Dairy Produce (Price Stabilisation) Act , 1935

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title.

1.—This Act may be cited as the Dairy Produce (Price Stabilisation) Act, 1935.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture;

the word “creamery” means premises which are either registered in the register of creameries kept in pursuance of the Dairy Produce Act, 1924 (No. 58 of 1924), or the subject of a licence under section 42 of that Act;

the expression “creamery butter” means butter manufactured in a creamery and not subsequently blended with any butter which was not manufactured in a creamery;

the expression “non-creamery butter” means butter which is not creamery butter;

the expression “butter factory” means premises on which butter is, by way of trade, blended, reworked, or subjected to any other treatment, but not so as to cease to be butter;

the expression “the Kerry cattle area” means the area in respect of which it is for the time being declared by regulations made under the Live Stock Breeding Act, 1925 (No. 3 of 1925), that bulls of all breeds other than the Kerry breed are unsuitable for that area;

the word “inspector” means a person authorised in writing (either generally or for a special purpose) by the Minister to exercise the powers conferred on an inspector by this Act;

the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.

3 Definition of milk products.

3.—(1) The following and no other substances shall be milk products for the purposes of this Act, that is to say tinned cream, bulk cream, raw cheese, processed cheese, condensed milk, and dried or powdered milk, and also all substances which are for the time being milk products for the purposes aforesaid by virtue of an order made under this section.

(2) The Minister may from time to time by order declare that any substance (other than butter and the substances specifically mentioned in the next preceding sub-section of this section) derived directly or indirectly from milk shall be a milk product for the purposes of this Act and may at any time by order amend or revoke any such order.

(3) Whenever and so long as an order under this section declaring a substance to be a milk product for the purposes of this Act is in force such substance shall be a milk product for those purposes.

4 Regulations.

4.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

(2) Every regulation made by the Minister under this or any other section of this Act shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before each House of the Oireachtas, and if either such House shall, within the next twenty-one days on which such House has sat after such regulation is laid before it, pass a resolution annulling such regulation, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such regulation.

5 Partial continuance of the Dairy Produce (Price Stabilisation) Act, 1932.

5.—(1) Notwithstanding the expiration on the 31st day of March, 1935, of the Dairy Produce (Price Stabilisation) Act, 1932 (No. 10 of 1932), the following provisions shall have effect and shall be deemed to have come into operation immediately upon and to have had effect as from the said expiration, that is to say:—

(a) every levy which became due and payable before but was unpaid at the expiration of the said Act shall be payable and recoverable under the said Act;

(b) every sum received or recovered by the Minister by virtue of the next preceding paragraph of this section shall, until the butter fund maintained under the said Act has been wound up in pursuance of this Act, be paid into the said butter fund and shall thereafter be paid into the dairy produce (price stabilisation) fund;

(c) every bounty which would have been payable under the said Act (if it had not expired) in respect of goods exported from Saorstát Eireann before such expiration but was not in fact paid before such expiration, shall be payable under and in accordance with the said Act;

(d) every bounty payable by virtue of the next preceding paragraph of this section shall, until the said butter fund has been wound up in pursuance of this Act, be paid out of the said butter fund and thereafter shall be paid out of the dairy produce (price stabilisation) fund;

(e) the said butter fund shall be maintained and managed under and in accordance with the said Act until it is wound up in pursuance of this Act;

(f) every person alleged to have committed an offence under any section of the said Act Before the expiration thereof may, after such expiration, be charged with and prosecuted for such offence and, if found guilty thereof, be punished therefor in accordance with the said Act;

(g) the said Act shall be deemed to continue and to have continued in force so far and for so long as may be necessary to give full force and effect to the provisions of this section.

(2) No action or other legal proceeding whatsoever, whether civil or criminal, shall lie or be maintainable against the Revenue Commissioners or against any officer of customs and excise for or in respect of any act or thing done, whether before or after the passing of this Act, by the Revenue Commissioners or by any officer of customs and excise for the purpose or in the course of preventing the importation into Saorstát Eireann, during the period which began on the 1st day of April, 1935, and ended on the 27th day of April, 1935, of any article the importation of which into Saorstát Eireann during that period without a licence in that behalf would have been unlawful if the Dairy Produce (Price Stabilisation) Act, 1932, and every order made under that Act which was in force on the 31st day of March, 1935, had continued to be in force during the whole, of the said period.

