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Short title.
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1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Coconut Products Ordinance.
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Ceylon Coconut Board
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2.
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(1) For the purposes of this Ordinance, there shall be established a board styled ” The Ceylon Coconut Board ” which shall consist of a chairman and eleven other members all of whom shall be appointed by the Minister.
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(2) The board shall be a body corporate and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal.
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(3) The seal of the board shall be authenticated in the prescribed manner and when so authenticated shall be judicially noticed.
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(4) The board may sue and be sued under the name and style of ” The Ceylon Coconut Board “.
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(5) The board shall appoint a manager and a secretary.
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(6) Service on the board of all legal processes and notices may be effected by service on the secretary of the board. In civil proceedings, it shall be lawful for the secretary to sign proxies on behalf of the board.
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(7) Five members of the board excluding the chairman or other presiding member shall form a quorum thereof ; but subject to the provisions of this subsection the board may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their number.
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(8) The chairman and every other member of the board shall, upon appointment, hold office for a period of three years ; but the Minister may, notwithstanding the term of any such appointment, remove the chairman or any other member of the board from office at any time ; Provided that it shall be lawful for the chairman or any other member of the board to resign therefrom at any time.
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(9) Any person ceasing to be a member of the board shall be eligible for reappointment thereto.
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(10) The chairman shall preside at all meetings of the board at which he is present. In the absence of the chairman from any meeting, the members present at the meeting may, subject to the provisions of subsection (7), elect one of their own number to, be chairman at that meeting-
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(11) The chairman may summon a meeting of the board at any time and shall summon a meeting upon receipt of a requisition therefor signed by three members of the board.
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(12) All questions shall be decided by a majority of the members voting at a meeting of the board. The chairman or presiding member shall have an original vote on all questions as well as a casting vote if the votes be equally divided.
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(13) A member of the board who is absent without reasonable cause from three consecutive meetings of the board may, by resolution of the board passed at a meeting of which notice has been duly given, be held to have vacated his office; and, upon the passing of any such resolution, the member affected by that resolution shall cease to be a member of the board.
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(14) The board may regulate its own procedure in any matters not provided for in this Ordinance or in the regulations made thereunder.
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Powers and duties of the board.
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3. The board shall have full power and authority-
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(1) to acquire and hold property, movable or immovable, and to sell, transfer, lease, mortgage or otherwise dispose of such property ;
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(2) to appoint, employ and remunerate and control its officers and servants and to direct and decide all matters connected with the administration of its affairs;
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(3) to take such steps as it may consider necessary both in and outside Ceylon to advertise Ceylon coconut products, to create, promote, encourage and further the demand for such products in the markets of the world, and to initiate, finance, support and supervise propaganda work for such purposes or for other purposes connected therewith or incidental thereto;
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(4) to take such steps as it may consider necessary for the development or welfare of the coconut industry by organizing, assisting or participating in exhibitions or fairs in or outside Ceylon,
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(5) to aid and finance local associations or co-operative societies formed for the advancement and support of the coconut industry;
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(6) to promote and subsidize the erection or extension of factories in which coconut products are manufactured or used;
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(7) to investigate questions relating to freights and the export or transport of coconut products and to make recommendations thereon to the Minister;
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(8) to formulate for the consideration of the Minister, schemes for the establishment, supervision, control and financial support of such institutions as may be or become necessary for the amelioration of the conditions of the coconut industry;
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(9) to receive and disburse moneys for the accomplishment of the objects for which it is established ;
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(10) to raise funds or capita! and to borrow money whether on the security of its assets or otherwise;
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(11) to establish, manage, supervise and’ support sales rooms and agencies for the sale of coconut products both within and outside Ceylon;
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(12) to formulate schemes to give effect to the objects and purposes of this Ordinance,
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(13) to enter into contracts and generally . to do all such things as may be necessary for the due exercise of the powers conferred and for due compliance with the duties imposed upon it by this Ordinance or by the regulations made thereunder.
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Allowance for expenses of members of the board.
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4. No member of the board shall receive any remuneration, reward or fee for his services as a member of the board or as an officer thereof except such amount as may be prescribed by way of an allowance to meet expenses which he may incur in the discharge of his duties as a member or as an officer of the board including the expenses of traveling to and from the meetings of the board.
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Minister to have general control.
