wholly or partly by persons qualified to own British ships for the purposes of that Part of that Act, but
is not a boat which counts as a British ship for the purposes of that Act solely as a result of the application of section 1(1)(c) of that Act to it by virtue of registration under the law of any of the Channel Islands or of the Isle of Man;
and has its port of administration in Wales at the date of application.
(2) Any obligation of the National Assembly to publish material under this Scheme means an obligation to make it available in a manner in which the National Assembly considers that the material is reasonably likely to be seen by those to whom this Scheme may apply, and publication in anticipation of this Scheme is to be treated for the purposes of this Scheme as having been carried out under it.
3.—(1) Any person who is a relevant person in relation to a Welsh fishing boat to which the Regulation applies may make an application in respect of that vessel for a grant to the National Assembly if that person—
(a)has had a satellite-tracking device provided and installed by the Assembly provider; and
(b)undertakes to comply with any other conditions published by the National Assembly relating to this Scheme.
(2) The National Assembly will publish a notice specifying the Assembly provider.
4.—(1) The National Assembly may from time to time publish an invitation for applications and where it does so the following provisions of this paragraph apply.
(2) An application must be lodged with the National Assembly as specified in the invitation on or before the closing date in order to be considered for approval except where the National Assembly is satisfied that—
(a)the particular circumstances of the applicant render it unreasonable to expect their application to be lodged by the closing date, and
(b)the date by which the application is lodged is as early as, in those circumstances, can reasonably be expected.
(3) In this Scheme “the closing date” (“y dyddiad cau”) means such date as the National Assembly may from time to time publish as the date on or before which applications must be lodged.
(4) The National Assembly must reject any application relating to a fishing boat if it considers that the port of administration for the fishing boat has been changed for the primary purpose of eligibility to make an application.
(5) Following approval by the National Assembly it may make a grant which is equal to the amount, as agreed between it and the successful applicant, of—
(a)the price of the satellite-tracking device;
(b)the installation costs of the satellite-tracking device on board the vessel in respect of which the application was lodged, and
(c)the price of a three year warranty for the installed satellite-tracking device,
which will be payable in accordance with the following provisions of this Scheme.
(6) The costs specified in sub-paragraph (5)(b) must not include any cost wholly or partly incurred in respect of the concealment of the satellite-tracking device, its associated cables and wires, or any other associated materials or equipment, for cosmetic purposes.
5.—(1) Each successful applicant will be notified by the National Assembly in writing of the approval relating to the applicant’s fishing boat and any conditions with which the applicant must comply.
(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), the approval of the National Assembly will terminate for the fishing boat in question if the successful applicant fails to comply with any conditions imposed under paragraph 3(1) or paragraph 5(1).
(3) If the successful applicant notifies the National Assembly within a reasonable time of reasons for that failure (or, as the case may be, for anticipating that failure) the National Assembly may amend the conditions imposed under paragraph 3(1) or paragraph 5(1).
6.—(1) Once the application has been approved and the successful applicant has complied with all conditions imposed under paragraphs 3(1) and 5(1), the National Assembly will, subject to sub-paragraph (2), pay the amount of the price agreed under paragraph 4(5) to the successful applicant.
(2) No payment will be made unless the National Assembly is satisfied that the satellite-tracking device has been provided and the installation undertaken in accordance with procedures agreed by it with the Assembly provider.
7. Any applicant or any employee or agent of any applicant must give to an authorised officer such assistance as the officer may reasonably request to exercise the power conferred on the officer by paragraph 8.
8.—(1) An authorised officer at all reasonable hours and on producing, if required to do so, some duly authenticated document showing the authority of the officer, may exercise the powers specified in this paragraph for the purpose of ascertaining whether and to what extent —
(a)a person is entitled to make an application under paragraph 3;
(b)conditions under paragraphs 3(1) and 5(1) have been complied with;
(c)an offence under section 17 of the Fisheries Act 1981 has been, or is being, committed, and
(d)the satellite-tracking device is functioning.
(2) Subject to sub-paragraph (3) an authorised officer may enter upon any relevant premises.
(3) The power conferred by sub-paragraph (2) may be exercised in relation to premises used as a dwelling house only where reasonable notice of the intended exercise of the power has been given to all residents of that dwelling house.
(4) Any authorised officer who has entered any premises in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) may inspect those premises and any documents on those premises which are, or which such officer has reasonable cause to believe are, relevant documents.
