Tomato Marketing (Guernsey) Law, 1952

ORDER IN COUNCIL I ratifying a Projet de ~oi ENTITLED The Tomato Marketing (Guernsey) ~~ .~t:" c Law, 1952' ~ .~- .. ,.,, (Registered on the Records of the Island of Guernsey on the j~d day, ?f January.~953.) ,.ri""d b" GUERNSEY HERALD LIMITED, Vie'ori" llord. . . ~ -A .. 1953 ORDER IN COUNCIL. IN THE RaYAL CaURT .oF THE ISLAND .oF GUERNSEY The 3d day of January, 1953, before Sir Ambrose James Sherwill, C.BE., M.C., Bailiff; present: Ernest de Caris, Esquire, O.BE., Sir John Leale, Arthur Falla, Walter John Sarre, Esquires, Richard Henry Johns, Esquire, O.BE., Walter John Cavey, Ernest Francis Laine, Bertram Bartlett, Esquires, Donald Carey Brock, Esquire, C.B.E., Osmond Priaulx and Stephen James Falla, Esquires, Jurats. The Bailiff having this day placed before the Court an Order .of Her Majesty in Council dated the I5th .of December, 1952, ratifying a Projet de Loi entitled U The Tomato Marketing (Guernsey) Law, I952" the Court, after the reading of the said Order in Council and after having heard Her Majesty's Pro cureur thereon, .ordered that the said Order in Caun cil be registered on the records of this Island, of which Order in Cauncil the tenor followeth: 2 ~t tbt ~uurt at ~uckingbam fjalatt. The 15th day of December, 1952. PRESENT, LORD PRESIDENT LORD PRIVY SEAL VISCOUNT SWINTON SIR ALAN LASCELLES. WHEREAS there was this day read at the Board a Report from the Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Council for the Affairs of Guernsey and Jersey, dated the 11th day of December, 1952, in the words following, viz.: " YOUR MAJESTY having been pleased, by Your General Order of Reference of the 22nd day of February, 1952, to refer unto this Committee (a) the humble Betition of the States of the Island of Guernsey, setting forth: , I. That, in pursuance of their Resolutions of the 22nd day of March, 1950, and the 18th day of June, 1952, the States of Deliberation at a meeting held on the 15th day of October, 1952, approved a Bill or "Projet de Loi" entitled "The Tomato Marketing (Guernsey) Law, 1952 " and requested the Bailiff to present a most hum ble Petition to Y our Majesty in Council praying for Your Royal Sanction thereto. 2. That the said Bill or " Projet de Loi " is in the words and .~. , t4: 3 figures set forth in the Schedule hereunto an nexed. And most humbly praying that Your Majesty might be graciously pleased to grant Your Royal Sanction to the Bill or "P.rojet de Loi" of the States of Guernsey entitled "The Tomato Marketing (Guernsey) Law, 1952" and to order that the same shall have the force of Law in the Island of Guernsey.' (b) The humble Petition of the Growers Free Mar keting Federation of Guernsey praying that if Your Majesty in Council is graciously pleased to grant Your Royal Sanction to the said Projet de Loi then such Royal Sanction should be on terms that the said Projet de Loi be amended in certain respects: "THE LORDS OF THE COMMITTEE, in obedience to Your Majesty's said Order of Reference, have taken the said Petitions and the said Projet de Loi into consideration, and do this day agree humbly to report, as their opinion, to Your Majesty, that it may be advisable for Your Majesty to comply with the prayer of the said Petition of the States of the Island of Guernsey and to approve of and ratify the said Projet de Loi." HER MAJESTY having taken the said Report into consideration is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to approve of and ratify the said Projet de Loi, and to order, as it is hereby ordered, that the same shall have the force of Law within the Island of Guernsey. AND HER MAJESTY doth hereby further direct that this Order and the said Projet de Loi (a copy wher,eof is hereunto annexed) be entered upon the Register of the Island of Guernsey and observed accordingly. 4 AND the Lieutenant Governor and Commander in-Chief of the Island of Guernsey, the Bailiff and Jurats, and all other Her Majesty's Officers, for the time being, in the said Island, and all other persons whom it may concern, are to take notice and govern themselves accordingly. F. f. Fernau. 5 Projet de Loi referred to in the foregoing Order in Council. PROJET DE LOI ENTITLED The Tomato Marketing (Guernsey) Law, 1952 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART I The Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board. Section I. The Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board. 2. Additional functions of the Board and Method of Export. 3. Restrictions on the powers of the Board. 4. Levies on tomatoes exported by the Board. 5. Compensation payable out of levy. 6. Provisions as to expenses of the Board. 7. Borrowing powers of the Board. 8. Accounts and audit. PART II Meetings of Registered Producers 9. Notice of and quorum at the annual general meeting. 10. Reports etc. to be laid before annual general meeting. I I. First general meeting. 12. Extraordinary general meetings. 13. Interpretation of provisions relating to meetings. 14. Business of meetings. IS. Voting at meetings. 16. Proxies and powers of attorney. 17. Procedure at meetings. 6 PART III Compensation to Tomato Export Agents. Section 18. Compensation to tomato export agents. PART IV General. 19. Offences and penalties. 20. Polls taken by postal ballot. 21. Board not to be exempt from taxation. 22. Power of the States. 23. Service of documents on registered producers. PART V Winding up of the Board. 24. Winding up of the Board. PART VI Interpretation. 25. Interpretation. SCHEDULES First Schedule - Provisions as to the Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board. Second Schedule-Provisions as to election of mem bers of the Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board and as to registered producers. 