PART II. Registration of Sellers of Non-Creamery Butter.

6 Registers of certain butter vendors.

6.—(1) The Minister shall cause to be kept the following registers, that is to say:—

(a) a register (to be called and known and in this Act referred to as the register of producers of non-creamery butter) of persons who sell non-creamery butter of their own manufacture, and

(b) a register (to be called and known and in this Act referred to as the register of distributors of non-creamery butter) of persons who acquire non-creamery butter either for resale or for use in a butter factory.

(2) There shall be entered in each of the registers kept in pursuance of this section the full name, address and description of every person registered therein and, in the case of the register of distributors of non-creamery butter, a description of the premises in respect of which such person is registered in such register sufficient to identify such premises and the limits and extent thereof.

7 Applications for registration.

7.—(1) Any person who carries on or proposes to carry on the business of selling non-creamery butter of his own manufacture shall be entitled to be registered in the register of producers of non-creamery butter on applying therefor in accordance with this section.

(2) Any person who carries on or proposes to carry on the business of acquiring non-creamery butter either for resale or for use in a butter factory shall be entitled to be registered in the register of distributors of non-creamery butter on applying therefor in accordance with this section.

(3) Every application for registration in either of the registers kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall be made to the Minister in the prescribed form and manner and shall contain the prescribed particulars.

(4) Where any person desires to be registered in both of the registers kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act he shall make a separate application in respect of each such register.

8 Duration and renewal of registration.

8.—(1) The first registration of a person in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall (unless it is previously cancelled under this Part of this Act) continue in force up to and including the 31st day of January next after the commencement of such registration and shall then expire unless renewed under this section.

(2) Every person registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall be entitled, on applying to the Minister in the prescribed form and manner and within the prescribed time before the expiration of such registration, to have his registration in such register renewed.

(3) Every renewal of the registration of a person in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall commence on the 1st day of February next after the application for such renewal and shall (unless previously cancelled under this Part of this Act) continue in force up to and including the next following 31st day of January and shall then expire unless renewed under this section.

(4) Where an application for the renewal of the registration of a person in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act is made after, but not more than one month after, the expiration of such registration, the Minister may, if he so thinks fit, renew such registration retrospectively as on and from the 1st day of February next after such expiration.

9 Fees on applications for registration or renewal of registration.

9.—(1) On every application for registration or renewal of registration in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act there shall be paid to the Minister whichever of the following fees is applicable, that is to say—

(a) in the case of an application for registration or renewal of registration in the register of producers of non-creamery butter, the fee of five shillings, and

(b) in the case of an application for registration or renewal of registration in the register of distributors of non-creamery butter, the fee of one pound in respect of each separate premises in respect of which such registration or renewal is so applied for,

and the due payment of such fee shall be a condition precedent to the entertainment of the application by the Minister.

(2) All fees payable under this section shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct.

(3) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of any fees payable under this section.

10 Certificate of registration.

10.—(1) The Minister may, on the application of any person who is registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act, issue to such person a certificate of his registration in such register.

(2) When a person to whom a certificate of registration has been issued under this section ceases to be registered in the manner stated in such certificate, such person shall within three days after such cesser or, where such cesser is occasioned by the death of such person, the personal representative of such person shall within one month after such death, deliver to the Minister such certificate of registration.

(3) If any person who is required by this section to deliver to the Minister a certificate of registration fails or neglects so to do within the time limited in that behalf by this section, such person shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding two pounds and to a further fine not exceeding five shillings for every day during which such offence is continued.

11 Prohibition of unregistered businesses.

11.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, it shall not be lawful for any person, on or after the appointed day, to carry on the business of selling non-creamery butter of his own manufacture unless such person is registered in the register of producers of non-creamery butter.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, it shall not be lawful for any person, on or after the appointed day, to carry on the business of acquiring non-creamery butter either for resale or for use in a butter factory unless such person is registered in the register of distributors of non-creamery butter.

