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Short title.
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1. This Act may be cited as the Rubber Replanting Subsidy Act.
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Rubber Replanting Subsidy Fund.
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2. There shall be established a fund called the Rubber Replanting Subsidy Fund for the purpose of subsidizing, in accordance with such regulations; as may be made in that behalf, the replanting of rubber estates and rubber small holdings, the rehabilitation of rubber estates and rubber small holdings and the processing of raw natural rubber, including the purchase of machinery and equipment used in the processing of raw natural rubber and the provision of welfare facilities to rubber smallholders.
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Payments into and out of the fund.
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3.
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(1) There shall be paid into the fund-
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(a) the profits made by the Rubber Controller by the sale of rubber plants and fertilizers for the replanting of rubber plants ;
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(b) the proceeds of all cess levied under this Act; and
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(c) such sums as may from time to time be voted to the fund by Parliament.
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(2) There shall be paid out of the fund-
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(a) such amounts as are authorized by regulations to be paid for the purpose of subsidizing the replanting of rubber estates and rubber small holdings, the rehabilitation of rubber estates and rubber small holdings the processing of raw natural rubber, including the purchase of machinery and equipment used in the processing of raw natural rubber and the provision of welfare facilities to rubber smallholders;
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(aa) such amount as may be authorized from time to time by the Minister to be paid to the credit of the Tea Subsidy Fund established under the Tea Subsidy Act, No. 12 of 1958* ; [* Repealed by Law No. 14 of 1975]
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(aaa) such amounts as may be authorized from time to time by the Minister to be paid for the purpose of subsidizing the replanting of rubber estates and rubber small holdings with approved crops;
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(b) the expenses of the administration of this Act;
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(c) the prescribed contributions to any provident fund or scheme established for the payment of gratuities or such sums to the Consolidated Fund for the payment of pension to any or all of the officers and servants employed for the purposes of this Act and their dependants;
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(d) such remuneration as may be payable to members of the Rubber Replanting Advisory Board established under this Act; and “; (d) by the addition immediately after paragraph
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(e) such amounts as are authorized by regulations to be paid as rebate to persons who are not entitled to receive any subsidy payments under this Act for replanting of rubber estates
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Administration of the fund.
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4.
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(1) The Rubber Controller shall, subject to the direction and control of the Minister, administer the fund.
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(2) There may be appointed such officers and servants as may be necessary for the administration of the fund.
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Investment of moneys of the fund.
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5. Any moneys of the fund may be invested in such manner as may be approved by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance.
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Accounts of the fund.
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6.
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(1) The Rubber Controller shall cause full accounts of the fund to be kept.
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(2) The accounts of the fund shall be audited by the Auditor-General.
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(3) The Rubber Controller shall, as soon as possible after the thirty-first day of December of each year, issue a report on the administration of the fund together with a statement of the income and expenditure of the fund and of the investments of moneys of the fund during the preceding year.
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(4) Every report and statement of the Rubber Controller under subsection (3) shall be transmitted by him to the Minister who shall cause them to be laid before Parliament.
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7.
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(1) There shall be charged and levied a cess, at such rate as the Minister shall determine by Order published in the Gazette, taking into consideration the conditions prevailing in relation to the rubber industry as a whole. The cess so determined shall be payable in respect of the identified rubber products, in the manner and at the respective times hereinafter set out.
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(2) In making the Order under subsection (1) the Minister shall determine the rate of the cess to be levied in respect of –
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(a) the import of-
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(ii) synthetic rubber; and
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(iii) rubber based products,
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calculated on the value of such product or the percentage of the rubber content of such product as the case may be and the cess so calculated shall be payable at the point of import;
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(b) the export of-
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(iii) rubber based products manufactured for export,
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calculated on the percentage of the rubber content of such product and the cess so calculated shall be payable at the point of purchase of the raw rubber by the manufacturer of the rubber product or at point of export, as the case may be;
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(c) the manufacture of rubber based products manufactured for domestic consumption, calculated on the percentage of the rubber content of such product and the cess so calculated shall be payable at the point of purchase within the country.
