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Short title.
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1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Manufacture of Matches (Regulation) Ordinance.
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Manufacture of matches and manufacture, import and supply of splints, &c, prohibited except under licence.
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2.
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(1) On and after a day to be appointed by the Governor * by Proclamation in the Gazette, no person shall-
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(a) manufacture any matches, splints, veneers or boxes unless he is the holder of a licence authorizing such manufacture ;
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(b) import any splints, veneers or boxes into Ceylon unless he is the holder of a licence authorizing such import;
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(c) supply any splints, veneers or boxes to any person who is not the holder of a licence to manufacture matches:
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Provided that where matches manufactured outside Ceylon are imported into Ceylon in boxes, no licence shall be required for the importation of such boxes.
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(2) The Proclamation under subsection (1) shall be published in the Gazette at least one month before the date appointed thereby.
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Application for licence.
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3. Every application for a licence shall be made to the Director in the prescribed form. * 1st February, 1939.-Gazette No. 8,415 of 25th November, 1938.
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Licences.
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4.
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(1) Every licence shall be in the prescribed form and shall be in force for the period specified therein.
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(2) Every licence to manufacture matches, splints, veneers or boxes shall specify the premises to be used as a manufactory for such articles or any of them ; and every licence to manufacture matches shall, in addition, specify the maximum permitted monthly output of the manufactory.
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(3) No person other than the person named in a licence shall be deemed to be the holder of that licence for the purposes of this Ordinance.
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(4) No licence shall be issued to any person except upon payment of the prescribed fee.
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Issue of licences.
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5.
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(1) Every person who, before the date appointed by the Governor under section 2 (1), makes applica-tion to the Director for a licence to manufacture matches and proves to the satisfaction of the Director-
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(a) that he is, on the date of the application, the proprietor of a business established in Ceylon for the manufacture of matches in Ceylon ; and
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(b) that such business was established prior to the 1st day of June, 1936, and was carried on continuously from that day until the date of the commencement of this Ordinance,
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shall be entitled to obtain a licence for the manufacture of matches.
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(2) The maximum permitted monthly output of the manufactory specified in the licence to manufacture matches issued to a person entitled to obtain such a licence under subsection (1) shall be determined by the Director in such manner as shall be prescribed.
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(3) No licence to manufacture matches shall be issued by the Director to any person other than a person entitled to such a licence under subsection (1) except in accordance with such regulations as may be made for the purpose of authorizing the issue of licences to persons not so entitled.
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(4) Every decision or determination of the Director under this section shall be subject to an appeal to the Minister. [1] Regulations shall be made prescribing the persons by whom and the circumstances and the manner in which any such appeal may be preferred ; and the decision of the Minister on any such appeal shall be final and conclusive.
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Revocation of licences.
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6.
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(1) Where any person who is the holder of a licence contravenes any of the conditions attached to that licence, the Director may, after notice to such person and after inquiry held in such manner as may be prescribed, make order revoking the licence issued to that person.
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(2) Any person whose licence has been revoked by the Director by order made under subsection (1) may appeal against that order to the Minister1 in such manner as may be prescribed ; and the decision of the Minister on any such appeal shall be final and conclusive.
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Returns and information.
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7.
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(1) The Director may by notice in writing call upon any person engaged or suspected to be engaged in the manufacture, import, or supply of matches, splints, veneers or boxes to furnish before a specified date a return in the prescribed form containing such information as may be required for the purposes of this Ordinance.
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(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by subsection (1), information may be called for in respect of all or any of the following matters : –
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(a) the actual or potential output of any manufactory in Ceylon at which matches, splints, veneers or boxes are manufactured ;
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(b) the quantities of such articles kept in stock or stored in any manufactory or other place or premises ;
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(c) the cost of manufacture in Ceylon of any such articles and the prices (both wholesale and retail) at which and the quantities in which, such articles are sold, imported or supplied.
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(3) Every return furnished under subsection (1) shall be accompanied by a declaration that the statements contained in that return are true and accurate.
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(4) Every declaration made for the purposes of subsection (3) shall be free from stamp duty.
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Inspection of manufac-tories, &c.
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8. The Director or any person authorized by him in writing may, at any reasonable time during the day, enter any manufactory, store, godown, shed, land or premises for the purpose of-
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(a) inspecting, examining or taking an account or stock of any matches, splints, veneers or boxes;
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(b) verifying any particulars mentioned in any application for a licence or any information furnished in any return made under this Ordinance.
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Prohibition of manufacture of matches in excess of permitted output.
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9. The holder of a licence to manufacture matches shall not, at the manufactory specified in that licence, manufacture matches in excess of the maximum permitted monthly output of that manufactory.
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Regulations.
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10.
