Agricultural Produce (Eggs)(No. 2) Act , 1939

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1 Short title and commencement.

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1939.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister shall by order appoint.

2 Definitions.

2.—In this Act—

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

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

the word “inspector” means a person appointed in writing (either generally or for a particular occasion) by the Minister to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act,

the word “package” includes any box, crate, case, wrapper or other receptacle containing or capable of containing eggs for transport, and, unless the context otherwise requires, includes the contents of such receptacle;

the word “eggs” means eggs in the shell of domestic fowl and ducks;

the word “mark” includes any word, letter, figure or design, or any combination of words, letters, figures, or designs, or any two or more of them;

the expression “registered premises” means premises registered in a register kept by the Minister in pursuance of this Act;

the expression “registered proprietor” means a person who is entered in a register kept by the Minister in pursuance of this Act as the proprietor of premises registered in that register;

the expression “registered wholesaler's premises” means premises registered in the register of wholesalers;

the expression “registered wholesaler” means the registered proprietor of registered wholesaler's premises;

the expression “registered dealer” means the registered proprietor of premises registered in the register of dealers;

the expression “registered retailer” means the registered proprietor of premises registered in the register of retailers;

the expression “registered preserver” means the registered proprietor of premises registered in the register of preservers;

the word “producer” means a person who carries on the business of poultry-farming or who rears or keeps domestic fowl or ducks for the purpose of disposing of their eggs by sale and does not acquire for resale any eggs from any other person;

the expression “chemical storage” means storage for the purpose of preserving eggs by any process which does not alter the composition of the shells, including storage in any gas, vapour or gaseous mixture;

the word “sale” includes exchange and barter, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

the expression “sale by wholesale” means sale by way of trade to a person engaged in the business of acquiring eggs for resale, but does not include sale to, or to some person on behalf of, the owner or occupier of a hotel, restaurant, club or other premises where eggs are sold only for consumption thereon, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

the expression “sale by retail” means sale otherwise than by wholesale, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

the word “acquire” includes purchase and also includes acquiring or obtaining by barter, exchange or any other means, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

the word “retailer”, when used without qualification, means a person engaged in the business of selling eggs by retail, whether he is or is not a registered proprietor;

the expression “eggs intended for sale” includes eggs purchased for resale, eggs kept for sale (whether immediately or at a future time), eggs offered or exposed for sale, eggs sold but not delivered, and eggs being transported for or in the course of sale.

3 Persons skilled in testing, grading, and packing eggs.

3.—(1) No person shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be skilled in the business of testing, grading and packing eggs unless he either—

(a) holds a certificate, issued by the Minister, certifying that he is skilled in the said business, or

(b) has satisfied the Minister that he is skilled in the said business.

(2) Any person may apply to the Minister for such certificate as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-section of this section and the Minister may, if he is satisfied that such person is skilled in the business of testing, grading and packing eggs, issue to such person such certificate as aforesaid.

4 Regulations.

4.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed, but no such regulation shall be made in relation to the amount or collection of any fees without the consent of the Minister for Finance.

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

5 Offences.

5.—(1) Every offence under any section of this Act may be prosecuted by or at the suit of the Minister.

(2) Where an offence under any section of this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by, any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary, or other officer of such body corporate, such director, manager, secretary, or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

6 Expenses.

6.—All expenses incurred by the Minister in carrying this Act into execution shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of monies provided by the Oireachtas.

7 Collection and disposal of fees.

7.—(1) All fees payable under this Act shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the said Minister.

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

8 Saving as to powers of Minister for Local Government and Public Health.

8.—(1) The powers conferred on the Minister by this Act shall be, and shall be exercised, without prejudice to the exercise by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health of the powers conferred on him by the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall prejudice or restrict the powers conferred on sanitary authorities by or under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931.

9 Service of documents.

9.—(1) Where a document is required or permitted by this Act to be served on any person, the document shall be served in one or other of the following ways, that is to say:—

(a) by delivering the document to the said person; or

(b) by delivering the document to any person, of not less than sixteen years of age, who is in the employment of the said person; or

(c) by sending the document by post in a prepaid letter addressed to the said person, if he is a registered proprietor, at his registered premises or, in any other case, at the address where he carries on business or at his last known place of abode.