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5. Save as is otherwise expressly provided in this Ordinance and in the regulations made thereunder, the board shall be under the general direction and control of the Minister.
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Sales rooms.
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6.
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(1) The board shall establish in Colombo a sales room for the auction and sale of coconut products and may establish similar sales rooms elsewhere.
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(2) The establishment of a sales room in Colombo shall not for a period of three months reckoned from the date of such establishment affect or invalidate any forward contract made prior to the date of the coming into operation of this Ordinance for the delivery or sale of copra at a price fixed definitely in that contract in money or money’s worth.
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Regulations shall be made for the registration of forward contracts by the board and for the measures to be taken and the procedure to be adopted in order to give effect to the provisions of this subsection.
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(3) Auction sales shall be held in the sales room in Colombo daily except on Sundays :
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Provided that the board may, after due notice to the public in the prescribed manner, order that no auction sales shall be held in that sales room on a public holiday or on any other specified day or date.
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Registration of auctioneers and brokers.
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7.
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(1) The board shall keep a register of approved auctioneers and brokers.
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(2) Regulations may be made prescribing-
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(a) the form of the register of auctioneers and brokers; and
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(b) the procedure whereby an auctioneer or a broker may be approved and registered by the board.
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Sales to be conducted by registered auctioneers.
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8. No coconut products shall be offered or put up for sale at a sales room except through a registered auctioneer or an officer of the board who is an auctioneer.
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Registration of shippers, dealers, and millers.
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9. Regulations may be made providing for the registration of shippers, dealers and millers and prescribing the terms and conditions upon which a person may be registered as a shipper, or a dealer, or a miller, as the case may be.
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Stock-books to be kept by shippers, dealers” and millers.
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10. The board may require any shipper, dealer or miller to keep in the prescribed form a stock-book containing the prescribed particulars relating to coconut products purchased, kept, stored, sold or shipped by him.
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Returns
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11. The board may require any shipper, dealer or miller to furnish to the board on the prescribed dates returns in the prescribed form containing such particulars as may be required in respect of stocks and shipments of coconut products and contracts and agreements relating to the purchase, sale, marketing, storage, import or export of such products, or to the rates of freight charged or chargeable for the transport of such products.
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Power of board to call for information
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12. It shall be lawful for the board at any time to call upon any auctioneer, booker, shipper, dealer, or miller-information
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(a) to furnish before a specified date such information or explanation as the board may require in respect of any particulars stated in any return furnished by such auctioneer, broker, shipper, dealer, or miller; and
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(b) to produce or cause to be produced before a specified date such documentary or other evidence as the board may require for the purpose of verifying any fads or particulars stated in any return furnished by such auctioneer, broker, shipper, dealer, or miller.
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Returns to be verified by statutory declaration.
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13.
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(1) Every return furnished under this Ordinance shall be accompanied by a declaration that the statements contained therein are true and accurate. A similar declaration shall be attached to the documents whereby any information is supplied or explanation is offered under this Ordinance.
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(2) Every declaration referred to in subsection (1) shall be free from stamp duty.
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Particulars in returns to be treated as confidential.
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14. All particulars contained in any return furnished, information supplied or explanation offered under this Ordinance shall be treated as confidential by the board and by every member, officer or servant thereof except where the person furnishing such return, supplying such information or offering such explanation otherwise agrees.
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Penalty for unlawful disclosure or publication of information,
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15. No information obtained under this Ordinance in regard to any person or business shall be disclosed or published by the board or by any member, officer or servant thereof except for the purposes of this Ordinance or of any legal proceedings thereunder; and any person who knowingly discloses or publishes any such information shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction after summary trial before a Magistrate, be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment:
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Provided that nothing in this subsection contained shall be deemed to prohibit the disclosure or publication for statistical purposes of facts and figures which make no reference to any particular individual or business.
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Sale certificates.
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16.
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(1) The board shall, on demand, issue a sale certificate to every person who purchases copra at a sales room.
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(2) Every sale certificate shall be in the prescribed form and shall state the name of the purchaser and the quantity of the copra purchased by him.
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(3) A sale certificate shall not be transferable or negotiable.
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Copra export licences
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17.
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(1) Every copra export licence shall be in the prescribed form and shall authorize the export by the person named in the licence of a specified quantity of copra of a standard quality fixed by the board.
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(2) A copra export licence shall not be transferable or negotiable.
