PART X.

Miscellaneous Provisions.

44. —Every person who, for the purpose of obtaining or increasing, for himself or any other person, any bounty, registration, licence or other benefit or advantage under or by virtue of this Act or avoiding or reducing, for himself or any other person, any levy or other obligation under this Act, shall make to the Minister or an inspector any report, return, or other written statement which is to his knowledge false or misleading in any material respect shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

45. —(1) It shall be the duty of every person registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Act and of all persons by whom levies are payable or to whom bounties are payable under this Act to keep or cause to be kept such records as may be prescribed by the Minister to be kept by such persons and different records may be required to be kept by different such persons.

(2) Every record kept in pursuance of this section may be inspected at all reasonable times by an inspector and it shall be the duty of the person liable under this section to keep such records to produce for the inspection of such inspector on demand such records and also all invoices, consignment notes, receipts and other documents (including copies thereof where the originals are not available) reasonably demanded by such inspector for the purpose of verifying any entry in or explaining any omission from such records.

(3) If any person by whom any levy or to whom any bounty is payable under this Act—

(a) fails to keep or cause to be kept such records as are required by this section to be kept or caused to be kept by him; or

(b) fails to make or cause to be made in such records within the prescribed time the prescribed entries; or

(c) fails to produce or cause to be produced for the inspection of an inspector on demand any record, document or copy of a document which he is required by this section to produce, or obstructs any inspector in the making of such inspection; or

(d) wilfully or negligently makes or causes to be made in such record any entry which is false or misleading in any material particular;

he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof, in the case of a first such offence, to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds and, in the case of a second or any subsequent such offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or imprisonment for any period not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

(4) For the purposes of this section—

(a) inspection of a record or document shall include taking copies thereof or extracts therefrom; and

(b) a demand for inspection of a record or other document shall be deemed to have been duly made by an inspector to the person by whom a levy or to whom a bounty is payable under this Act if such demand is made verbally at the address of such person to such person or to the manager, secretary, book-keeper or other member of the clerical staff of such person; and

(c) a refusal or failure to produce a record or other document for inspection if made or committed by a person employed on premises which are owned or occupied by a person by whom a levy or to whom a bounty is payable under this Act shall be deemed to have been made or committed by the owner of such premises.

46. —(1) The Minister may by order make regulations for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say, prescribing the returns to be made by persons registered in a register kept in pursuance of this Act and by manufacturers, vendors, purchasers, exporters, and importers of butter or of any milk product, and the persons by whom, the times at which, and the form in which such returns are to be made.

(2) Every person who is required by regulations made under this section to make any return prescribed by such regulations shall duly make such return in accordance with such regulations, and if any such person shall fail or neglect so to make such return he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

47. —(1) If the registered proprietor of any premises registered under the Dairy Produce Act, 1924 (No. 58 of 1924), is convicted of an offence under any section of this Act or fails or neglects to pay to the Minister any levy required to be paid by him under this Act, or fails or neglects to keep any record or make any return required by this Act to be kept or made by him, the Minister may cancel the registration of such premises.

(2) Before cancelling the registration of any premises under this section the Minister shall give at least one fortnight's notice in writing of his intention so to cancel such registration to the registered proprietor, and shall consider any representations made before the expiration of such notice by such proprietor, and may if he thinks fit cause an inquiry to be held in relation to the matter.

48. —(1) The Minister may publish in such manner as he may think fit notice of any conviction for an offence under any section of this Act.

(2) No individual return or part of a return furnished in pursuance of this Act shall be published or disclosed except for the purposes of a prosecution under this Act.

(3) The Minister may from time to time collect and publish such statistical information (including statistics derived from returns made pursuant to this Act) with respect to the condition of the butter trade as he may think fit.

49. —Every reference in this Act to the definition by the Minister of different classes of a substance shall be construed as including classification by reference to exportation, sale, marketing, importation or other dealing by a central marketing organisation operating under rules approved by the Minister and a similar dealing by any other person.

50. —Every offence under any section of this Act may be prosecuted by or at the suit of the Minister as prosecutor.