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CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - LONG TITLE

An Act to make provision for controlling the sale and disposal of
certain fertilisers so as to prevent frauds and abuses in connection
with the payment of grants or subsidies in respect thereof; and for
purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[15th December 1953]
General restriction on sale of fertilisers.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 1

1.(1) It shall not be lawful for any person to agree or offer to
sell or dispose of or to expose for sale or to sell or dispose
of fertilisers except under and in accordance with the terms of a
licence granted under this Act by the Ministry of Agriculture (in
this Act referred to as "the Ministry").

(2) It shall not be lawful for any person to agree or offer to
acquire or to acquire fertilisers otherwise than from a person
licensed under this Act (in this Act referred to as a "licensee").

(3) The Ministry may from time to time by regulations exempt from
the provisions of this Act fertilisers of any grade or description
specified in the regulations, including, in particular, fertilisers in
respect of which no grant or subsidy is for the time being payable
out of public moneys, and so long as such regulations remain in
force references in this Act (other than references in this
sub-section) to fertilisers shall not include fertilisers so exempted.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be taken to prohibit or restrict

(a)the acceptance by a person carrying on the business of a carrier
or warehouseman, in the ordinary course of that business, of any
fertilisers;

(b)the delivery by such a person, in the ordinary course of that
business, of any fertilisers; or

(c)any dealings in fertilisers by or with the Ministry.

(5) It shall be a good defence to proceedings for an offence under
sub-section (2) of this section for the person charged to prove
that the person from whom he acquired or agreed to acquire the
fertilisers represented himself to be licensed for the purposes of
this Act and that the person charged had reasonable grounds for
believing the truth of such representation.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 2
Provisions as to licences.

2.(1) A licence issued by the Ministry for the purposes of this
Act may be issued for such time and subject to such conditions as
may be specified in the licence, including, in particular, conditions
for preventing frauds and abuses in connection with the payment out
of public moneys of grants or subsidies in respect of any
fertilisers, and may be revoked or suspended at any time by the
Ministry.

(2) The form of the licence and of the application for a licence
shall be such as the Ministry may direct.

(3) If a licence issued as aforesaid is revoked by the Ministry,
the person having possession of the licence shall forthwith deliver
it up to the Ministry.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 3
Records, etc.

3. Every licensee shall

(a)keep or cause to be kept such books, records, accounts and
documents relating to fertilisers bought, stored, sold or otherwise
disposed of by him (whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any
other person) as the Ministry may by regulation prescribe and, for
at least twelve months or such shorter period as the Ministry may
by regulation prescribe, keep available for immediate inspection all
such books, records, accounts and documents; and

(b)permit an authorised officer at all reasonable times to enter on
any premises used in connection with the purchase, sale, manufacture,
mixing or storage of fertilisers and to inspect and take copies of
or extracts from any books, records, accounts or documents required
to be kept available for immediate inspection as aforesaid:

(i)produce on demand any books, records, accounts or documents
required to be kept as aforesaid; and

(ii)make, at reasonable times and to persons to be so specified,
such returns relating to the purchase, sale, disposal, manufacture,
mixing or storage of fertilisers as may be prescribed.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 4
Powers of inspection and taking samples.

4. Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) of section eight,
an authorised officer may at all reasonable times enter on any
lands or premises or place whatsoever (including a lorry, cart or
other vehicle) in which fertilisers are for the time being or are
being sold or offered, exposed, or kept for sale, or are stored,
manufactured or mixed or on which the authorised officer has
reasonable cause to believe fertilisers may be found, and may there
search for, examine, and take samples and particulars of, all or
any fertilisers found on such lands, premises or place.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 5
Offences.

5.(1) Any person

(a)who acts in contravention of or neglects or fails to comply with
any provision contained in this Act or in any regulation made
thereunder, or who acts in contravention of or neglects or fails to
comply with the conditions of any licence issued for the purposes
of this Act; or

(b)who obstructs or impedes an authorised officer in the exercise of
any of his functions under this Act or any regulation made under
this Act;

(2) Any person who

(a)being required to furnish any information under or for the
purposes of this Act or any regulation made thereunder furnishes any
information which, to his knowledge, is false in a material
particular; or

(b)makes any statement which, to his knowledge is false in a
material particular;

(3) Where an offence against this Act which has been committed by
a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent
or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part
of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the
body corporate, or any person purporting to act in any such
capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that
offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished
accordingly.