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(3) The board shall, on application in the prescribed form, issue to the applicant a copra export licence authorizing the export by that applicant of a specified quantity of a standard quality of copra if the board or a prescribed officer of the board is satisfied-
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(a) that the applicant has purchased at a sales room a like quantity of copra and has produced a sale certificate as evidence of such purchase; or
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(b) that the copra for the export of which such licence is required was manufactured on an estate and is being exported by the proprietor of that estate on his own account; or
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(c) that the copra for the export of which such licence is required was purchased in any other manner or circumstances prescribed by regulation:
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Provided that the board or a prescribed officer of the board may refuse to issue a copra export licence if in the opinion of the board or of that officer the copra sought to be exported on the licence is inferior to corral of that standard of quality which may from time to time be fixed by the board as the lowest exportable standard of copra for Ceylon; and
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Provided further that an appeal shall lie to such authority or tribunal as may be prescribed and subject to such regulations as may be made for the purpose against any refusal by the board or a prescribed officer of the board to issue a copra export licence under this section.
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Copra no to be exported except on licence.
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18.
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(1) On and after a date* to be declared by the Governor by Proclamation in the Gazette, no copra shall ‘be exported’ from Ceylon through the port of Colombo except upon a copra export licence issued by the board. [* all the May, 1936. Gazelle No, 8,214 of241h April. 1936.]
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(2) The Minister may by notification in the Gazette and with effect from a date to be appointed in that notification extend the provisions of this section to any port or ports in Ceylon in addition to the port of Colombo.
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Coconut oil export licence.
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19.
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(1) Every coconut oil export licence shall be in the prescribed form and authorize the export by the person named in the licence of the quantity of coconut oil specified therein.
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(2) The board shall, on application in the prescribed form, issue to the applicant a coconut oil export licence-
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(a) in exchange for sale certificates issued to the applicant in accordance with the provisions of section 16 and surrendered by him to the board in the prescribed manner; or
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(b) if the board or a prescribed officer thereof is satisfied that the coconut oil to be exported on that licence was manufactured-
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(i) from copra obtained by the applicant from coconuts produced on an estate of which that applicant is the proprietor; or
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(ii) from parings or shavings or from fresh coconuts; or
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(iii) in an area other than an area prescribed for the purpose of section 21 ; or
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(iv) from copra purchased before a prescribed date or in any manner or circumstances prescribed by regulation.
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(3) A coconut oil export licence shall not be transferable except to a shipper. Regulations may be made prescribing the circumstances in which and the conditions subject to which a shipper may be entitled to the transfer of a coconut oil export licence and to export coconut oil on that licence.
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Coconut oil not to be except on licence,
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20.
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(1) On and after a date* to be declared by the Governor by Proclamation in the Gazette, no coconut oil shall be exported from Ceylon through the port of Colombo except upon a coconut oil export licence issued by the board. [* ll th May, 1936.-Gazette No. 8.214 of 241h April. 1936.]
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(2) The Minister may by notification in the Gazette and with effect from a date to be appointed in that notification extend the provisions of this section to any port or ports in Ceylon in addition to the port of Colombo.
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Purchase of copra for manufacture of oil.
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21. On and after a date to be declared by the Minister by notification in the Gazette, no person shall within any prescribed area manufacture coconut oil from copra purchased by or for him unless such copra was purchased at the sales room.
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Notification and registration of coconut products exported from ports other than Colombo.
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22.
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(1) Every person who exports any coconut products, in respect of which a cuss is levied under section 23, through any port in Ceylon other than the port of Colombo, shall notify to the board in the prescribed manner the prescribed particulars relating to that consignment.
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(2) The board shall register in the prescribed manner all particulars notified under subsection (1).
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Coconut cuss.
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23.
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(1) In order to provide an income for the board there shall be charged, levied and paid in addition to the export duties imposed under any written law other than this Ordinance, an export duty of two and a half cents on every hundredweight of copra, four cents on every hundredweight of coconut oil, and three and a half cents on every hundredweight of desiccated coconut and so in proportion for any less weight of any of those coconut products.
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(2) Parliament may by resolution duly passed at any public session impose an export duty on any coconut product not mentioned in subsection (1) and may from time to time by like resolution increase, reduce, alter or abolish the amount of the duty imposed under subsection (1) or under this subsection.
