Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968

Drainage charges under Part I of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (hereafter in the charges provisions referred to as " the principal Act ") shall, instead of being raised at an amount per pound on the annual value of chargeable hereditaments in river authority areas and levied on the occupiers or owners of the hereditaments, be raised at an amount per acre of chargeable land in those areas and levied on the occupiers or owners of the land in accordance with the charges provisions and the provisions of the said Part I as modified by this Act.

In sections 22 to 29 of this Act and this section " the charges provisions " means those sections and this section.

The general drainage charge raised by a river authority for any year shall be at a uniform amount per acre ascertained in accordance with subsections (2) and (3) of this section.

Subject to subsection (3) of this section, the said amount shall be ascertained by— and the number so specified shall (apart from any adjustment made to it to take account of rough grazing land) be such as the Minister considers will secure, so far as reasonably practicable, that the aggregate amount produced by any charge levied by reference to a quotient ascertained in pursuance of paragraph (a) of this subsection will be equal to the aggregate amount which, if the chargeable land in the river authority area were liable to be rated, would be produced by a rate levied on that land at an amount in the pound (of rateable value) equal to that quotient multiplied by one penny.

Where an amount ascertained in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section includes a fraction of a penny, the fraction shall—

An order under this section may be made so as to apply either to all general drainage charges which may be raised by river authorities or to the general drainage charges proposed to be raised by any one or more river authorities specified in the order, and any such order applying to the charges of more than one river authority may make different provision as respects the charges of the different authorities.

In subsection (2) of this section " appropriate penny rate product " has the same meaning as that expression has for the purposes of the said section 87, and the reference in that subsection to subsection (4) of that section does not include a reference to it as applied by subsection (5) of that section.

The special drainage charge raised by a river authority for any year shall be at a uniform amount per acre of the chargeable land included in the area designated for the purposes of the charge by the scheme authorising it, being an amount which exceeds neither—

An order under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section may be made so as to apply either to all special drainage charges which may be raised by river authorities or to the special drainage charges proposed to be raised by one or more river authorities specified in the order or to the special drainage charges proposed to be raised in pursuance of one or more schemes made under section 3 of the principal Act and so specified; and any such order applying to the charges of more than one river authority or authorised by more than one such scheme may make different provision as respects the charges of the different authorities or the charges authorised by the different schemes, as the case may be.

Where the area of chargeable land in respect of which, apart from this section, a sum is payable by any person by way of a drainage charge consists of or includes a fraction of an acre, then for the purpose of calculating that sum the fraction shall be disregarded if it is less than one-half and treated as one acre in any other case.

The sum payable by way of a drainage charge in respect of chargeable land consisting of commercial woodlands shall be calculated as if the area of the land were one-fifth of its actual area; and in the application of subsection (1) of this section to such chargeable land the area ascertained in pursuance of this subsection (and not the area of which it is one-fifth) shall be treated as the area mentioned in that subsection.

A river authority may make arrangements with the owner of any chargeable land for any drainage charges which may be raised by the authority for any period in respect of the land to be levied on the owner instead of on the occupier of the land; and where such arrangements are made the charges in question shall be levied on the owner instead of on the occupier of the land and any reference to an occupier in the charges provisions (except this section) and in Part I of the principal Act shall be construed accordingly.

Where in pursuance of any such arrangements the owner of any land pays drainage charges in respect of the land to a river authority before the expiration of the period of two months beginning with the date of the service on him of the demand for the charges or before the expiration of one half of the period for which the charges are raised, the authority shall make to him an allowance equal to ten per cent. of the full amount of the charges; but no such allowance shall be made in respect of charges which, apart from this section, are payable for any period by the owner in pursuance of section 13 of the principal Act.

It shall be the duty of a river authority by whom arrangements are made under this section to give notice of the arrangements forthwith after they are made to the occupier of the land affected by them.

The owner of any land who is a party to any arrangements under this section in respect of the land may recover from the occupier of the land a sum equal to the amount of any drainage charges in respect of the land which, apart from the arrangements, would be payable by the occupier.

The occupier of any chargeable land may, by notice given to the river authority in whose area the land is situated,— and a notice under this subsection shall take effect on the day following that on which it is given to the river authority.

It shall be the duty of a river authority to whom notice is given under subsection (5) of this section to send a copy of the notice to the owner of the land to which it relates.

Part I of the principal Act shall have effect subject to the modifications set out in Schedule 6 to this Act, being modifications consequential upon the charges provisions.

In section 5(2) of the principal Act (which requires any drainage charge to be raised in the year preceding that for which it is raised), for the words " in the year preceding that " there shall be substituted the words " before or during the year ".

In section 6(2) of the principal Act (which requires notice of the raising of a drainage charge to be affixed in a public or conspicuous place and published in a newspaper), the words from " affixed " to " and " shall be omitted.

In section 8(3) of the principal Act (which provides for notice of amendments of drainage charges to be served on each owner and occupier concerned) the words " owner and " shall be omitted.

In section 9(1) of the principal Act (which provides for appeals to quarter sessions in connection with demands for drainage charges) for the words from " on any ground " onwards there shall be substituted the words " he may appeal to the county court for the area in which the land or any part of it is situated ".

The references to chargeable hereditaments in section 8(4) of the Water Resources Act 1963, article 10(1) of the Thames Conservancy (New Functions of River Authorities in Thames Catchment Area) Order 1964 and article 5(1) of the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board (New Functions of River Authorities) Order 1965 shall continue to have the meaning assigned to them by the principal Act as originally enacted but shall be construed as including references to chargeable land.

Nothing in the charges provisions shall affect any general drainage charge raised before the date of the passing of this Act, and accordingly the principal Act shall continue to have effect in relation to any such charge as if this Act had not been passed.

Any river authority who have raised a general drainage charge before the date aforesaid may, if they think fit, determine that this subsection shall apply to the authority for any of the years ending with 31st March 1969, 31st March 1970 or 31st March 1971 in respect of which the authority have not already made a determination under this subsection ; and where an authority have made a determination under this subsection with respect to any year they may raise a general drainage charge for that year as if section 52 of this Act and the charges provisions, except sections 21(2), 27(2) and (3) and 29 and this section, had not been passed.

A river authority who have made a determination under subsection (2) of this section may, if they think fit, also determine that this subsection shall apply to the authority for the year or years to which the determination under that subsection relates; and where an authority have made a determination under this subsection—

A river authority who have made a determination under subsection (2) of this section, or determinations under subsections (2) and (3) of this section, with respect to any year shall not be entitled to raise a general drainage charge for that year otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the said subsection (2) or, as the case may be, of the said subsections (2) and (3); but subject to that, nothing in those subsections shall prevent a river authority from raising a general drainage charge in accordance with the charges provisions other than those subsections.