(2) For the purpose of this section a body corporate registered in Ireland under the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1924, shall be deemed to carry on business at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to carry on business at its principal office or place of business in Ireland.

10 Repeals.

10.—The Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924, (No. 35 of 1924) and the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1930 (No. 36 of 1930) are hereby repealed.

11 Saving for fees under a repealed Act.

11.—(1) Notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924 (No. 35 of 1924), an annual fee under section 9 of that Act shall be payable in respect of the period beginning on the 1st day of January next before the commencement of this Act and ending on the day before such commencement by the registered proprietor (within the meaning of the said section 9) of every premises which are registered in the register of exporters under that Act during the whole or any part of the said period.

(2) Every fee payable by virtue of the next preceding sub-section of this section shall—

(a) be payable to the Minister, and

(b) be calculated in accordance with section 9 of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924, as if the period mentioned in the said next preceding sub-section were a year, and

(c) shall become due immediately upon the commencement of this Act and shall be paid not later than one month after such commencement, and

(d) may be recovered by the Minister from the person by whom it is payable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(3) Every annual fee which became due under section 9 of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924, on the 31st day of December next preceding the commencement of this Act shall, if not paid before such commencement, be payable in accordance with the said section 9 (notwithstanding the repeal thereof by this Act) and shall be recoverable by the Minister from the person by whom it is payable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(4) Sub-sections (5) and (6) of section 9 of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924, shall, notwithstanding the repeal of that Act by this Act, continue in force for the purposes of all fees which are, by virtue of this section, payable under the said section 9 after the commencement of this Act.

12 Continuance of existing orders and regulations.

12.—(1) Every order and every regulation made under the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Acts, 1924 and 1930, which is in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall, if and so far as it is not inconsistent with this Act, continue in force notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of the Act under which it was made.

(2) Every order and regulation continued in force by virtue of this section shall be deemed to have been made under this Act and shall be capable of being revoked, amended or varied, in the case of any such order, by any order made by the Minister under this Act and, in the case of any such regulation, by any regulation made by the Minister under this Act.

PART II. Registration of Premises.

13 The registers and their contents.

13.—(1) The Minister shall cause to be kept—

(a) a register to be called and known and in this Act referred to as the register of wholesalers, and

(b) a register to be called and known and in this Act referred to as the register of dealers, and

(c) a register to be called and known and in this Act referred to as the register of retailers, and

(d) a register to be called and known and in this Act referred to as the register of preservers.

(2) There shall be entered in the several registers kept in pursuance of this section the following matters in respect of all premises registered in the said registers respectively, that is to say:—

(a) the full name and description of the proprietor of the premises, and

(b) a description of the situation of the premises sufficient to identify the said premises and the limits and extent thereof

(3) Premises registered in any one of the registers kept in pursuance of this section shall not while so registered be capable of being registered in any other of the said registers.

14 Registration fees.

14.—On every application under this Act for the registration of premises in any register except the register of retailers there shall be paid to the Minister a fee (in this Act referred to as a registration fee) of one pound, and the due payment of that fee shall be a condition precedent to the entertainment of the application by the Minister.

15 Eggs acquisition fees.

15.—(1) Every registered wholesaler shall pay to the Minister, in respect of every half year ending on the 30th day of June or the 31st day of December during which or during any part of which he is registered in the register of wholesalers, a fee (in this Act referred to as an eggs acquisition fee) calculated at the prescribed rate and in the prescribed manner on the total quantity of eggs acquired by him in such half year, other than eggs which are shown to the satisfaction of the Minister—

(a) to have been acquired by him from another registered wholesaler, or

(b) to have been unfit for human consumption or externally dirty and to have been disposed of in the manner required by this Act in respect of such eggs.