7 PROJET DE LOI ENTITLED The Tomato Marketing (Guernsey) Law, 1952 THE STATES, in pursuance of their Resolutions of the 22nd day of March, 1950, and the 18th day of June, 1952, have approved the following provisions which, subject to the Sanction of Her Most Exoellent Majesty in Council, shall have force of law in the Island of Guernsey. PART I The Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board. I. (I) As from the constitution of a Board to be The called "The Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board" ~uernsey ~omato (in this Law referred to as " the Board ") all tomatoes Marketing for export from Guernsey shall be delivered to the Board. Board for export and marketing by the Board and, subject to the provisions of this Law, the Board shall export and market the same in such manner and sub ject to such conditions as are from time to time in the opinion of the Board to the best advantage of producers: PROVIDED that the Board may, with a view to the avoidance of loss to producers, discontinue temporarily, either wholly or partially, the export of tomatoes. (2) The provisions of the First Schedule to this Law shall have effect with respect to' the Board. (3) The provisions of the Second Schedule to this Law shall have effect with respect to the election of members of the Board and to registered producers. Additional functions of the Board and Method of Export. 8 2. (I) Subject to the provisions of this Law, the Boar,d (a) may regulate the delivery of tomatoes to the Board; (b) may do such things as may be necessary or desirable to encourage and promote the sale of tomatoes by the adoption of trade marks, advertising, setting up of marketing research, and conducting experiments in packaging, grading and marketing, and take all other measures necessary or expedient for facilitating and encouraging the marketing and sale of tomatoes outside Guernsey; (c) shall receive on behalf of producers and distribute the proceeds from the sale of tomatoes. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsec tion (I) of section one of this Law, the Board shall not put into operation a method of export and mar keting whereby, whether or not registered producers assent thereto, all tomatoes delivered to the Board are bulked and are consigned to such destinations and persons as are selected by the Bo,ard in its abso lute discretion and whereby the amount attributable to a producer in respect of his tomatoes of a particu lar grade exported by the Board on a particular date or during a particular period is determined by refer ence to the average price realised in respect of all to matoes of that grade exported by the Board on that date or during that period, unless, as respects the period of operation of that method, hereinafter re fened to as "the compulsory bulk method of export ", on a poll of registered producers taken by postal ballot, a majority of the registered producers voting on the poll have voted in favour of the com pulsory bulk method of export and a majority of • 9 the votes cast in the poll have been cast in favour of that method. (3) A poll taken by postal ballot for the purpose of determining whether or not the compulsory bulk method of export shall be operated by the Board, such poll being a poll taken, whether or not this Law is then in force, between the fifteenth day of January, 1953, and the fifteenth day of February, 1953, by a committee appointed in that behalf by the States whether before or after the coming into force of this Law upon the basis of the register of producers referred to in sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 13 of the Second Schedule to this Law and conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Law concern ing the conduct of polls by postal ballot, shall be an effective poll for the purpos,es of this section save that, in relation thereto, the r,eference in subsection (5) of this section to the period commencing on the first day of March next following the taking of a poll shall be construed as a reference to the period com mencing on such date after the commencement of this Law as the Board by notice in the" Gazette Officielle" appoints. (4) Thereafter, a poll by postal ballot to deter mine whether or not the compulsory bulk method of export shall be operated by the Board shall be taken by the Board only during the month of November in any year. (5) The result of any such poll by postal ballot as aforesaid shall determine whether or not the com pulsory bulk method of export shall be operated dur ing the period commencing on the first day of March next following the taking of that poll and ending on the last day of February next following the publica tion of the result of a subsequent poll by postal ballot held to determine the like matter and which reverses the result of the previous poll. Restrictions on the powers of the Board. Levies on tomatoes exported by the Board. :10 (6) During the month of November in any year the Board may and at the request in writing of at . least fifty registered produoers representing not less than one quarter of the total number of votes exer cisable by all the registered producers delivered to the Board by the last preceding tenth day of October shall take a poll by postal ballot of the registered pro duoers to determine whether or not as from the next succeeding first ,day of March the compulsory bulk method of export shall be operated. The Board shall publish forthwith the resuh of any such poll in the "Gazette Officielle". (7) If, in respect of any period, the Board is of the opinion and records in the minutes of its proceed ings and, so soon thereafter as may be, publishes in the " Gazette Officielle " a notice that it is impractic able, without incurring a serious diminution or the risk of a serious diminution in the amounts realised from the marketing of tomatoes, to export and mar ket tomatoes otherwise than in accordance with such emergency arrangements as are prescribed by the Board as being most likely, in the opinion of the Board, to avoid, or to avoid as far as possible, such diminution or the risk thereof the Board shall be entitled to export and market tomatoes accordingly notwithstanding the result of any poll by postal ballot to the contrary effect then operative. 