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(1) The Minister [1] may make regulations for 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 Minister1 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 form of applications for licences and the particulars to be entered therein ;
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(c) the form of licences, the period for which such licences shall be in force, the particulars to be entered therein and the conditions to be attached thereto, the fees or scales of fees payable therefor and the manner of paying such fees ;
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(d) the issue of licences, the introduction of a system of quotas for the manufacture of matches at manufactories, the allocation of quotas, the re-allocation of quotas on the revocation or cancellation of a licence and the conditions and restrictions applicable to such issue, allocation or re-allocation ;
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(e) the method by which the Director shall deter- mine or vary the maximum permitted monthly output of a manufactory ;
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(f) the determination of the grades or standards of matches ;
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(g) the determination and notification of the minimum price below which or the maximum price above which matches shall not be sold either wholesale or by retail;
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(h) the regulation of the issue of matches out of any manufactory and the determination of the maximum or minimum number of matches which may be packed in any box sold or offered for sale ;
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(i) the compulsory use of banderols, labels or stamps, the manner in which such banderols, labels or stamps shall be affixed on boxes, the issue and sale by the Director of banderols, labels and stamps and the prices or fees to be paid or recovered therefor ;
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(j) the supply of splints, veneers or boxes to persons licensed to manufacture matches ;
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(k) the control of manufactories of matches, splints, veneers or boxes, and the safety, health, wages and conditions of labour of persons employed in the manufacture of such articles ;
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(l) 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, and the forms of all returns and declarations required to be made for the purposes of this Ordinance ;
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(m) the importation or exportation of matches, splints, veneers or boxes ;
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(n) the inspection or search of any place or conveyance used for the manufacture, sale, storage or carriage of matches, splints, veneers or boxes;
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(o) the detention and disposal of matches, splints, veneers or boxes ordered to be forfeited to Her Majesty under this Ordinance;
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(p) the manner of serving notices for the purposes of this Ordinance ;
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(q) inquiries and appeals and the time within which appeals may be preferred ;
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(r) the collection of statistics relating to the match industry ;
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(s) 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 [1] shall be brought before the Senate and the House of Representatives [1] by a motion that such regulation shall be approved. No regulation made by the Minister [1] shall have effect until it has been approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives. [1] Notification of such approval shall be published in the Gazette.
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(4) A regulation made by the Ministerl when approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives [1] 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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Offences.
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11.
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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 perfor-mance 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 to furnish a return or to supply any information required by the Director under this Ordinance ; or
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(d) makes in any declaration or return, furnished by him under this Ordinance, any statement which he knows to be false, or supplies to the Director any information which he knows to be false,
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shall be guilty of an offence.
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(2) Where grades or standards have been prescribed for matches, any person who sells or offers for sale any matches which do not conform to such grades or standards shall be guilty of an offence.
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(3) Where maximum or minimum prices have been prescribed for any matches, any person who sells such matches or offers such matches for sale at a price above the maximum or below the minimum price prescribed for such matches, shall be guilty of an offence.
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(4) Any person who attempts or conspires to commit any offence under this Ordinance shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence.
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Penalties.
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12.
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(1) Any person who commits an offence under this Ordinance (other than an offence under section 13) 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) The Magistrate may, on the conviction of any person of any offence relating to any matches, splints, veneers or boxes, make order declaring that such matches, splints, veneers or boxes shall be forfeited to Her Majesty ; and where the holder of a licence is convicted of an offence under this Ordinance, the Magistrate may, in addition to any other penalty which he is authorized to impose for that offence, make order cancelling that licence.
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Forgery, &c, of banderols, labels or stamps.
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13.
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(1) Any person who forges or counterfeits, or uses, sells, offers for sale, disposes of, or has in his possession, knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged or counterfeited, any banderol, label or stamp purporting to be issued by the Director shall be guilty of an offence, and shall be liable to imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years or to a fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, or to both such imprisonment and fine.
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(2) In any proceedings in which the genuineness of any banderol, label or stamp shall be in question, a certificate in the prescribed form, under the hand of the prescribed officer, to the effect that such banderol, label or stamp is spurious on the ground that it does not contain the characteristic features of a genuine banderol, label or stamp, as the case may be, of corresponding denomination, number and date shall be received in all courts of law as conclusive evidence of the spuriousness of such banderol, label or stamp.
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(3) The prescribed officer who issues a certificate under subsection (2) shall not be examined or cross-examined in any court of law with respect to any such certificate.
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Prosecutions to be sanctioned by Attorney-General.
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14. No prosecution shall be instituted against any person for any offence under this Ordinance except with the written sanction of the Attorney-General.
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Manufacture of boxes as cottage
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15. A person shall not be guilty of an offence under this Ordinance by reason only of the fact that he manufactures boxes in a cottage or dwelling house, not on his own account, but on agreement with or as the employee of the holder of a licence to manufacture matches.
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16.
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(1) In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires-
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” box ” means the container in which matches are put up for sale and includes a paper envelope or any other container;
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” Director ” [2] means the Director of Industries2 and includes the Deputy Director of Industries [2] and any Assistant Director of Industries;2
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“licence” means a licence issued by the Director under this Ordinance ;
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” manufactory ” means the premises in which matches, splints, veneers or boxes are manufactured and includes any warehouse used for the storage or custody of such articles ;
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” matches ” includes safety and non-safety matches, lucifers, vestas, fusees and vesuvians;
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” prescribed” means prescribed by this Ordinance or by any regulation made thereunder ;
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” regulation” means a regulation made by the Minister1 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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” splints” means undipped splints such as are commonly used for making matches ;
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” veneers ” means veneers such as are ordinarily used for making boxes.
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(2) Where a match-stick contains more heads than one capable of being ignited by striking, each such head shall be deemed to be a match.
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Saving of provisions of other written law.
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17. The provisions of this Ordinance shall be in addition to and not in substitution or derogation of the provisions of any other written law relating to the manufacture of matches, splints, veneers or boxes or to factories established for such manufacture or to the licensing, supervision, or control of such factories, in so far as such other written law is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance.
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