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(3) The amount imposed as cess under subsection (1) may be varied or rescinded by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette.
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(4) An Order made under subsection (1) or subsection (3) shall be in operation as from the date of publication of such Order in the Gazette. Every Order shall before the expiry of four months from the date of publication in the Gazette, be placed before Parliament for its approval. Any Order not so approved shall be deemed to be rescinded as from the date of its disapproval but without prejudice to anything previously done thereunder.
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(5) Notification of the date on which any Order is rescinded under subsection (4) shall be published in the Gazette.
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(6) The cess calculated and paid in terms of the aforesaid subsections shall be credited to the Fund established under section 2.
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(7) The total amount of the levy collected in terms of this section, shall be utilised in consultation with the Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute and the Sri Lanka Industrial Development Board established under the Industrial Development Board of Ceylon Act, No. 36 of 1969, for the development of rubber based small and medium scale local enterprises and for the cultivation of rubber.
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(8) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby stated that all items of rubber to which the provisions of this section apply, may be identified in relation to the relevant H. S. Code No. under which they are classified in Customs Notification (RPO) No. 91/11 published in Gazette Extraordinary No. 682/16 of October 1, 1991 or any other Code No. which may be substituted therefore and shall be in force at any future date.
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Refund of excess of the cess.
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7A.
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(1) Any person may make an application to the Director-General of the Rubber development Department for a refund of any cess paid by him in excess.
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(2) The Director-General of the Rubber Development Department may submit the application to the Rubber Replanting Advisory Board, requesting the Board to make a recommendation as to whether such refund could be made.
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(3) On the recommendations of the Rubber Replanting Advisory Board made on the basis of criteria as determined, the Minister may Order the refund of the amount as is required to be refunded by the Rubber Development Department to such person under this Act in the manner as may be prescribed.”.
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Regulations.
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8.
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(1) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the provisions of this Act.
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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 in respect of all or any of the following matters:-
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(a) a scheme of subsidizing with moneys of the fund the replanting of rubber estates and rubber small holdings, the rehabilitation of rubber estates and rubber small holdings the processing of raw natural rubber, including the purchase of machinery and equipment used in the processing of raw natural rubber and the provision of welfare facilities to rubber smallholders;
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(aa) establish a scheme for the registration of exporters and importers of raw natural rubber and rubber based products and for the manufacturers of rubber based products ;
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(aaa) the manner and mode in which the content of rubber present in rubber and rubber based products and the actual percentage thereof, should be declared;
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(b) all matters stated or required in this Act to be prescribed ;
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(c) the establishment and regulation of a provident fund or scheme for the payment of gratuities to any or all of the officers and servants employed for the purposes of this Act and their dependants, and the determination of the amounts to bill paid to such provident fund or scheme from the fund; and
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(d) specify the amounts to be paid by way of rebate to persons who are not entitled to receive subsidy payment;
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(3) Regulations in respect of the scheme referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) may-
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(a) contain such conditions, prohibitions and other provisions as may be necessary for securing the due operation and enforcement of the scheme, and
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(b) declare the contravention of, or the failure to comply with, any prescribed provisions of the regulations, and the furnishing of false information or returns to be an offence triable summarily by a Magistrate and specify as punishment for such offence a fine of an amount not exceeding five thousand rupees or a term of imprisonment of either description not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
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(c) provided that the amount paid by the Rubber Controller, to any person under any such scheme by way of subsidy, cost of planting material, fertilizer or other inputs not repaid, may be recovered in the same manner as a fine imposed by the Court and a certificate issued by the Rubber Controller to the effect that any person has abandoned a smallholding after obtaining one or more subsidy instalments and has not repaid such instalments shall be admissible as proof of such fact.
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(4) All regulations shall be published in the Gazette and shall come into operation on a date specified in that behalf in the regulations or, if no date is so specified, upon such publication, and shall, as soon as practicable after their publication in the Gazette, be brought before Parliament for approval. Where any regulation is not approved by Parliament it shall be deemed to be rescinded and the rescission shall take effect on the date on which the regulation is not approved.