3. Nothing in this Law contained shall be deemed to authorise the Board (a) to engage in the store-packing of tomatoes by way of trade or business; or (b) to regulate the packing and grading of tomatDes. 4. The Board may, subject to the provisions of section six of this Law, raise a levy in respect of all tomatoes exported by the Board. II 5. The Board shall, out of the proceeds of a levy Compensa raised by virtue of this Law compensate any pro- tion payable d ' out of levy. ucer (a) whose tomatoes are damaged or lost or which deteriorate, otherwise than through his default or negligence, during the period between their acceptance by the Board and their delivery to the consignee, where the pecuniary loss arising from such damage, loss or deterioration would otherwise fall upon such producer; (b) for loss sustained by him as a result of the insolvency of a person to whom tomatoes were consigned. 6. (I) At every annual general meeting of regis- Provisions as tered producers the Board shall present for the ap- ~~ ~~r:~:~d. proval of the registered producers an estimate of the expenditure likely to be incurred by the Board in the current financial year, a statement of the provision proposed by the Board for contingencies in respect of that year and a proposal as to the amount per package of twelve pounds of tomatoes to be levied by the Board accordingly. (2) The Board may recover any sum due by any producer under any levy made as aforesaid (a) by deducting that sum from any proceeds of the sale of any tomatoes exported on behalf of that producer by the Board; or (b) as a civil debt due by that producer to the Board. 7. The Board is hereby authorised to borrow such moneys as may be required to enable it to meet its obligations or discharge its functions under this Law during any period when the proceeds of any levy raised under the provisions of this Law are not Borrowing powers of the Board. Accounts and audit. 12 available or sufficient for those purposes and to repay moneys so borrowed out of the proceeds of any such levy. 8. The Board shall keep proper accounts which shall be audited by a qualified accountant appointed annually by the registered producers in general meeting. PART II Meetings of registered producers. Notice of 9. (I) An annual general meeting of registered pro ~~~h~~~~u~l ducers shall be held as soon as may be after the first general day of February in each year. The quorum for such meeting. meeting shall be fifty persons present and entitled Reports etc. to be laid before the annual gene ral meeting. to vote. (2) The Board shall give at least fourteen days notice in writing of an annual general meeting to all registered producers and shall make all other arrange ments necessary for the bolding thereof. The notice shall be accompanied by an agenda, a copy of the estimate, statement and proposal referred to in section six of this Law, a copy of the audited accounts (including the balance sheet and the income and expenditure account) of the Board in respect of the last preceding financial year and a copy of the report by the Board on its activities during that year. PROVIDED that the accidental omission to give notice, in acco,rdance with the provisions of this sub section, of a meeting to, or the non-receipt of notice of a meeting by, any person entitled to receive notice shall not invalidate the proceedings at that meeting. 10. (I) At every annual general meeting the Board shall present for the approval of the registered pro ducers the said accounts and report. 13 (2) The Board shall make proposals in the said report for the disposal of any surplus shown by the said accounts for consideration and determination by the annual general meeting. 11. (I) The Board shall as soon as may be after it First. general h b . d fi . f . meetmg. as cen constltute convene a rst meetlng 0 regIs tered pmducers (hereafter in this Law referred to as the "first general meeting "). (2) For the purposes of section six of this Law (which relates to the expenses of the Board) the first general meeting shall be deemed to be an annual general meeting. (3) The provisions of section nine of this Law (which relates to notiQe of, and the quorum at, annual general meetings) shall apply in relation to the first general meeting as though that meeting were an annual general meeting save that the provisions with respect to the accounts and the report of the Board shall not apply. r2. (r) The Board may at any time and shall upon Extraordin a request in writing by not less than thirty registered :~et~~~eral producers convene a meeting of registered producers (hereinafter referred to as " an extraordinary general meeting "). The quorum for such a meeting shall be fifty persons present and entitled to vote. (2) A request as aforesaid shall state the objects of the proposed meeting, shall be signed by the regis tered producers requesting the convening of the meet ing and shall be deposited at the office of the Board; such a request may consist of several documents each signed by one or more registered producers. (3) If the Board does not within fourteen days from the date of the deposit of the request or, if the request be made in a number of documents as afore said, within fourteen days of the date when thirty registered producers have so deposited their requests, convene an extraordinary general meeting to take place not mo,re than twenty-one days from the date of the convening notice, the registered producers so requesting or not les;s than half of them, may them selves convene a meeting. (4) Notice of any meeting convened in accord ance with the provisions of this section shall be suffi ciently given by publication at least twice in the "Gazette Officielle" not less than seven days before the date of the holding of such meeting, of the day and hour and the place of such meeting and parti culars of the business to be discussed thereat. Interpreta- 13. In the succeeding sections of this Part of this t~0!l of pro- Law the expression "meeting" includes the first vISIons relat-'. . ing ro general meenng, an annual general meetmg and an meetings. extraordinary general meeting. Business of meetings. Voting at meetings. Proxies and powers of attorney. 