In the charges provisions—

The charges provisions shall be construed as one with the principal Act.

Without prejudice to subsection (2) of this section, references to the principal Act and Part I of that Act in section 51 of that Act (application to the Crown) and in section 52(4) of that Act (interpretation) shall be construed as including references to the charges provisions.

If a drainage board are of the opinion that the amount of the annual value of any relevant land in their district should, for the purpose of securing that the burden of the drainage rates payable in respect of all land in their district is fairly distributed so far as reasonably practicable among the persons liable to pay those rates, be increased or reduced having regard to changes in the circumstances by reference to which the annual value of the land in question or of any other relevant land in the district was fixed, the board may make a determination specifying as the annual value of that land such greater or smaller amount than the amount aforesaid as they consider just for that purpose, having regard to the changes and to any other alterations of annual values under this section made or proposed by the board.

If the owner or occupier of any relevant land in a drainage district is of the opinion that, having regard to such changes as aforesaid, the amount of the annual value of the land should be altered for the purpose mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, he may request the drainage board in writing to make such a determination in respect of the land as is so mentioned ; and where such a request is made the board shall either comply with it or, if they consider that no alteration of the value is required for the purpose aforesaid, determine that the request be refused.

Where a drainage board make a determination under the foregoing provisions of this section, they shall serve notice of the determination, together with a statement in writing of the rights of appeal conferred by section 32 of this Act, on the owner and occupier of the land to which the determination relates.

Subject to section 33 of this Act, where a determination in respect of any land is made under subsection (1) of this section, the annual value of the land shall, for the purposes of any drainage rate made after the effective date, be that specified in the determination ; and where such a determination specifying an annual value is made under subsection (2) of this section, the annual value of the land shall, for the purposes of any drainage rate made in respect of any period included in the financial year in which the request for the determination was made and any drainage rate made in respect of any subsequent period, be that specified in the determination. For the purposes of this subsection—

Where the annual value of any land is altered by a determination under subsection (2) of this section and drainage rates for any period in respect of the land have been or are subsequently paid by reference to its annual value before the alteration, then if the period is one for which, in accordance with subsection (4) of this section, the amount of those rates falls to be assessed on the value specified in the determination, that amount shall be recalculated accordingly and any sum overpaid shall be repaid or allowed and any sum underpaid may be recovered as if it were arrears of drainage rates.

In this section " relevant land " means land in respect of which drainage rates fall to be assessed on, or on one-third of, the annual value of the land.

Where the property which constitutes a hereditament for the purposes of drainage rates consists of or includes a part only of land for which a rateable value is shown in the current valuation list, the drainage board for the drainage district in which the hereditament is situated may if they think fit, and shall if the owner or occupier of the part in question requests them in writing to do so, determine that that list and each other valuation list from time to time in force in which a rateable value is shown for that land shall have effect— as if such proportion of the rateable value so shown as is specified in the determination were shown in the list in question as the rateable value for that part.

Where a drainage board make a determination under subsection (1) of this section, they shall serve notice of the determination, together with a statement in writing of the rights of appeal conferred by section 32 of this Act, on the owner and occupier of the part of the land to which the determination relates.

A determination made by a drainage board under this section shall, subject to section 33 of this Act, have effect for the purposes of any drainage rate made by the board on or after the effective date, but shall not affect any rate so made before that date ; and in this subsection " the effective date " means the date on which notices of the determination are served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section on the owner and occupier there mentioned or, where the notices are served on different dates, the later of those dates.

Where a determination in respect of any land is made by a drainage board under section 30 or section 31 of this Act, the owner and occupier of the land or either of them may, subject to the following provisions of this section, appeal against the determination in accordance with those provisions.

An owner or occupier who wishes to appeal against such a determination must, before the expiration of the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date of service of notice of the determination on him in pursuance of section 30 or section 31 of this Act, as the case may be, or of such longer period as the drainage board may allow either generally or in any particular case, serve on the board a notice objecting to the determination and stating the grounds of the objection.

Where notice of objection to a determination is served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section, the drainage board may if they think fit, before the expiration of the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date of service of the notice on them, cancel the determination and, subject to subsection (4) of this section, make in its place a fresh determination under the provisions of section 30 or section 31 of this Act under which the cancelled determination was made; and this section and the other provisions of those sections shall apply to the fresh determination accordingly.

Where notice of objection is served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section in respect of a determination made by a drainage board under section 30(1) of this Act, the board may cancel the determination in accordance with subsection (3) of this section without making a fresh determination in its place; and in such a case the board shall serve notice of the cancellation on the person by whom the notice of objection was served on them.

Where notice of objection to a determination is served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section and is not withdrawn before the expiration of the period mentioned in subsection (3) of this section and the drainage board do not cancel the determination in accordance with the said subsection (3), they shall, forthwith after the expiration of that period, transmit the notice and a note of the determination to the clerk to the local valuation panel for the time being constituted in pursuance of the General Rate Act 1967 for the area in which the land to which the determination relates is situated or, where different parts of that land are situated in different areas for which local valuation panels are so constituted, to the clerk to such one of those panels as may be determined by or under regulations made by the Minister.

The transmission in pursuance of subsection (5) of this section of a notice of objection to a determination of a drainage board shall constitute the lodging of an appeal against the determination, by the person who served the notice on the board, to a local valuation court constituted in accordance with section 33 of this Act.

The references in subsection (1) of this section to land in respect of which a determination is made under section 31 of this Act are references to the part of the land for which a value falls to be ascertained by reference to the determination.

It shall be the duty of the chairman or a deputy chairman of the local valuation panel to whose clerk a notice of objection is transmitted in pursuance of section 32 of this Act to arrange for the convening of a local valuation court to hear and determine the appeal to which the notice relates; and subsections (5) and (6) of section 88 of the said Act of 1967 shall apply to the constitution of the court and to the rehearing of the appeal in case of such a failure to agree as is mentioned in the said subsection (6).

Subsection (2) of section 76 of the said Act of 1967 (which regulates the procedure of local valuation courts) shall apply to a court convened in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section as if for the reference to the Minister of Housing and Local Government there were substituted a reference to the Minister and as if the reference to subsection (3) of that section were omitted.

On the hearing of an appeal to a local valuation court in pursuance of this section, the following persons, that is to say- shall be entitled to appear and be heard as parties to the appeal and to examine any witness before the court and to call witnesses.

