These Regulations, which come into operation on 15th May 2002, amend the Milk Marketing Board (Residuary Functions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 (“the 1995 Regulations”) so as to facilitate the winding up of the affairs of the residuary Milk Marketing Board (“the Board”) (as anticipated by regulation 26 of the 1995 Regulations).

These Regulations— a introduce amendments to regulations 20 and 26 of the 1995 Regulations so as to allow the Board to proceed to a winding-up where sums it has distributed in accordance with its obligations remain unclaimed and where certain other liabilities remain outstanding and certain assets remain unrecovered (regulations 3 and 4); b with effect from the day after the making of an order under Article 17(5) of the Agriculture (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 dissolving the Board, transfer any remaining property, rights or liabilities of the Board to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; for the purposes initially of holding any distributed assets that remain unclaimed and for discharging any outstanding liabilities, but after a period to be determined, and further to consultation with relevant persons or organisations, of distributing them to registered eligible producers or transferring them to such final destination as the Department may consider appropriate (regulation 5).