14. No business shall be transacted at any meeting other than business of which notice ha,s been given in the notice convening that meeting. 15. (I) Any decision of a meeting shall, subject to the provisions of the next succeeding subsection, be taken by a majority of persons entitled to vote present and voting thereat and each such person shall have only one vote. (2) At any meeting a question put to the meeting may in the discretion of the chairman, exercised before the question is put, be decided by a show of hands or a poll and shall be decided by a poll if a demand in that behalf by any ten or more persons present and entitled to vote is made before or on the declaration of the result of a show of hands. 16. (I) Any registered producer entitled to attend and vote at any meeting shall be entitled to appoint IS anather person (whether a registered producer or not) as hi-s praxy to' attend and vate instead af him: PROVIDED that (a) a registered producer shall not be entitled to appoint mare than one proxy to' attend on the same occasian; and (b) a praxy shall not be entitled to' vate except on a poll. (2) The instrument appainting a proxy to' vate at a meeting shall be deemed alsO' to' confer authority to demand ar join in demanding a pall . . (3) Subject to the pmvisions af subsectian (2) af this section, a proxy, nat being a registered producer, shall nat have the right to' speak at a meeting. (4) In every notice canvening a meeting there shall appear with rea,sanable prominence a statement that a registered praducer entitled to attend and vote is entitled to' appaint a praxy and that a proxy need . nat be a registered praducer. (5) The instrument appointing a praxy shall be in such farm as may fram time to time be prescribed by the Board. (6) The instrument appainting a proxy and the pawer af attarney 0'1' ather autharity, if any, under ~vhich it is sign~d 0'1' a natarially certified capy af that power ar autharity shall be depasited at the office af the Baard not less than farty-eight haurs befare the time far halding the meeting ar ad jaurned meeting at which the persan named in the instrument is autharised to vate and in default the instrument of proxy shall not be treated as valid. (7) A person authorised by 'a general ar special power af attorney to attend and vote at a meeting in the place of a registered producer may, subject to the succeeding provisians of this sectian, attend and vote as aforesaid. (8) The said person may vote on a show of hands and on a poll and the said power shall be deemed also to confer authority to demand or join in demanding a poll. (9) Subject to the provisions of subsection (8) of this section, the said person, not being a registered producer, shall not have the right to speak at a meeting. (ro) The said power shall be deposited at the office of the Board not less than forty-eight hour,s before the time for holding the meeting or adjourned meeting at which the said person is authorised to vote and in default the said power shall not be treated as valid for the purposes of this section. Procedure at 17. (I) The chairman, or in his absence the vice meetings. chairman, of the Board, or, in the absence of both of them, such person being a registered producer as shall be appointed by the meeting concerned, shall preside at and be responsible for the conduct of that meeting and shall cause proper minutes of the pro ceedings to be kept. Compensa tion to tomato ex port agents. (2) The declaration by the chairman of a meet ing of the result of any vote whether on a show of hands or on a pon at that meeting shall be conclusive. evidence thereof, and in the event of an equality of votes the chairman shall in addition to his other votes (if any) have a casting vote. PART III Compensation to tomato export agents. 18. (I) Subject to the provisions of this section, compensation in respect of deprival of the business of tomato export agent by reason of the operation of this Law shall be payable by the Board to those persons (each of whom is hereafter in this section referred to as a "tomato export agent") to whom 17 compensation in respect of deprival of that business during 1949 was paid in pursuance of the Export of Tomatoes Law, 1949, Dr to their legal personal repre sentatives. (2) Compensation payable to a tomato export agent under the provisions of this section shall be at the rate of five pence for each twelve pounds weight 'Of tomatDes on the first two million four hundred thousand pounds weight of tomatoes exported by or through that agent in the year nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, and three and one-third pence for each twelve pounds weight 'Of tomatoes so exported in excess of two million four hundred thousand pounds weight of tomatoes, together with interest thereon at the rate of four per centum per annum from the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-two until the date of payment thereof. (3) The provisions of this subsection shall have effect in relation to the provision, out of moneys received from the export of tomatoes, of moneys necessary to pay and the payment of compensation and interest thereon under the foregoing provisions of this section, that is to say (a) the Tomato Shipping Board shall retain 'Out of moneys in their hands 'On the thirty-first day of December, nineteen hundred and fifty-two, being moneys which but for this enactment would be distributed to the pro ducers of tomatoes exported in that year, such sum as the States Committee for Horti culture may determine; (b) the said sum shall, 'On the constitution of the Board under the provisions of this Law, be