The court to which an appeal is brought in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this section shall, after hearing the persons mentioned in subsection (3) of this section or such of them as desire to be heard, either quash the determination to which the appeal relates or alter the determination in such manner as the court thinks just or dismiss the appeal.

Section 77 of the said Act of 1967 (which provides for appeals from local valuation courts to the Lands Tribunal) shall have effect in relation to a decision of a local valuation court under this section as if for the reference to section 76 of that Act there were substituted a reference to the foregoing provisions of this section and as if the words from " and the valuation officer " onwards were omitted.

Where the amount of any drainage rate has been calculated by reference to an annual value specified in a determination under section 30 of this Act or a rateable value attributable to a determination under section 31 of this Act and the determination is quashed or altered on appeal or cancelled in accordance with section 32(3) of this Act, then, except in so far as the parties agree otherwise, that amount shall be recalculated accordingly and any sum overpaid shall be repaid or allowed and any sum underpaid may be recovered as if it were arrears of drainage rates ; and where such a determination which has been quashed is subsequently restored on appeal, the amount of any drainage rate falling to be recalculated in consequence of the appeal shall, except as aforesaid, be recalculated accordingly and any sum overpaid shall be repaid or allowed and any sum underpaid may be recovered as aforesaid.

Sections 32 and 33 of this Act shall apply to decisions of drainage boards under section 29(2) of the Land Drainage Act 1930 as they apply to determinations of drainage boards under section 30(1) of this Act, but as if for the reference in section 32(2) to the date of service of notice of the determination in pursuance of section 30 of this Act there were substituted a reference to the date of service of notice of the decision in pursuance of section 29(3) of the said Act of 1930 and as if for any reference in section 33(6) to a determination under section 30 of this Act there were substituted a reference to a decision under the said section 29(2).

Accordingly the said Act of 1930 shall have effect subject to the following amendments, that is to say—

It shall be the duty of each drainage board—

In subsection (1) of this section " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister.

In section 92(1) of the General Rate Act 1967 (which among other things relates to the appointment of persons to assist local valuation panels in the performance of their functions under Part V of that Act) the reference to Part V of that Act shall include a reference to section 33 of this Act.

In section 75 of the Land Drainage Act 1930 (service of notices) and section 77 of that Act (Crown application), references to that Act shall be construed as including references to sections 30 to 34 of this Act.

The Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make to a river authority grants in respect of expenditure incurred by the authority, and advances on account of expenditure to be incurred by the authority, in connection with the authority's functions under section 34(1)(b) or (c) of the Land Drainage Act 1930 (which relate to the improvement of existing works and the construction of new works)— and grants in respect of or advances on account of expenditure incurred or to be incurred in carrying out works for the rebuilding or repair of any bridge maintained by the authority, other than works appearing to the Minister to be maintenance works of a routine kind.

The Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make to an internal drainage board grants in respect of expenditure incurred by the board, and advances on account of expenditure to be incurred by the board, in carrying out works for the rebuilding or repair of any bridge maintained by the board, other than works appearing to the Minister to be maintenance works of a routine kind.

Where a drainage authority are about to incur expenditure in respect of which it appears to the Minister that a grant will be payable under section 38(2) of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (which provides for grants in respect of certain expenditure incurred with a view to the carrying out of drainage works), the Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make advances to the authority on account of the expenditure.

The Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make to a river authority grants in respect of the cost of any works executed by the authority in pursuance of section 35 of the said Act of 1961 (under which a drainage board may execute by agreement with and at the expense of any other person any drainage works which that person is entitled to execute); and the reference to expense in that section shall be construed as excluding the amount of any grant paid under this subsection in respect of the works in question.

Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be construed as prejudicing any power of the Minister to make grants or advances under any other enactment.

Expressions used in this section and the said Act of 1930 have the same meanings in this section as in that Act.

If it appears to the Minister appropriate to make a scheme under this section for the purpose of avoiding undue fluctuations in income arising from carrying on the business of curing bacon in the United Kingdom or in any part of the United Kingdom mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, he may, with the approval of the Treasury, make a scheme providing for—

A scheme under this section may be made for England and Wales, for Scotland, for Northern Ireland or for any two or all of those parts of the United Kingdom jointly; and in relation to a scheme made jointly for Scotland and any other part or parts of the United Kingdom, references to the Minister in subsection (1) of this section, except paragraphs (a) and (b), and in subsection (3)(i) of this section shall be construed as references to the Ministers and any other references to the Minister in subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall, if the scheme so provides, be construed as references to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Any such scheme may—

Different provision may be made by or under such a scheme with respect to bacon curers and bacon of such different categories as may be specified in or under the scheme.

A scheme under this section shall, unless previously revoked, cease to have effect on such date as may be specified in the scheme, not being later than the expiration of the period of three years beginning with the date on which the scheme is made ; but any levy payments payable by virtue of such a scheme immediately before it ceases to have effect may be recovered as if the scheme were still in force.

For the purpose of obtaining any information required for the purposes of a scheme under section 38 of this Act, an authorised officer of the Minister or, in Northern Ireland, of the Ministry of Agriculture for Northern Ireland may, on producing if so required a duly authenticated document showing his authority, enter at any reasonable time any premises (other than premises used wholly or mainly as a dwelling) which he has reasonable cause to believe are used for the curing of bacon; and any person who wilfully obstructs any other person in the exercise of the powers conferred on that other person by this subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Any person who wilfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed on him by virtue of section 38(3)(e) of this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes any false entry in any document or any other false statement— shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding four hundred pounds or, on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

The Minister may, in accordance with a scheme made with the approval of the Treasury, make payments in respect of break crops of such descriptions as may be specified in the scheme which are grown for harvesting in any period of twelve months so specified or for feeding to stock in any such period.

A scheme under this section may be made by the Minister for England and Wales, for Scotland, for Northern Ireland or for any two or all of those parts of the United Kingdom jointly; and in relation to a scheme made jointly for Scotland and any other part or parts of the United Kingdom, references to the Minister in this section, except subsection (1) and subsection (3)(d), shall be construed as references to the Ministers.

Any scheme under this section may—

Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes a false statement for the purpose of obtaining for himself or any other person a payment in pursuance of a scheme under this section, shall be liable as mentioned in section 39(3) of this Act.

In this section " break crops " means field beans and any other crops of a kind which, in the opinion of the Minister, it is appropriate to grow with a view to changing temporarily, for the benefit of future crops, the crops on land usually used for growing wheat or barley, but does not include wheat, barley, oats, rye, potatoes and sugar beet.