(2) Every registered retailer shall pay to the Minister, in respect of every half year ending on the 30th day of June or the 31st day of December during which or during any part of which he is registered in the register of retailers, a fee (in this Act also referred to as an eggs acquisition fee) calculated at the prescribed rate and in the prescribed manner on the total quantity of eggs acquired by him from producers in such half year, other than eggs which are shown to the satisfaction of the Minister to have been unfit for human consumption or externally dirty and to have been disposed of in the manner required by this Act in respect of such eggs.

(3) Save as is otherwise provided by the next following sub-section of this section, every eggs acquisition fee shall become due on the day after the last day of the half-year in respect of which it is payable, and shall be paid, in the case of every such fee which so becomes due on the 1st day of July in any year before the 1st day of September in that year or, in the case of every such fee which so becomes due on the 1st day of January in any year, before the 1st day of March in that year.

(4) Where a registered wholesaler or a registered retailer ceases, during any half-year ending on the 30th day of June or the 31st day of December, to be registered in the register of wholesalers or the register of retailers (as the case may be), the eggs acquisition fee payable by him in respect of such half-year shall become due on the day after the day on which he ceases to be so registered, and shall be paid before the expiration of two months from the day on which it so becomes due.

16 Annual fees.

16.—(1) Every registered dealer shall pay to the Minister, in respect of every year during which or during any part of which he is registered in the register of dealers, a fee (in this Act referred to as an annual fee) of the prescribed amount or, until an amount is prescribed for such fee, of the amount of one pound.

(2) Save as is otherwise provided by the next following sub-section of this section, every annual fee shall become due on the 1st day of January in the year in respect of which it is payable and shall be paid before the 1st day of March in that year.

(3) The annual fee payable by a registered dealer in respect of the year in which he becomes registered in the register of dealers shall become due on the day on which he becomes so registered, and shall be paid before the expiration of two months from that day.

17 Recovery of fees.

17.—(1) Every eggs acquisition fee and every annual fee which is not paid within the time limited by this Act for the payment thereof shall be recoverable by the Minister as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction and shall be so recoverable notwithstanding and without prejudice to the exercise by the Minister of the power conferred on him by the next following sub-section of this section.

(2) Where a person liable to pay an eggs acquisition fee or an annual fee fails to pay such fee within the time limited by this Act for the payment thereof, it shall be lawful for the Minister to cancel the registration in the register of wholesalers, the register of retailers, or the register of dealers (as the case may be) of all premises in respect of which such person is registered in such register.

(3) Where the registration of any premises is cancelled by virtue of the next preceding sub-section of this section and the fee, the non-payment of which occasioned such cancellation, is paid within three months after the expiration of the time limited by this Act for the payment thereof, the Minister may, if he so thinks proper, restore the said premises, as on and from the date on which such fee is so paid, to the register in which the registration of such premises was so cancelled.

18 Applications for registration.

18.—(1) Every application for the registration of premises in a register kept in pursuance of this Act (other than the register of retailers) shall be made by the proprietor of such premises in writing in the prescribed form and manner and shall contain the prescribed particulars.

(2) Whenever an application is made under this section for the registration of any premises, the Minister shall cause such premises to be inspected by an inspector.

(3) Where an application under this section for the registration of any premises is refused by the Minister, the reasons for the refusal shall be stated to the applicant.

(4) The refusal of an application under this section for the registration of premises shall not prevent the making under this section of a fresh application for the registration of the same premises at any subsequent time.

(5) Whenever an application is made under this section for the registration of premises in a register, the Minister may, if he so thinks fit, register such premises in the said register before they have been inspected in pursuance of this section, and wherever the Minister so registers any premises the following provisions shall have effect, that is to say:—

(a) such registration shall be provisional only and is in this Act referred to as provisional registration;

(b) such registration shall not relieve the Minister from the obligation to cause such premises to be inspected by an inspector, save that such inspection may take place after such registration;

(c) such registration shall not prejudice or affect the power of the Minister to grant or to refuse the said application for the registration of the said premises;

(d) if and when the Minister grants the said application, the said provisional registration shall cease to be provisional;

(e) if and when the Minister refuses the said application, the said provisional registration shall be cancelled;