transferred to the Board by the Tomato Shipping Board; (c) the Board shall as soon as may be apply the said SUim in payment to the tomato export agents to whom this section applies of interest payable to the said agents, being interest in respect of the period commencing on the first day of January, nineteen hun dred and fifty-two and ending on the date of payment of such interest and the balance of the said sum shall be applied by the Board in payment on account of compensation payable under the provisions of this section; (d) the Board shall raise a special levy, in res pect of tomatoes exported by the Board up to and includinl?; the thirty-first day of Octo ber, nineteen hundred and fifty-three, of such an amount as will provide moneys surfii cient to meet the unpaid balance of com pensation, together with interest thereon to the date of payment thereof, and the said moneys shall be applied by the Board as soon as may be in payment of the said balance of ,compensation and :interest thereon to the date of payment thereof; (e) the Board shall have the same power in relation to the recovery of any sum due by a producer under the said special levy as it has in relation to the recovery of any sum due in respect of any other levy raised under this Law. PART IV General. Offences and I9. (I) A person who exports tomatoes, attempts penalties. to export tomatoes or causes tomatoes to be exported in contravention of the provisions of subsecion (I) of section one of this Law shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceed ing one hundred pounds. 19 (2) Any person who makes any wilful mis representation in relation to the acquisition, aUoca tion, transfer or exercise of any vote shall be guilty of an offence under this Law and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment. (3) Any person who fraudulently uses or attempts to use or causes to be used any paper other than a ballot paper provided by the Board or the committee conducting the first election 'of members of the Board, as the case may be, shall be guilty of an offence under this Law and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprison ment for a term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment. 20. On a poll of registered producers taken by Polls taken postal ballot whether in respect of an election or ~rllJi~stal otherwise, the Board or the committee conducting the first election of members of the Board, as the case may be, shall cause the result of that poll to be certified by an independent person and the result of that poll as certified by him shall be conclusive evi dence thereof. 21. Nothing in this Law shall be deemed to Board not to exempt the Board from liability for any tax, duty, ¥r~r:xempt rate, levy or other charge whatsoever. taxation. 22. The States may by Ordinance from time to Powers of time make such provision as they deem necessary for the States. the carrying out of this Law. 23. Any notice or other document required or Service of h . d b d· h· L b d documents aut onse . y or un ert IS aw to e serve on any on registered registered producer may be served by delivery to that producers. registered producer or by sending it by post to that registered producer at the address last recorded in the register of producers. 20 PART V Winding up of the Board. Winding up 24. (I) The Board may in any financial year and of the Boac-d 1 " . at t J.e request m wIltmg of not less than fifty regis tered producers representing not less than one quar ter of the total number of votes exercisable by all the registered producers delivered to the Board not later than the fifteenth day of August in that financial year shall forthwith take a poll by postal ballot of the registered producers to decide whether or not the operation of this Law shall cease. (2) The result of any poll taken under the pro visions of this section shall be published forthwith in the "Gazette Officielle" by the Board. (3) Where, on a poll taken as aforesaid, a major ity of the registered producers voting on the poll have voted and a majority of the votes cast in that poll have been cast in favour of the cessation of the operation of this Law, <the provisions of subsections (4) to (I I) inclusive of this section shall have effect. (4) The Board shall forthwith apply to the Royal Court for registration of the certificate as to the result of the poll. (5) On the first day of November next following the publication as aforesaid of the result of the said poll, the provisions of this Law shall cease to have effeot except so far as may be necessary for the wind ing up of the Board, and the Board shall proceed forthwith to wind up its affairs and to realise its assets and distribute the proceeds thereof and all other moneys remaining in the hands of the Board in manner hereinafter provided. (6) For the purpose of the last preceding subsec tion the corporate state and corporate powers of the Board shall continue until the Board is dissolved. 21 (7) The members of the Board in office imme diately before the taking of the said poll shall con tinue to hold office until the winding up of the Board has been completed and the Board as constituted under this subsection may act notwithstanding that it may consist of less than six members and may from time to time fix a quorum for any meeting thereof: PROVIDED that a member of the Board consti tuted as aforesaid shall cease to hold office if he (a) becomes insolvent or makes any arrange ment or composition with his creditors; or (b) becomes subject to some legal disability. (8) In ithe succeeding subsections of this section the expression" current producer" means a producer who in the financial year next preceding the said first day of November delivered tomatoes to the Board for expol1t. (9) (a) In the event of the Board being wound up all the current producers shall be liable to contribute to the assets of the Board an amount sufficient for payment of its debts and liabil1ties and the costs