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Subject to the following provisions of this section, where in pursuance of any enactment providing for the acquisition or taking of possession of land compulsorily an acquiring authority acquire the interest in an agricultural holding or any part of it of the tenant of the holding or take possession of such a holding or any part of it, the compensation payable by the authority to the tenant in connection with the acquisition or taking of possession shall be assessed without regard to the tenant’s prospects, if any, of remaining in possession of the holding after the relevant date.

In subsection (1) of this section “the relevant date” means the earliest date on which, apart from the acquisition or taking of possession, the landlord could obtain possession of the holding in pursuance of such a notice to quit as is mentioned in paragraph (c) below if— and for the purposes of this subsection any such notice as is mentioned in section 3(1) of the principal Act (which refers to notices of intention to terminate the tenancy of an agricultural holding granted for a term of two years or upwards) shall be deemed to be a notice to quit.

Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to such an acquisition or taking of possession as is there mentioned—

Section 17 of this Act shall have effect as if any reference to Part II of this Act, other than the reference in subsection (4), included a reference to the foregoing provisions of this section.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as prejudicing the provisions of any other enactment under which, apart from this section, compensation in respect of any such compulsory acquisition or taking of possession as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section falls to be assessed without regard to the prospects there mentioned.

In Part I of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964, after section 5, there shall be inserted the following section:—

The said Act of 1964 shall have effect subject to the further amendments set out in Schedule 7 to this Act, being miscellaneous minor amendments.

Section 39 of the said Act of 1964 shall have effect as if this section (together with the said Schedule 7) were contained in that Act and had been extended to Northern Ireland by Order in Council under subsection (2) of the said section 39.

Section 1 of the Agricultural and Forestry Associations Act 1962 (which confers exemptions from Part I of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 for certain co-operative associations formed for purposes of agriculture or forestry) shall apply to corresponding associations of persons engaged in the business of catching or taking fish or shellfish, and accordingly shall have effect as if—

Without prejudice to the foregoing provision, the said section 1 shall apply to any co-operative association having as its object or primary object to assist its members— whether or not the conditions specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) of that section are satisfied; and for the purposes of this subsection “co-operative association” has the meaning assigned by subsection (9) of section 70 of the Finance Act 1965, and references to members of a co-operative association include references to members of any such association which is a member of that association.

The restrictions in respect of which exemption from Part I of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 is conferred by subsection (2) of the said section 1 shall include restrictions accepted or treated as accepted as mentioned in that subsection in respect of the production of produce, the catching or taking of fish or shellfish, or the supply of produce, fish or shellfish by members of an association to which the section applies.

This section shall be construed as one with the Agricultural and Forestry Associations Act 1962.

For the purposes of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956, the definition of " trade association " in section 6(8) of that Act shall not include, and shall be deemed never to have included, a board within the meaning of this section.

Where a board enter into an agreement on or after the commencement date in the exercise only of such powers as are mentioned in subsection (1) of section 20 of the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958 (which section provides, among other things, that certain of a board's powers with respect to products must be exercised in accordance with any directions given by the Minister for the purpose of safeguarding the public interest) or of such powers as are mentioned in section 36 of that Act (under which a board are empowered, subject to the directions of the Minister, to provide artificial insemination services), Part I of the said Act of 1956 shall not apply to the agreement if—

Where a board have entered into an agreement before the commencement date wholly or partly in the exercise of any of the powers mentioned in subsection (2) of this section and either the board served on the Minister, before they entered into the agreement, notice of its terms in pursuance of a requirement to do so contained in a scheme administered by them or the board furnish a copy of the agreement to the Minister within the period of three months beginning with the commencement date, Part T of the said Act of 1956 shall not apply to the agreement— and the said Part I shall, as respects any period before the commencement date, be deemed not to have applied to an agreement to which it does not apply by virtue of this subsection as respects a subsequent period.

Subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall have effect in relation to a Northern Ireland board as if for any reference to the powers mentioned in subsection (2) of this section were there substituted a reference to the powers mentioned in subsection (1) of section 14 of the Agricultural Marketing Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 (which section corresponds to the said section 20).

Where by virtue of any of the provisions of subsections (2) to (4) of this section Part I of the said Act of 1956 does not apply, or does not apply or is deemed not to have applied as respects any period, to an agreement made between a board and a trade association within the meaning of section 6 of that Act, being an agreement as to the terms for other agreements between the board and persons who are members of the association or are represented thereon by such members, the said Part I shall not apply or, as the case may be, shall not apply or shall be deemed not to have applied as respects that period—

Nothing in this section shall be construed as derogating from the powers of the Minister to give directions at any time under the provisions of the said Acts of 1958 and 1964 which are mentioned in subsections (2) and (4) of this section.

In this section— and for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section an agreement shall be treated as entered into by a board in the exercise only of the powers mentioned in that subsection, or that subsection as modified by subsection (4) of this section, notwithstanding that the agreement contains provisions entered into by the board in the exercise of other powers if the Minister is of opinion that those provisions are incidental provisions only.

The Minister may by regulations—

In this section “functions” means powers and duties.

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Subject to subsection (7) of section 45 of this Act, in this Act—

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Any reference in this Act to any enactment is a reference to it as amended, and includes a reference to it as applied, by or under any other enactment including an enactment in this Act.

Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. In this subsection “director”, in relation to a body corporate established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or undertaking or part of an industry or undertaking, being a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of that body corporate.

Any power conferred by this Act to make regulations or a scheme or an order (other than an order under section 23(1)(a)) shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

Any statutory instrument containing an order or regulations made under any provision of this Act, other than an order under section 23(1)(b) and regulations under section 2, shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

No scheme shall be made under this Act unless a draft of the scheme has been approved by each House of Parliament.

Any order or scheme made under any provision of this Act may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order or scheme made thereunder.

Any order, scheme or regulations under this Act may make different provision for different circumstances; and nothing in any other provision of this Act authorising the making of different provision for such different cases as may be specified in that provision shall be construed as prejudicing the generality of the power conferred by this subsection.

This Act may be cited as the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968.

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This Act, except Part IV and sections 10, 13, 47 and 48, extends to Scotland, and sections 11, 14 and 16 and Part III of this Act extend to Scotland only.

This Part of this Act, except sections 41, 42 and 46 to 48, extends to Northern Ireland; . . .

Drainage charges under Part I of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (hereafter in the charges provisions referred to as " the principal Act ") shall, instead of being raised at an amount per pound on the annual value of chargeable hereditaments in river authority areas and levied on the occupiers or owners of the hereditaments, be raised at an amount per acre of chargeable land in those areas and levied on the occupiers or owners of the land in accordance with the charges provisions and the provisions of the said Part I as modified by this Act.