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(3) The duty imposed under this section shall not be taken into account in estimating the export duty levied on coconut products under the law of Ceylon for the purposes of section 31* of the Income Tax Ordinance. [*The section 31 referred to has been repealed by section 9 of Act No. 30 of 1950.]
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(4) This section shall have effect as though it formed part of the Customs Ordinance, and the provisions of that Ordinance shall apply accordingly.
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(5) Pending the accrual from the export duty levied under this Ordinance of funds sufficient to defray the expenses incurred or likely to be incurred by the board, it shall be lawful for the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury to advance to the board from the Consolidated Fund such sums as the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance may authorize him to advance from time to time.
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(6) No interest shall be payable by the board on any sums advanced by the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury under subsection (5). Such sums shall be repaid by the board in such instalments as the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance may determine.
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(7) Nothing in this section contained shall be deemed to preclude the board from receiving, whether by way of addition to its income or for a specified purpose or generally for the relief of the coconut industry, such moneys as may be voted or provided by Parliament by resolution duly passed at a public session.
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Budget of the board.
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24.
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(1) The Executive Committee shall prepare the first budget of the board. Such budget shall contain a statement of the estimated income and expenditure of the board from the date of the commencement of this Ordinance to the end of the year in which that dale occurs.
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(2) In the month of November in each year the board shall submit to the Minister a budget of the estimated income and expenditure of the board for the next succeeding year.
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(3) Whenever the board proposes to incur in any year any expenditure in excess of the estimated expenditure as set out in the budget for that year, the board shall prepare and submit to the Minister a supplementary budget containing an estimate of the additional expenditure proposed to be incurred and of any increase anticipated in its estimated income as set out in the budget for that year.
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(4) Every budget and every supplementary budget of the board shall be laid on the table of Parliament for the information of the members thereof.
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(5) Not later than the thirty-first day of March in each year the board shall submit to the Minister a statement, duly audited, of the moneys received and disbursed by the board during the immediately preceding year. Each such statement shall be laid on the table of Parliament for the information of the members thereof-
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Right of inspection.
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25. The manager or any person authorized by him in writing may at any reasonable time during the day enter any store, go down, factory, shed, estate or premises for the purpose of inspection, or for the purpose of verifying stocks or any particulars furnished in any return made or information given to the board, or for the purpose of examining the stock-books of shippers, dealers and millers.
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Protection of officers.
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26. No action shall be instituted against the board or the chairman or any other member of the board or the manager, secretary or other officer of the board, or any person acting in compliance with any direction or requirement of the board or the chairman or the manager or secretary or other officer of the board, to charge him, them or any of them in respect of any act which may have been done or which may have been left undone in good faith in pursuance or supposed pursuance of his or their powers or duties under this Ordinance.
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Gratuities and provident fund.
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27.
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(1) The board may, out of the moneys of the board, pay to any employee of the board who leaves the service of the board by reason of the abolition of the office or post held by him, or to the heirs of any deceased employee of the board, a gratuity of such amount as the board may in its discretion determine.
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(2) The board may establish and maintain a provident fund for the benefit of all or any of its employees and their dependants or nominees, and may make contributions to such fund out of the moneys of the board.
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Power of Minister to mitigate cases of hardship.
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28. If in the operation of this Ordinance any case shall arise in which in the opinion of the Minister substantial hardship is likely to be caused to any person by reason of an unintentional failure on the part of such person to observe any formality prescribed by this Ordinance or by any regulations made thereunder, the Minister may give such directions as may be necessary to mitigate or prevent such hardship.
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Offences and penalties.
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29.
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(1) Any person who-
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(a) commits a breach of any of the provisions of this Ordinance or of any regulation made thereunder; or
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(b) resists or obstructs any person in the performance of the duties imposed or in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by this Ordinance; or
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(c) omits or refuses when lawfully called upon by the board under this Ordinance-
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(i) to furnish a return or to produce or cause to be produced such documentary or other evidence as the board may require for the purpose of verifying any fact staled in any such return ; or
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(ii) to supply any information or offer any explanation ; or
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(d) knowingly makes any false statement in any declaration or return furnished by him under this Ordinance or knowingly offers any false explanation or supplies any false information when lawfully called upon by the board to offer an explanation or to supply any information; or
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(e) exports or attempts or conspires to export coconut products in contravention of the provisions of this Ordinance or of any regulation made thereunder,
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shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction after summary trial before a Magistrate be liable to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees or to imprisonment of either description for a period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
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(2) No prosecution for any offence under this Ordinance or a regulation made thereunder shall be instituted except with the written sanction of the Attorney-General.