of winding up, and the liability of each current producer to pay the same shall bear the saine proportion to the liability in respect thereof of all the current pro ducers as the weight of tom:vtoes deli vered by that current producer to the Board for export in the said financial year bears ,to the total weight of the tomatoes so delivered by all the current producers in that year. (b) The Board shall have the same power in relation to the recovery of any sum due as aforesaid as it has in relation to Interpreta tion. 22 the recovery of any sum due in respect of any levy raised under this Law. ( I 0) All moneys remaining in the hands of the Board after payment of the Board's debts and lia bilities and ,the costs of the winding up shall be dis tributed by the Board amongst the current producers and as respects each current producer in the same proportion as the weight of tomatoes delivered by him to the Board for export in the said financial year bears to the total weight of the .tomatoes so deli vered by all the current producers in that year. (I I) As soon as ,the affairs of the Board are fully wound up the Board shall forthwith (a) send to the current producers a copy of the audited accounts for the last financial year and a copy of the audited account of the winding up; and (b) lodge with Her Majesty's Greffier a certi ficate to the effect that the affairs of the Board have been fully wound up; and thereupon the Board shall be dissolved and this Law shall cease to have effect. PART VI Interpretation. 25. In this Law, unless the context otherwise re quires, the following expressions shall have the mean ings hereby respectively assigned to them: " export" means export by way of trade; "financial year" means a period of twelve con secutive months ending on the thirty-first day 'Of October; "legal disability" means certification as a person of unsound mind; subjeotion, in the case of a person of full age, to guardianship; being 23 an inmate for reasons of mental illness of any hospital or other institution; or undergoing imprisonment for felony; " producer" means a person owning tomMoes at the time of their export from Guernsey; " register of producers" means the register of pro ducers compiled under and in accordance with the provisions of the Second Schedule to this Law; "registered producer" means a producer whose name is entered on the current register of producers; " the Court" means the Royal Court s~tting as an Ordinary Court; J "the Tomato Shipping Board" means the Guern sey Tomato Shipping Board constituted under the Export of Tomatoes Law, 1949, as ex tended by the Export of Tomatoes Law, 1949 (Continuance) Law, 1951; " tomatoes" means fresh tomatoes grown in Guernsey. FIRST SCHEDULE Section I Provisions as to the Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board. I. The Board shaH be a body corporate and shall have a common seal and in relation to the exercise of its funotions under this Law shall have all such powers as if it were a limited liability company deriv ing the same under Article VI of the Law entitled "Loi relative aux Soci6tes Anonymes ou a Respon sabilite LimiN~e" and registered on the 21st day of March, 1908. 2. (I) The Board shall, as soon as may be after it has been constittuted, establish and shall thereaft'er maintain in this Island a registered office at which 24 all instruments for service upon the Board shall be served. (2) Notice of the situation of the registered office and any change thereof, shall be given in writing within seven days after the establishment thereof or of the change, as the case may be, to Her Majesty's Greffier by the Board. 3. The Board shall consist of ten members. 4. The Board shaH from time to time appoint a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members and may revoke any such appointment. 5. If the chairman or vice-chairman of the Board ceases to be a member of the Board, he shall cease to be chairman or vice-chairman as the case may be. 6. Each member of the Board other than the member presiding at a meeting thereof shall have one vote and the member so presiding shall in the case of an equality of votes have a casting vote; the decision of a majority of the members of the Board present at a meeting shall be a decision of the Board. 7. The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be six members and subject as aforesaid the Board shall regulate its own procedure. 8. A meeting 'Of the Board shall, in the absence of the chairman and vice-chairman, be presided over by one of the members appointed for that meeting by the members present thereat. 9. (I) The ten members first elected to the Board shall hold o'ffice as from their election and five by agreement or failing agreement as determined by lot shall retire on the 28th day of February, I 954, and the remaining five shall retire on the 28th day of February, I955. 25 (2) The five members of the Board elected an nually after the year nineteen hundred and fifty three shall hold o:ffioe from the first day of March next following their election for a period of two years. ro. A member of the Board shall cease to hold office if he (a) becomes insolvent or makes any arrange ment or composition with his creditors; or (b) becomes subject to some legal disability; or (c) resigns his o'ffice by notice in writing to the Board; or (d) shall for more than four months have been absent without permission of the Board from meetings of the Board held during that period. 1 I. (I) If a member of the Board ceases to hold O'ffice otherwise than by effiuxion of time, an elec tion shall be held to replace him, unless the vacancy occurs within the sixty days next preceding the date on which he would have retired by effiuxion of time, and the replacing member shall, for the purposes ,of paragraph nine of this Schedule, be deemed to have been elected at the same time as the ceasing member. (2) An election held under the provisi'Ons of this paragraph shall be c'Onducted on the basis of the register 'Of pr'Oducers c'Ompiled under, and in accord ance with, the pr'Ovisions of the Second Schedule t'O this Law and the B'Oard shall as s'O'On as may be after the holding of any electi'On give notice in the "Gazette Officielle" of the result thereof. 