(3) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to or operate to prohibit—

(a) the sale of butter to a person who is registered in the register of distributors of non-creamery butter, or

(b) the carrying on of a business of acquiring non-creamery butter for resale or for use in a butter factory, where all the non-creamery butter acquired for the purposes of such business is acquired from persons who are registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act, or

(c) the sale of butter under and in accordance with an exemption licence granted under this Part of this Act.

(4) Every person who carries on any business in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first such offence, to a fine not exceeding five pounds and, in the case of a second or any subsequent such offence, to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds, together with, in every case, a further fine not exceeding five pounds for every day during which such offence continues.

(5) The Minister may by order appoint a day to be the appointed day for the purposes of this section, and in this section the expression “the appointed day” means the day so appointed.

12 Alteration and cancellation of registration.

12.—(1) The Minister may at any time alter or amend any entry in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act on the application of the person to whom such entry relates or for the purpose of correcting any error or inaccuracy in such entry.

(2) The Minister shall, upon the application of a person registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act, cancel the registration of such person in such register.

(3) The Minister may at any time, without any such application as aforesaid, cancel any registration in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act if he is satisfied—

(a) that such registration was obtained by fraud or misrepresentation, whether fraudulent or innocent, or

(b) that the person registered in such register has ceased to carry on the business in respect of which he was so registered, or

(c) that the person registered in such register, if an individual, has died, or, if a body corporate, has been dissolved, or

(d) that the person registered in such register has contravened any provision of or any regulation made under this Act.

(4) Before cancelling (otherwise than in accordance with an application in that behalf made under this section) the registration of any person who is registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act, the Minister shall give to such person or to his personal representative or liquidator (as the case may be) at least fourteen days notice in writing of his intention so to cancel such registration, and shall consider any representations made within fourteen days after the service of such notice by such person or personal representative or liquidator (as the case may be) and shall, if requested, cause an inquiry to be held in relation to the matter.

(5) Any such notice as is mentioned in the next preceding sub-section of this section may be served by delivering it to the person to whom it is addressed or by sending it by post to such person addressed to him at his last known place of abode.

(6) Where the Minister has cancelled under this section the registration of any person, the Minister may at any time thereafter refuse to register such person in any register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act.

13 Evidence of contents of registers.

13.—(1) Every register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall—

(a) be deemed to be in the proper custody when in the custody of the Minister or of an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister, and

(b) be admissable in evidence without further proof, on production from the proper custody.

(2) Prima facie evidence of any entry in any register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act may be given in any court or any legal proceedings by the production of a copy of such entry purporting to be certified to be a true copy by an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister, and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature of such officer or that he was in fact such officer or was so authorised.

(3) A certificate purporting to be under the hand of an officer of the Minister authorised in that behalf by the Minister, that any person specified in such certificate is not entered in the register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act which is specified in such certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the matters so certified, and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature of such officer, or that he was in fact such officer, or was so authorised.

(4) Any person may—

(a) inspect any register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act on payment of a fee of one shilling;

(b) obtain a copy, certified in the manner hereinbefore mentioned to be a true copy, of any entry in any such register on payment of a fee of sixpence for each folio or part of a folio of seventy-two words in such copy;

(c) obtain such certificate as is hereinbefore mentioned that any person specified in such certificate is not registered in a specified register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act on payment of a fee of two shillings and sixpence for each such certificate.

14 Publication of contents of registers, etc.

14.—(1) The Minister may publish, in such manner as he may think fit, all or any of the matters entered in any register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act, and notice of any cancellation or alteration of registration in any such register.

(2) No individual return or part of a return furnished in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall be published or disclosed except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act.

(3) The Minister may from time to time collect and publish such statistical information (including statistics derived from returns made to him pursuant to this Part of this Act) as he may think fit with respect to the extent of the businesses carried on by persons registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Part of this Act.

(4) So far as is reasonably practicable, no statistical information published under this section shall contain any particulars which would enable and person to identify such particulars as being particulars relating to any individual person, business, or concern without the consent of that person or of the proprietor of that business or concern.

15 Inspection of registered premises.