(5) An authorised officer entering premises by virtue of this paragraph may be accompanied by such other person as the officer considers necessary and sub-paragraphs (2), (4), (6) and (7) apply in relation to such other person when acting under the instructions of the officer as if he or she were an authorised officer.
(6) An authorised officer may—
(a)require any person who is an applicant or is an employee or agent of an applicant to produce any relevant documents and to supply such additional information in possession of the person or under his or her control relating to the application as the officer may reasonably request;
(b)inspect any such documents and, where such documents are kept by means of a computer, have access to, and inspect and check the operation of, any computer and associated apparatus or material which has been used in connection with those documents;
(c)require that copies of, or extracts from, any relevant documents be produced, and
(d)inspect and remove for the purposes of further inspection any equipment on the fishing boat in respect of which an application has been made, including the satellite-tracking device.
(7) An authorised officer will not be liable to civil or criminal proceedings for anything done in purported exercise of the powers conferred on the officer by this Scheme if the court hearing such proceedings is satisfied that—
(a)the act was done in good faith;
(b)that there were reasonable grounds for doing it, and
(c)that it was done with reasonable skill and care.
(8) In this paragraph—
“premises” (“mangre”) includes any fishing boat or other vehicle;
“relevant documents” (“dogfennau perthnasol”) means any documents relating to the fishing boat in respect of which an application has been made, and
“relevant premises” (“mangre berthnasol”) means the fishing boat in respect of which an application has been made and any premises in which the relevant documents are retained or in which an authorised officer has reasonable grounds to believe such documents may be retained.
9.—(1) If at any time after the National Assembly has approved an application in respect of any fishing boat it appears to it that—
(a)any of the conditions imposed under paragraphs 3(1) and 5(1) have not been complied with;
(b)a relevant person, in relation to the fishing boat—
(i)has furnished information or produced a document in purported compliance with any provision of this Scheme which he or she knows to be false in a material particular, or
(ii)has recklessly made a statement which is false in a material particular;
(c)the relevant person or his or her employee or agent has failed to comply with paragraph 7;
the National Assembly may revoke the approval or withhold any part of the payment in respect of the application.
(2) Where approval is revoked under sub-paragraph (1) after any payment to the applicant under this Scheme has been made, the National Assembly may recover on demand from the applicant an amount equal to the whole or any part of any such payment.
10.—(1) Where the National Assembly decides to recover on demand an amount in accordance with paragraph 9(2), it may also recover interest on that amount on a daily basis at the rate of 1% above the LIBOR for the period beginning with the day following that on which the amount was paid and ending on the day on which the National Assembly recovers it.
(2) In this paragraph “LIBOR”, in relation to any day, means the sterling three month London interbank offered rate in force for that day rounded if necessary to two decimal places.
(3) In any proceedings for recovery under this Scheme, a certificate issued by the National Assembly stating the LIBOR applicable for any day is conclusive evidence of the LIBOR in question if the certificate also states that the Bank of England notified the National Assembly of the LIBOR in question.
Signed on behalf of the National Assembly for Wales under section 66(1) of the Government of Wales Act 1998(7).
D. Elis-Thomas
The Presiding Officer of the National Assembly
18 October 2006
(This note is not part of the Scheme)
This Scheme makes provision for funding satellite-tracking devices on fishing boats which are administered in Wales and which are required on board fishing boats over 15 metres as a result of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2244/2003 laying down detailed provisions regarding satellite-based Vessel Monitoring Systems. Paragraph 3 sets out the eligibility criteria for the Scheme and paragraph 4 gives details of the method of applying for funding under the Scheme. Paragraph 5 deals with the approval of such applications. Paragraph 6 makes provision for the payment under the Scheme and also sets out the circumstances in which payments will not be made to successful applicants. Paragraph 8 sets out the powers of an authorised officer and paragraph 7 requires any applicant or any employee of any applicant to assist an authorised officer. Paragraph 9 deals with the revocation of approval of an application and sets out the conditions and consequences of revocation and paragraph 10 deals with rates of interest where sums are recovered.
1981 c. 29. See section 18(1) of the Fisheries Act 1981 for a definition of “the Ministers” relevant for the purposes of this Scheme. Sections 15(2) and 18(1) were amended by the Scotland Act 1998 (Consequential Modifications) (No.2) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1820) Schedule 2, paragraph 68(1), (2) and (3).
By virtue of article 2(a) of, and Schedule 1 to, the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/672) the functions exercisable under section 15 of the 1981 Act were transferred to the National Assembly for Wales.
OJ No. L333, 20.12.2003, p.17.