In sections 22 to 29 of this Act and this section " the charges provisions " means those sections and this section.

The general drainage charge raised by a river authority for any year shall be at a uniform amount per acre ascertained in accordance with subsections (2) and (3) of this section.

Subject to subsection (3) of this section, the said amount shall be ascertained by— and the number so specified shall (apart from any adjustment made to it to take account of rough grazing land) be such as the Minister considers will secure, so far as reasonably practicable, that the aggregate amount produced by any charge levied by reference to a quotient ascertained in pursuance of paragraph (a) of this subsection will be equal to the aggregate amount which, if the chargeable land in the river authority area were liable to be rated, would be produced by a rate levied on that land at an amount in the pound (of rateable value) equal to that quotient multiplied by one penny.

Where an amount ascertained in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section includes a fraction of a penny, the fraction shall—

An order under this section may be made so as to apply either to all general drainage charges which may be raised by river authorities or to the general drainage charges proposed to be raised by any one or more river authorities specified in the order, and any such order applying to the charges of more than one river authority may make different provision as respects the charges of the different authorities.

In subsection (2) of this section " appropriate penny rate product " has the same meaning as that expression has for the purposes of the said section 87, and the reference in that subsection to subsection (4) of that section does not include a reference to it as applied by subsection (5) of that section.

The special drainage charge raised by a river authority for any year shall be at a uniform amount per acre of the chargeable land included in the area designated for the purposes of the charge by the scheme authorising it, being an amount which exceeds neither—

An order under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section may be made so as to apply either to all special drainage charges which may be raised by river authorities or to the special drainage charges proposed to be raised by one or more river authorities specified in the order or to the special drainage charges proposed to be raised in pursuance of one or more schemes made under section 3 of the principal Act and so specified; and any such order applying to the charges of more than one river authority or authorised by more than one such scheme may make different provision as respects the charges of the different authorities or the charges authorised by the different schemes, as the case may be.

Where the area of chargeable land in respect of which, apart from this section, a sum is payable by any person by way of a drainage charge consists of or includes a fraction of an acre, then for the purpose of calculating that sum the fraction shall be disregarded if it is less than one-half and treated as one acre in any other case.

The sum payable by way of a drainage charge in respect of chargeable land consisting of commercial woodlands shall be calculated as if the area of the land were one-fifth of its actual area; and in the application of subsection (1) of this section to such chargeable land the area ascertained in pursuance of this subsection (and not the area of which it is one-fifth) shall be treated as the area mentioned in that subsection.

A river authority may make arrangements with the owner of any chargeable land for any drainage charges which may be raised by the authority for any period in respect of the land to be levied on the owner instead of on the occupier of the land; and where such arrangements are made the charges in question shall be levied on the owner instead of on the occupier of the land and any reference to an occupier in the charges provisions (except this section) and in Part I of the principal Act shall be construed accordingly.

Where in pursuance of any such arrangements the owner of any land pays drainage charges in respect of the land to a river authority before the expiration of the period of two months beginning with the date of the service on him of the demand for the charges or before the expiration of one half of the period for which the charges are raised, the authority shall make to him an allowance equal to ten per cent. of the full amount of the charges; but no such allowance shall be made in respect of charges which, apart from this section, are payable for any period by the owner in pursuance of section 13 of the principal Act.

It shall be the duty of a river authority by whom arrangements are made under this section to give notice of the arrangements forthwith after they are made to the occupier of the land affected by them.

The owner of any land who is a party to any arrangements under this section in respect of the land may recover from the occupier of the land a sum equal to the amount of any drainage charges in respect of the land which, apart from the arrangements, would be payable by the occupier.

The occupier of any chargeable land may, by notice given to the river authority in whose area the land is situated,— and a notice under this subsection shall take effect on the day following that on which it is given to the river authority.

It shall be the duty of a river authority to whom notice is given under subsection (5) of this section to send a copy of the notice to the owner of the land to which it relates.

Part I of the principal Act shall have effect subject to the modifications set out in Schedule 6 to this Act, being modifications consequential upon the charges provisions.

In section 5(2) of the principal Act (which requires any drainage charge to be raised in the year preceding that for which it is raised), for the words " in the year preceding that " there shall be substituted the words " before or during the year ".

In section 6(2) of the principal Act (which requires notice of the raising of a drainage charge to be affixed in a public or conspicuous place and published in a newspaper), the words from " affixed " to " and " shall be omitted.

In section 8(3) of the principal Act (which provides for notice of amendments of drainage charges to be served on each owner and occupier concerned) the words " owner and " shall be omitted.

In section 9(1) of the principal Act (which provides for appeals to quarter sessions in connection with demands for drainage charges) for the words from " on any ground " onwards there shall be substituted the words " he may appeal to the county court for the area in which the land or any part of it is situated ".

The references to chargeable hereditaments in section 8(4) of the Water Resources Act 1963, article 10(1) of the Thames Conservancy (New Functions of River Authorities in Thames Catchment Area) Order 1964 and article 5(1) of the Lee Conservancy Catchment Board (New Functions of River Authorities) Order 1965 shall continue to have the meaning assigned to them by the principal Act as originally enacted but shall be construed as including references to chargeable land.

Nothing in the charges provisions shall affect any general drainage charge raised before the date of the passing of this Act, and accordingly the principal Act shall continue to have effect in relation to any such charge as if this Act had not been passed.

Any river authority who have raised a general drainage charge before the date aforesaid may, if they think fit, determine that this subsection shall apply to the authority for any of the years ending with 31st March 1969, 31st March 1970 or 31st March 1971 in respect of which the authority have not already made a determination under this subsection ; and where an authority have made a determination under this subsection with respect to any year they may raise a general drainage charge for that year as if section 52 of this Act and the charges provisions, except sections 21(2), 27(2) and (3) and 29 and this section, had not been passed.

A river authority who have made a determination under subsection (2) of this section may, if they think fit, also determine that this subsection shall apply to the authority for the year or years to which the determination under that subsection relates; and where an authority have made a determination under this subsection—

A river authority who have made a determination under subsection (2) of this section, or determinations under subsections (2) and (3) of this section, with respect to any year shall not be entitled to raise a general drainage charge for that year otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of the said subsection (2) or, as the case may be, of the said subsections (2) and (3); but subject to that, nothing in those subsections shall prevent a river authority from raising a general drainage charge in accordance with the charges provisions other than those subsections.