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Regulations.
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30.
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(1) The Minister may make regulations of the purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the principles and provisions of this Ordinance.
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(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1), the Minister may make regulations for or in respect of all or any of the following matters:-
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(a) all matters stated or required in this Ordinance to be prescribed ;
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(b) the registers and books which shall be kept for the purposes of this Ordinance, the forms of such registers and books and the particulars to be entered therein ;
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(c) the forms of all returns, notices, certificates, licences, declarations, and documents required to be made, certified, issued or used for the purposes of this Ordinance ;
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(d) the inspection of stores, go downs, estates, factories, sheds or premises of shippers, dealers and millers, and the verification of stocks of shippers, dealers and millers;
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(e) the payment or recovery of fees, allowances or other charges;
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(f) the method of dealing with cases in which monetary advances have been given prior to the commencement of this Ordinance or will thereafter be given against deliveries of copra to be made subsequent to the date of such advances;
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(g) the examination and grading of coconut products, the establishment of standard qualities for such products and the issue of certificates of quality;
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(h) the conduct of sales and auctions in a sales room, the conditions applicable to such sales and auctions, and the regulation of the use of a sales room ;
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(i) the notification of the minimum price at which copra and other coconut products shall be sold from time to time in a sales room;
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(j) the regular publication of the maximum prices realized in a sales room on the sale of the various classes of coconut products;
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(k) the resale or disposal in a sales room of coconut products previously sold for export in the sales room and not exported;
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(l) the determination of the amount of coconut oil for which export licences may be issued against a surrender of sale certificates;
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(m) the erection, establishment, maintenance and control of store houses, collecting stations, warehouses and go downs for coconut products;
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(n) the grant of monetary advances against coconut products in the custody of the board and against coconut products which have been sold or are awaiting sale ;
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(o) the collection of statistics relating to the coconut industry;
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(q) all matters incidental to or connected with the matters or subjects specifically referred to in this subsection.
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(3) Every regulation made by the Minister shall be brought before Parliament by a motion that such regulation shall be approved. No regulation made by the Minister shall have effect until it has been approved by Parliament. Notification of such approval shall be published in the Gazette.
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(4) A regulation made by the Minister when approved by Parliament shall upon the notification of such approval in the Gazette be as valid and effectual as if it were herein enacted.
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Interpretation,
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31. In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-
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” auctioneer” means an acetifier licensed under the Auctioneers and Brokers Ordinance;
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” board” means the Ceylon Coconut Board established under section 2 ;
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” broker ” means a broker licensed under the Auctioneers and Brokers Ordinance;
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” chairman ” means the chairman of the board;
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“coconut fibre” means fibre manufactured by machinery from the husk or the coconut and includes fibre commonly known as mattress fibre and bristle fibre;
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“coconut products” include coconuts, copra, desiccated coconut, coconut oil, coconut poonac, coconut fibre and charcoal made from coconut shells;
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” dealer” means a dealer in coconut products;
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“estate” means any land on which the coconut palm is grown;
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“manufactured” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means manufactured for the purposes of trade and not for the personal or domestic use of the manufacturer;
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“manager” means the manager appointed by the board ;
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“miller” means a manufacturer of desiccated coconut, or coconut oil, coconut fibre;
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” prescribed” means prescribed by this Ordinance or by the regulations made thereunder;
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“proprietor ” means the owner, lessee or usufructuary mortgagee of an estate and includes the local agent of an owner who is absent from Ceylon;
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” registered ” means registered under this Ordinance or the regulations made thereunder;
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” regulation ” means a regulation made by the Minister under this Ordinance,
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” sale ” includes a sale by sample or grade and a sale for immediate or future delivery;
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“sales room” means a sales room established under section 6;
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” secretary ” means the secretary of the board ;
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“shipper” means a person who exports coconut products from Ceylon or obtains shipping facilities to enable another person so to export coconut products.
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Saving of the rights of the Republic
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32. Nothing in this Ordinance shall affect or be deemed to affect the rights of the Republic or of any body politic or corporate, or of any other person except such as are mentioned in this Ordinance and those claiming by, from or under them.
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