12. A member of the B'Oard Wh'O ceases t'O be a member shall be eligrble for re-election. 13. A member of the Board shall n'Ot vate in res pect 'Of any contract in which he has an interest, 26 whether direct or indirect, opposed to the interest of the Board, and if he shall do so his vote shall not be counted. 14. The remuneration (if any) of the members of the Board shall be such as may be fixed from time to time by resolution at a general meeting. IS. The application of the sea·l of the Board shall be authenticated by any member of the Board there unto authorised by the Board. I6. Any document purporting to be an instrument issued by the Board and to be sealed as aforesaid shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such an instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown. SECOND SCHEDULE Seotion I Provisions as to election of members of the Guernsey Tomato Marketing Board and as to registered producers. I. The members of the Board shall represent dis triots of the Island as follows and shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule by the registered producers entitled to vote in respect of the district concerned : three members to represent the district compris ing the parish of the Vale; three members to represent the district compris ing the parishes of the Castel, St. Andrew and Saint Saviour; two members to represent the district comprising the parish of Saint Sampson; one member to represent the district comprising the parishes of Saint Martin and Saint Peter Port; 27 one member to represent the district compnsmg the parishes of the Forest, Saint Peter-in-the Wood and Torteval: PROVIDED that, subject tQ the provisions of para graph three of the First Schedule tQ this Law, the States may, on the representations 'Of the States Com mittee for Horticulture, from time to time by Ordin ance alter the number of members to be elected to represent all or any of the districts and any altera tion made as aforesaid shall take effect at the next election in the district or districts concerned. 2. (I) An electiQn as respects all districts shall be held in accordance with the provisions 'Of this Sche dule as soon as may, be after the coming into force of this Law. (2) An election to replace the members retiring by virtue of the provisions of paragraph nine of the First Schedule to this Law shall be held in accord ance with the provisions 'Of this Schedule in the month of February of each year subsequent to the year nineteen hundred and fifty-three. (3) The Board shall as soon as may be after the holding of any election give notice in the "GaZ!ette Officielle" of the result thereof. 3. A person may be nominated for election to the Board to represent any district by at least five re~is­ tered producers who at the time of such nomination are entitled to vote in respect of that district. 4. At any election where the number of candidates is not greater than the number of vacancies, the chairman of the Board shall, after the time fixed for the delivery of nominations has elapsed, declare such candidate or candidates elected, and shall thereupon give notice of such election by means of a notice published in the "Gazette Officielle". s. (I). A producer who, in the financial year next preceding the compilation of a register of producers, delivered to the Tomato Shipping Board or the Board, as the case may be, for export six thousand or more pounds by weight of tomatoes, shall be entitled to be entered on that register of producers and on entry as aforesaid shall, subject to the provi sions of this Schedule, be a registered producer for the purposes of this Law during the period of validity of that register. (2) A registered producer shall have one vote for each six thousand pounds by weight of tomatoes delivered by him for export as aforesaid. (3) The votes of a registered producer shall, for the purposes of elections; be allocated to him by the Board as nearly as possible in respect of the district or districts in which the tomatoes giving rise to those votes were grown. (4) A vote allocated under the provisions of the last preceding sub-paragraph to a registered producer in respect of a particular district may be exercised by him only in respect of that district but each such vote may be exercised by him in respect of each and every vacancy to be filled in that district. 6. On a poll taken at a meeting and on a poll, other than a poll in respect of an election, taken by postal ballot, a registered producer shall be entitled to exercise the total number of votes to which he is entitled by sub-paragraph (2) of the last preceding paragraph. 7. (I) A register of producers shall be compiled by the Board not later than the third day of January in each year and shall, subject to the provisions of this Schedule, constitute the register of producers on and after that day until the second day of January of the year next following. 29 (2) Each register of producers as aforesaid shall contain the name and address of every registered producer, the number of votes which he is entitled to cast and the district or districts in respect of which he is entitled to cast them. (3) A copy of each register of producers (but omitting therefrom references to the number of votes) shall be available for inspection by any pro ducer throughout the period of validity of that register, during normal business hours at the dffice of the Board. (4) The Board shall as soon as practicable, and not later than seven days from the compilation of a register of producers, inform each registered producer whose name appears thereon of the particulars of his voting rights referred to in sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph. (5) Any producer claiming that he is entitled to have his name entered on the current register of pro ducers and that it is omitted therefrom or that some material error in his name, address or voting rights appears thereon, may at any time deliver to the Board an application in writing to have his name, address and voting rights entered thereon or for the rectification of the error alleged, and the Board shall, if it is satisfied of the existence of an omission or error forthwith cause the current register of pro ducers to be amended and notify that producer in writing accordingly. 