In the charges provisions—

The charges provisions shall be construed as one with the principal Act.

Without prejudice to subsection (2) of this section, references to the principal Act and Part I of that Act in section 51 of that Act (application to the Crown) and in section 52(4) of that Act (interpretation) shall be construed as including references to the charges provisions.

If a drainage board are of the opinion that the amount of the annual value of any relevant land in their district should, for the purpose of securing that the burden of the drainage rates payable in respect of all land in their district is fairly distributed so far as reasonably practicable among the persons liable to pay those rates, be increased or reduced having regard to changes in the circumstances by reference to which the annual value of the land in question or of any other relevant land in the district was fixed, the board may make a determination specifying as the annual value of that land such greater or smaller amount than the amount aforesaid as they consider just for that purpose, having regard to the changes and to any other alterations of annual values under this section made or proposed by the board.

If the owner or occupier of any relevant land in a drainage district is of the opinion that, having regard to such changes as aforesaid, the amount of the annual value of the land should be altered for the purpose mentioned in subsection (1) of this section, he may request the drainage board in writing to make such a determination in respect of the land as is so mentioned ; and where such a request is made the board shall either comply with it or, if they consider that no alteration of the value is required for the purpose aforesaid, determine that the request be refused.

Where a drainage board make a determination under the foregoing provisions of this section, they shall serve notice of the determination, together with a statement in writing of the rights of appeal conferred by section 32 of this Act, on the owner and occupier of the land to which the determination relates.

Subject to section 33 of this Act, where a determination in respect of any land is made under subsection (1) of this section, the annual value of the land shall, for the purposes of any drainage rate made after the effective date, be that specified in the determination ; and where such a determination specifying an annual value is made under subsection (2) of this section, the annual value of the land shall, for the purposes of any drainage rate made in respect of any period included in the financial year in which the request for the determination was made and any drainage rate made in respect of any subsequent period, be that specified in the determination. For the purposes of this subsection—

Where the annual value of any land is altered by a determination under subsection (2) of this section and drainage rates for any period in respect of the land have been or are subsequently paid by reference to its annual value before the alteration, then if the period is one for which, in accordance with subsection (4) of this section, the amount of those rates falls to be assessed on the value specified in the determination, that amount shall be recalculated accordingly and any sum overpaid shall be repaid or allowed and any sum underpaid may be recovered as if it were arrears of drainage rates.

In this section " relevant land " means land in respect of which drainage rates fall to be assessed on, or on one-third of, the annual value of the land.

Where the property which constitutes a hereditament for the purposes of drainage rates consists of or includes a part only of land for which a rateable value is shown in the current valuation list, the drainage board for the drainage district in which the hereditament is situated may if they think fit, and shall if the owner or occupier of the part in question requests them in writing to do so, determine that that list and each other valuation list from time to time in force in which a rateable value is shown for that land shall have effect— as if such proportion of the rateable value so shown as is specified in the determination were shown in the list in question as the rateable value for that part.

Where a drainage board make a determination under subsection (1) of this section, they shall serve notice of the determination, together with a statement in writing of the rights of appeal conferred by section 32 of this Act, on the owner and occupier of the part of the land to which the determination relates.

A determination made by a drainage board under this section shall, subject to section 33 of this Act, have effect for the purposes of any drainage rate made by the board on or after the effective date, but shall not affect any rate so made before that date ; and in this subsection " the effective date " means the date on which notices of the determination are served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section on the owner and occupier there mentioned or, where the notices are served on different dates, the later of those dates.

Where a determination in respect of any land is made by a drainage board under section 30 or section 31 of this Act, the owner and occupier of the land or either of them may, subject to the following provisions of this section, appeal against the determination in accordance with those provisions.

An owner or occupier who wishes to appeal against such a determination must, before the expiration of the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date of service of notice of the determination on him in pursuance of section 30 or section 31 of this Act, as the case may be, or of such longer period as the drainage board may allow either generally or in any particular case, serve on the board a notice objecting to the determination and stating the grounds of the objection.

Where notice of objection to a determination is served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section, the drainage board may if they think fit, before the expiration of the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the date of service of the notice on them, cancel the determination and, subject to subsection (4) of this section, make in its place a fresh determination under the provisions of section 30 or section 31 of this Act under which the cancelled determination was made; and this section and the other provisions of those sections shall apply to the fresh determination accordingly.

Where notice of objection is served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section in respect of a determination made by a drainage board under section 30(1) of this Act, the board may cancel the determination in accordance with subsection (3) of this section without making a fresh determination in its place; and in such a case the board shall serve notice of the cancellation on the person by whom the notice of objection was served on them.

Where notice of objection to a determination is served in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section and is not withdrawn before the expiration of the period mentioned in subsection (3) of this section and the drainage board do not cancel the determination in accordance with the said subsection (3), they shall, forthwith after the expiration of that period, transmit the notice and a note of the determination to the clerk to the local valuation panel for the time being constituted in pursuance of the General Rate Act 1967 for the area in which the land to which the determination relates is situated or, where different parts of that land are situated in different areas for which local valuation panels are so constituted, to the clerk to such one of those panels as may be determined by or under regulations made by the Minister.

The transmission in pursuance of subsection (5) of this section of a notice of objection to a determination of a drainage board shall constitute the lodging of an appeal against the determination, by the person who served the notice on the board, to a local valuation court constituted in accordance with section 33 of this Act.

The references in subsection (1) of this section to land in respect of which a determination is made under section 31 of this Act are references to the part of the land for which a value falls to be ascertained by reference to the determination.

It shall be the duty of the chairman or a deputy chairman of the local valuation panel to whose clerk a notice of objection is transmitted in pursuance of section 32 of this Act to arrange for the convening of a local valuation court to hear and determine the appeal to which the notice relates; and subsections (5) and (6) of section 88 of the said Act of 1967 shall apply to the constitution of the court and to the rehearing of the appeal in case of such a failure to agree as is mentioned in the said subsection (6).

Subsection (2) of section 76 of the said Act of 1967 (which regulates the procedure of local valuation courts) shall apply to a court convened in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section as if for the reference to the Minister of Housing and Local Government there were substituted a reference to the Minister and as if the reference to subsection (3) of that section were omitted.

On the hearing of an appeal to a local valuation court in pursuance of this section, the following persons, that is to say- shall be entitled to appear and be heard as parties to the appeal and to examine any witness before the court and to call witnesses.

The court to which an appeal is brought in pursuance of the foregoing provisions of this section shall, after hearing the persons mentioned in subsection (3) of this section or such of them as desire to be heard, either quash the determination to which the appeal relates or alter the determination in such manner as the court thinks just or dismiss the appeal.