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(5) The validity of anything done under a regulation shall not be affected by the subsequent rescission of the regulation under subsection (4).
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(6) Notification of the date on which the rescission of a regulation under subsection (4) takes effect shall be published in the Gazette.
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Winding up of the fund.
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9. The Minister may, in such manner as may be approved by Parliament, wind up the fund and dispose of any moneys left therein.
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Rubber Replanting Advisory Board.
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10.
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(1) There shall be established a board (hereinafter referred to as the ” board “) which shall be called the Rubber Replanting Advisory Board and which shall consist of the Rubber Controller, who shall be the chairman of the board, and such other members as the Minister may appoint.
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(2) Every member of the board, other than the chairman of the board, shall, unless his appointment is revoked earlier under subsection (3), hold office for such period as may be specified in the letter of appointment issued to him by the Minister.
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(3) The Minister may revoke any appointment of a member of the board.
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(4) It shall be the duty of the board to advise the Minister on the administration of this Act and on any such matter to which this Act relates as may be referred by the Minister to the board for advice.
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(5) The members of the board may be paid such remuneration as the Minister may determine with the concurrence of the Minister in charge of the subject of Finance.
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10A. Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with the provisions of this Act or any regulation made thereunder shall on conviction after summary trial by a Magistrate be liable to imprisonment of either description for a term not exceeding one year or to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand rupees, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
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Duration of Act.
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12. This Act shall expire on such date as may be appointed by the Minister by Order published in the Gazette :
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Provided, however, that the expiration of this Act shall not affect any fine, penalty, forfeiture or punishment previously incurred under this Act or under any regulation, or affect any legal proceedings or remedy in respect of any such fine, penalty, forfeiture or punishment, and any such legal proceeding may be instituted, continued or enforced and such fine, penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed as if this Act had not expired. [* Section 11 (Validating Provision) is omitted]
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Interpretation.
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13. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
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” appointed date ” means the 5th day of October, 1953;
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” approved crops ” means such crops as may be approved for the purposes of this Act by the Minister by notification published in the Gazette;
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” fund ” means the Rubber Replanting Subsidy Fund established under this Act;
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person ” includes a body of persons ;
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” prescribed” means prescribed by regulation;
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” regulation” means a regulation made under this Act;
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“rehabilitation” when used with reference to a rubber estate or rubber small holding means any operation designed to improve the agricultural conditions of such estate or small holding and includes the application of fertilizers, the adoption of improved agricultural practices and the planting of additional rubber plants and any other useful plants in such estate or small holding;
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” replanting “-
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(a) when used with reference to any rubber estate or rubber small holding means the uprooting of all existing rubber plants and other vegetation in the whole or any part of such estate or small holding and the replacement with new rubber plants or with approved crops and includes the planting of rubber plants or approved crops in an area which does not form part of such estate or small holding if the rubber plants in an equivalent area of such estate or small holding are eradicated within such time as the Rubber Controller may specify; and
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(b) when used with reference to any other land means the planting of such land with rubber for the first time;
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Rubber Controller” means the Rubber Controller appointed or deemed to have been appointed under the Rubber Controller Act and include the Director-General of the Rubber Development Department
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” Rubber Commissioner” means the Commissioner who purchases sheet rubber in Sri Lanka on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka;
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” rubber estate ” means any rubber estate registered or deemed to have been registered under the Rubber Control Act;
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” rubber plant ” means a plant, tree, shrub or vine and includes any leaf, flower, seed, bud, twig, branch, root or any living portion of any plant, tree, shrub or vine which may be used to propagate any of the following:-
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(a) Hevea Braziliensis (Para Rubber)
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(b) Manihot Glaziovii (Ceara Rubber),
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(d) Ficus Elastica (Rambong),
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(e) any other plant, tree, shrub or vine which the Rubber Controller may by notification published in the Gazette declare to be a rubber plant for the purposes of this Act.
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“rubber small holding ” means any rubber small holding registered or deemed to have been registered under the Rubber Control Act.
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