(4) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (5) of this section,
all offences against this Act shall be prosecuted and all fines
thereunder shall be recovered in manner provided by the Summary
Jurisdiction Acts (Northern Ireland).

(5) Notwithstanding any provision in any enactment prescribing the
period within which summary proceedings may be commenced, proceedings
for an offence against this Act may be commenced at any time
within the period of twelve months from the date on which evidence,
sufficient in the opinion of the Ministry to justify a prosecution
for the offence, comes to its knowledge.

(6) For the purposes of the last preceding sub-section, a
certificate purporting to be signed by the Minister of Agriculture
or a secretary or assistant secretary of the Ministry, as to the
date on which such evidence as aforesaid came to the knowledge of
the Ministry, shall be conclusive evidence thereof.

(7) A prosecution for an offence against this Act shall not be
instituted except by or with the consent of the Ministry or the
Attorney-General.

S.6 rep. by SLR 1980

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 7
Regulations.

7.(1) The Ministry may make regulations prescribing anything which is
to be prescribed under this Act, and providing for any matter in
regard to which regulations may be made under this Act, and
generally for carrying this Act into effect.

(2) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act,
regulations under this Act may be made subject to such conditions,
including, in particular, conditions for the safeguarding of public
moneys out of which any grant or subsidy is payable in respect of
any fertilisers, and may contain such exemptions, exceptions and such
incidental and supplementary provisions as may be specified therein.

(3) All regulations made under this Act shall be laid before each
House of Parliament as soon as may be after they are made and if
either such House, within the statutory period next after the day
on which such regulations are laid before it, resolves that the
regulations be annulled, the regulations shall thereupon cease to
have effect, but without prejudice to the validity of anything
previously done thereunder or to the making of new regulations.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 8
Authorised officers.

8.(1) In this Act references to an authorised officer shall be
construed as including references to

(a)any officer of the Ministry authorised in writing; and

(b)so long as a direction given by the Ministry under sub-section
(2) of this section continues in force, any person who is deemed
by virtue of such direction to be an authorised officer for the
purposes of this Act.

(2) Where the Ministry is satisfied that appropriate arrangements
have been made under section sixty-three of the Government of
Ireland Act, 1920, with Her Majesty's Commissioners of Customs and
Excise, the Ministry may direct that, during such period as may be
specified in the direction, officers of Her Majesty's Commissioners
of Customs and Excise and persons deemed to be such officers by
virtue of [section 8 of the Customs and Excise Management Act
1979], shall be authorised officers for the purposes of this Act,
and, during the period so specified, references to an authorised
officer shall be construed as including such officers or persons as
aforesaid.

(3) Save as provided by sub-section (4) of this section, where an
authorised officer is acting in the exercise of any of his
functions under this Act or any regulation made thereunder he shall,
if so required by any person, produce his authority to act as
such.

(4) Where a person is deemed to be an authorised officer by virtue
of a direction given under sub-section (2) of this section

(a)the last preceding sub-section shall not apply if he is in
uniform as an officer of Her Majesty's Commissioners of Customs and
Excise; and

(b)if he is not in such uniform, it shall be a sufficient
compliance with the last preceding sub-section if he produces any
commission or other written authority issued to him by or on behalf
of the Commissioners to act as an officer of, or person appointed
by or engaged by the orders of or with the concurrence of, the
Commissioners.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 9
Interpretation.

9.(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears, the
following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them, that
is to say:

"acquire" and "dispose of" include, respectively, the taking and
giving of possession;

"fertilisers" means any one or more than one of the articles listed
in Part I of the First Schedule to the Fertilisers and Feeding
Stuffs Act, 1926;

"functions" includes both powers and duties;

"licensee" has the meaning assigned to it by sub-section (2) of
section one;

"Ministry" has the meaning assigned to it by sub-section (1) of
section one;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the Ministry
under this Act.

Subs.(2)(3) rep. by 1954 c.33 (NI) s.48(1) sch.

CONTROL OF FERTILISERS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1953 - SECT 10
Short title.

10.(1) This Act may be cited as the Control of Fertilisers Act
(Northern Ireland), 1953.

Subs.(2) rep. by SLR 1973