Section 77 of the said Act of 1967 (which provides for appeals from local valuation courts to the Lands Tribunal) shall have effect in relation to a decision of a local valuation court under this section as if for the reference to section 76 of that Act there were substituted a reference to the foregoing provisions of this section and as if the words from " and the valuation officer " onwards were omitted.

Where the amount of any drainage rate has been calculated by reference to an annual value specified in a determination under section 30 of this Act or a rateable value attributable to a determination under section 31 of this Act and the determination is quashed or altered on appeal or cancelled in accordance with section 32(3) of this Act, then, except in so far as the parties agree otherwise, that amount shall be recalculated accordingly and any sum overpaid shall be repaid or allowed and any sum underpaid may be recovered as if it were arrears of drainage rates ; and where such a determination which has been quashed is subsequently restored on appeal, the amount of any drainage rate falling to be recalculated in consequence of the appeal shall, except as aforesaid, be recalculated accordingly and any sum overpaid shall be repaid or allowed and any sum underpaid may be recovered as aforesaid.

Sections 32 and 33 of this Act shall apply to decisions of drainage boards under section 29(2) of the Land Drainage Act 1930 as they apply to determinations of drainage boards under section 30(1) of this Act, but as if for the reference in section 32(2) to the date of service of notice of the determination in pursuance of section 30 of this Act there were substituted a reference to the date of service of notice of the decision in pursuance of section 29(3) of the said Act of 1930 and as if for any reference in section 33(6) to a determination under section 30 of this Act there were substituted a reference to a decision under the said section 29(2).

Accordingly the said Act of 1930 shall have effect subject to the following amendments, that is to say—

It shall be the duty of each drainage board—

In subsection (1) of this section " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister.

In section 92(1) of the General Rate Act 1967 (which among other things relates to the appointment of persons to assist local valuation panels in the performance of their functions under Part V of that Act) the reference to Part V of that Act shall include a reference to section 33 of this Act.

In section 75 of the Land Drainage Act 1930 (service of notices) and section 77 of that Act (Crown application), references to that Act shall be construed as including references to sections 30 to 34 of this Act.

The Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make to a river authority grants in respect of expenditure incurred by the authority, and advances on account of expenditure to be incurred by the authority, in connection with the authority's functions under section 34(1)(b) or (c) of the Land Drainage Act 1930 (which relate to the improvement of existing works and the construction of new works)— and grants in respect of or advances on account of expenditure incurred or to be incurred in carrying out works for the rebuilding or repair of any bridge maintained by the authority, other than works appearing to the Minister to be maintenance works of a routine kind.

The Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make to an internal drainage board grants in respect of expenditure incurred by the board, and advances on account of expenditure to be incurred by the board, in carrying out works for the rebuilding or repair of any bridge maintained by the board, other than works appearing to the Minister to be maintenance works of a routine kind.

Where a drainage authority are about to incur expenditure in respect of which it appears to the Minister that a grant will be payable under section 38(2) of the Land Drainage Act 1961 (which provides for grants in respect of certain expenditure incurred with a view to the carrying out of drainage works), the Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make advances to the authority on account of the expenditure.

The Minister may, with the approval of the Treasury, make to a river authority grants in respect of the cost of any works executed by the authority in pursuance of section 35 of the said Act of 1961 (under which a drainage board may execute by agreement with and at the expense of any other person any drainage works which that person is entitled to execute); and the reference to expense in that section shall be construed as excluding the amount of any grant paid under this subsection in respect of the works in question.

Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be construed as prejudicing any power of the Minister to make grants or advances under any other enactment.

Expressions used in this section and the said Act of 1930 have the same meanings in this section as in that Act.

If it appears to the Minister appropriate to make a scheme under this section for the purpose of avoiding undue fluctuations in income arising from carrying on the business of curing bacon in the United Kingdom or in any part of the United Kingdom mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, he may, with the approval of the Treasury, make a scheme providing for—

A scheme under this section may be made for England and Wales, for Scotland, for Northern Ireland or for any two or all of those parts of the United Kingdom jointly; and in relation to a scheme made jointly for Scotland and any other part or parts of the United Kingdom, references to the Minister in subsection (1) of this section, except paragraphs (a) and (b), and in subsection (3)(i) of this section shall be construed as references to the Ministers and any other references to the Minister in subsections (1) and (3) of this section shall, if the scheme so provides, be construed as references to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Any such scheme may—

Different provision may be made by or under such a scheme with respect to bacon curers and bacon of such different categories as may be specified in or under the scheme.

A scheme under this section shall, unless previously revoked, cease to have effect on such date as may be specified in the scheme, not being later than the expiration of the period of three years beginning with the date on which the scheme is made ; but any levy payments payable by virtue of such a scheme immediately before it ceases to have effect may be recovered as if the scheme were still in force.

For the purpose of obtaining any information required for the purposes of a scheme under section 38 of this Act, an authorised officer of the Minister or, in Northern Ireland, of the Ministry of Agriculture for Northern Ireland may, on producing if so required a duly authenticated document showing his authority, enter at any reasonable time any premises (other than premises used wholly or mainly as a dwelling) which he has reasonable cause to believe are used for the curing of bacon; and any person who wilfully obstructs any other person in the exercise of the powers conferred on that other person by this subsection shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

Any person who wilfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed on him by virtue of section 38(3)(e) of this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes any false entry in any document or any other false statement— shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding four hundred pounds or, on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.

The Minister may, in accordance with a scheme made with the approval of the Treasury, make payments in respect of break crops of such descriptions as may be specified in the scheme which are grown for harvesting in any period of twelve months so specified or for feeding to stock in any such period.

A scheme under this section may be made by the Minister for England and Wales, for Scotland, for Northern Ireland or for any two or all of those parts of the United Kingdom jointly; and in relation to a scheme made jointly for Scotland and any other part or parts of the United Kingdom, references to the Minister in this section, except subsection (1) and subsection (3)(d), shall be construed as references to the Ministers.

Any scheme under this section may—

Any person who knowingly or recklessly makes a false statement for the purpose of obtaining for himself or any other person a payment in pursuance of a scheme under this section, shall be liable as mentioned in section 39(3) of this Act.

In this section " break crops " means field beans and any other crops of a kind which, in the opinion of the Minister, it is appropriate to grow with a view to changing temporarily, for the benefit of future crops, the crops on land usually used for growing wheat or barley, but does not include wheat, barley, oats, rye, potatoes and sugar beet.