8. Notwithstanding anything in this Schedule con tained, no alteration to or amendment of the current register of producers shall be made during any of the following periods that is to say (a) from the date of the publication of notice of an election to the latest date fixed for the 30 return of the voting papers in conneXlOn therewith, both dates inclusive; (b) from the date of issue of a notice convening a meeting of registered producers to the date of that meeting, both dates inclusive; (c) from the date of issue of the voting papers relating to a poll, other than a poll in respect of an election, taken by postal ballot, to the latest date for the return of those voting papers, both dates inclusive. 9. (I) Where tomatoes are at the time of their export from Guernsey owned by two or more per sons those persons shall be treated as Dne producer for the purpose of compiling the register of pro ducers. (2) The rights of such persons as aforesaid may only be exercised by such one of them as shall be agreed between them: PROVIDED that unless and until each such person has in writing notified the Board of the identity of the person so agreed upon, no such rights shall be exercised in respect of those persons. 10. (I) Where a registered producer transfers by sale or otherwise the whole or part of the business by reason of the operation of which he has voting rights under this Law or the premises in which that business or that part thereof was carried on, the Board shall 'On the written application of the transferee and on being satisfied that a transfer has taken place and that the business is being or will be carried on by the transfe'l'ee, allocate such voting rights, in whole or in such part as may appear to the Board to be equitable, to the transferee, and where voting rights are allocated as aforesaid the Board shall cause the current register of producers to be rectified accord 31 ingly, and shall forthwith notify the parties in writ ing of such rectification. (2) Where, by reason of a registered producer dying or becoming subject to some legal disability or becoming insolvent or being declared bankrupt or entering into a composition or scheme of arrange ment with his creditors, any property in, or control of, a business by reason of the operation of which such registered producer had or has voting rights under this Law becomes vested in a personal repre sentative, trustee, guardian or other person (hereafter in this sub-paragraph referred to as " the transferee "), the Board shall, on the written application of the transferee and on being satisfied of the vesting as aforesaid, allocate the said registered producer's vot ing rights in respect of that business to the trans feree, cause the current register of producers to be rectified accordingly and shall forthwith notify the transferee in writing of such rectification. (3) Where the Board is satisfied that a regis tered producer has ceased to operate the business by reason of the operation of which he has voting rights under this Law, the Board shall revoke such voting rights and rectify the current register of pro ducers accordingly and upon notification given in writing by the Board of such revocation to that regis tered producer, the said voting rights shall no longer be exercisable by him. I I. Subject to t:he provisions of this Law, the Board shall be responsible for holding all elections other than the first election. 12. (I) Elections shall be by postal ballot. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Law, the States may from time to time by Ordinance regulate the procedure and practice relating to elections. 32 13. (I) Tihe first election to be held under this Law shall be conducted by the committee referred to in subsection (3) of section two of this Law. (2) A register of producers compiled by the said committee by the third day of January, 1953, whether or not this Law is then in force, in accordance with the provisions of this Schedule (otherwise than as respects the compilation thereof by the Board) and which, until the Board commences operations, is available for inspection by producers at such reason able place and times appointed by that committee of which notice is given by that committee as soon as practicable after such compilation in two consecu tive issues of the " Gazette Officielle " and as respects which register that committee as soon as practicable and not later than seven days from the compilation thereof informs each producer whose name appears thereon of the particulars of his voting rights entered thereon and which register is rectified from time to time in accordance with those provisions by that committee or, after the Board is constituted, by the Board, shall, as originally compiled or as rectified as the case may be, from time to time constitute the first register of producers for the purposes of this Law. (3) The provisions of this Schedule shall apply to the election conducted by the committee as they apply to elections to be conducted by the Board. 14. The expenses incurred in connexion with the compilation of the first register of producers, the tak ing of TIhe poll by postal ballot referred to in subsec tion (3) of section two of this Law and the first election of members of the Board shall be deemed to be expenses of the Board and shall be charged accordingly. JAMES E. LE PAGE, Her Majesty's Greffier.