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Subject to the following provisions of this section, where in pursuance of any enactment providing for the acquisition or taking of possession of land compulsorily an acquiring authority acquire the interest in an agricultural holding or any part of it of the tenant of the holding or take possession of such a holding or any part of it, the compensation payable by the authority to the tenant in connection with the acquisition or taking of possession shall be assessed without regard to the tenant’s prospects, if any, of remaining in possession of the holding after the relevant date.

In subsection (1) of this section “the relevant date” means the earliest date on which, apart from the acquisition or taking of possession, the landlord could obtain possession of the holding in pursuance of such a notice to quit as is mentioned in paragraph (c) below if— and for the purposes of this subsection any such notice as is mentioned in section 3(1) of the principal Act (which refers to notices of intention to terminate the tenancy of an agricultural holding granted for a term of two years or upwards) shall be deemed to be a notice to quit.

Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to such an acquisition or taking of possession as is there mentioned—

Section 17 of this Act shall have effect as if any reference to Part II of this Act, other than the reference in subsection (4), included a reference to the foregoing provisions of this section.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as prejudicing the provisions of any other enactment under which, apart from this section, compensation in respect of any such compulsory acquisition or taking of possession as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section falls to be assessed without regard to the prospects there mentioned.

In Part I of the Plant Varieties and Seeds Act 1964, after section 5, there shall be inserted the following section:—

The said Act of 1964 shall have effect subject to the further amendments set out in Schedule 7 to this Act, being miscellaneous minor amendments.

Section 39 of the said Act of 1964 shall have effect as if this section (together with the said Schedule 7) were contained in that Act and had been extended to Northern Ireland by Order in Council under subsection (2) of the said section 39.

Section 1 of the Agricultural and Forestry Associations Act 1962 (which confers exemptions from Part I of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 for certain co-operative associations formed for purposes of agriculture or forestry) shall apply to corresponding associations of persons engaged in the business of catching or taking fish or shellfish, and accordingly shall have effect as if—

Without prejudice to the foregoing provision, the said section 1 shall apply to any co-operative association having as its object or primary object to assist its members— whether or not the conditions specified in paragraphs (a) to (c) of subsection (1) of that section are satisfied; and for the purposes of this subsection “co-operative association” has the meaning assigned by subsection (9) of section 70 of the Finance Act 1965, and references to members of a co-operative association include references to members of any such association which is a member of that association.

The restrictions in respect of which exemption from Part I of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956 is conferred by subsection (2) of the said section 1 shall include restrictions accepted or treated as accepted as mentioned in that subsection in respect of the production of produce, the catching or taking of fish or shellfish, or the supply of produce, fish or shellfish by members of an association to which the section applies.

This section shall be construed as one with the Agricultural and Forestry Associations Act 1962.

For the purposes of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1956, the definition of " trade association " in section 6(8) of that Act shall not include, and shall be deemed never to have included, a board within the meaning of this section.

Where a board enter into an agreement on or after the commencement date in the exercise only of such powers as are mentioned in subsection (1) of section 20 of the Agricultural Marketing Act 1958 (which section provides, among other things, that certain of a board's powers with respect to products must be exercised in accordance with any directions given by the Minister for the purpose of safeguarding the public interest) or of such powers as are mentioned in section 36 of that Act (under which a board are empowered, subject to the directions of the Minister, to provide artificial insemination services), Part I of the said Act of 1956 shall not apply to the agreement if—

Where a board have entered into an agreement before the commencement date wholly or partly in the exercise of any of the powers mentioned in subsection (2) of this section and either the board served on the Minister, before they entered into the agreement, notice of its terms in pursuance of a requirement to do so contained in a scheme administered by them or the board furnish a copy of the agreement to the Minister within the period of three months beginning with the commencement date, Part T of the said Act of 1956 shall not apply to the agreement— and the said Part I shall, as respects any period before the commencement date, be deemed not to have applied to an agreement to which it does not apply by virtue of this subsection as respects a subsequent period.

Subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall have effect in relation to a Northern Ireland board as if for any reference to the powers mentioned in subsection (2) of this section were there substituted a reference to the powers mentioned in subsection (1) of section 14 of the Agricultural Marketing Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 (which section corresponds to the said section 20).

Where by virtue of any of the provisions of subsections (2) to (4) of this section Part I of the said Act of 1956 does not apply, or does not apply or is deemed not to have applied as respects any period, to an agreement made between a board and a trade association within the meaning of section 6 of that Act, being an agreement as to the terms for other agreements between the board and persons who are members of the association or are represented thereon by such members, the said Part I shall not apply or, as the case may be, shall not apply or shall be deemed not to have applied as respects that period—

Nothing in this section shall be construed as derogating from the powers of the Minister to give directions at any time under the provisions of the said Acts of 1958 and 1964 which are mentioned in subsections (2) and (4) of this section.

In this section— and for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section an agreement shall be treated as entered into by a board in the exercise only of the powers mentioned in that subsection, or that subsection as modified by subsection (4) of this section, notwithstanding that the agreement contains provisions entered into by the board in the exercise of other powers if the Minister is of opinion that those provisions are incidental provisions only.

The Minister may by regulations—

In this section “functions” means powers and duties.

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Subject to subsection (7) of section 45 of this Act, in this Act—

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Any reference in this Act to any enactment is a reference to it as amended, and includes a reference to it as applied, by or under any other enactment including an enactment in this Act.

Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. In this subsection “director”, in relation to a body corporate established by or under any enactment for the purpose of carrying on under national ownership any industry or undertaking or part of an industry or undertaking, being a body corporate whose affairs are managed by its members, means a member of that body corporate.

Any power conferred by this Act to make regulations or a scheme or an order (other than an order under section 23(1)(a)) shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.

Any statutory instrument containing an order or regulations made under any provision of this Act, other than an order under section 23(1)(b) and regulations under section 2, shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

No scheme shall be made under this Act unless a draft of the scheme has been approved by each House of Parliament.

Any order or scheme made under any provision of this Act may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order or scheme made thereunder.

Any order, scheme or regulations under this Act may make different provision for different circumstances; and nothing in any other provision of this Act authorising the making of different provision for such different cases as may be specified in that provision shall be construed as prejudicing the generality of the power conferred by this subsection.

This Act may be cited as the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968.

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This Act, except Part IV and sections 10, 13, 47 and 48, extends to Scotland, and sections 11, 14 and 16 and Part III of this Act extend to Scotland only.

This Part of this Act, except sections 41, 42 and 46 to 48, extends to Northern Ireland; . . .