PART I.

Preliminary and General.

1. —(1) This Act may be cited as the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1939.

(2) This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister shall by order appoint.

2. —In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Agriculture;

the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act;

the word “inspector” means a person appointed in writing (either generally or for a particular occasion) by the Minister to be an inspector for the purposes of this Act,

the word “package” includes any box, crate, case, wrapper or other receptacle containing or capable of containing eggs for transport, and, unless the context otherwise requires, includes the contents of such receptacle;

the word “eggs” means eggs in the shell of domestic fowl and ducks;

the word “mark” includes any word, letter, figure or design, or any combination of words, letters, figures, or designs, or any two or more of them;

the expression “registered premises” means premises registered in a register kept by the Minister in pursuance of this Act;

the expression “registered proprietor” means a person who is entered in a register kept by the Minister in pursuance of this Act as the proprietor of premises registered in that register;

the expression “registered wholesaler's premises” means premises registered in the register of wholesalers;

the expression “registered wholesaler” means the registered proprietor of registered wholesaler's premises;

the expression “registered dealer” means the registered proprietor of premises registered in the register of dealers;

the expression “registered retailer” means the registered proprietor of premises registered in the register of retailers;

the expression “registered preserver” means the registered proprietor of premises registered in the register of preservers;

the word “producer” means a person who carries on the business of poultry-farming or who rears or keeps domestic fowl or ducks for the purpose of disposing of their eggs by sale and does not acquire for resale any eggs from any other person;

the expression “chemical storage” means storage for the purpose of preserving eggs by any process which does not alter the composition of the shells, including storage in any gas, vapour or gaseous mixture;

the word “sale” includes exchange and barter, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

the expression “sale by wholesale” means sale by way of trade to a person engaged in the business of acquiring eggs for resale, but does not include sale to, or to some person on behalf of, the owner or occupier of a hotel, restaurant, club or other premises where eggs are sold only for consumption thereon, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

the expression “sale by retail” means sale otherwise than by wholesale, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;

the word “acquire” includes purchase and also includes acquiring or obtaining by barter, exchange or any other means, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

the word “retailer”, when used without qualification, means a person engaged in the business of selling eggs by retail, whether he is or is not a registered proprietor;

the expression “eggs intended for sale” includes eggs purchased for resale, eggs kept for sale (whether immediately or at a future time), eggs offered or exposed for sale, eggs sold but not delivered, and eggs being transported for or in the course of sale.

3. —(1) No person shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be skilled in the business of testing, grading and packing eggs unless he either—

(a) holds a certificate, issued by the Minister, certifying that he is skilled in the said business, or

(b) has satisfied the Minister that he is skilled in the said business.

(2) Any person may apply to the Minister for such certificate as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-section of this section and the Minister may, if he is satisfied that such person is skilled in the business of testing, grading and packing eggs, issue to such person such certificate as aforesaid.

4. —(1) The Minister may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed, but no such regulation shall be made in relation to the amount or collection of any fees without the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(2) Every regulation made by the Minister under this or any other section of this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which that House has sat annulling such regulation, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

5. —(1) Every offence under any section of this Act may be prosecuted by or at the suit of the Minister.

(2) Where an offence under any section of this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by, any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary, or other officer of such body corporate, such director, manager, secretary, or other officer shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

6. —All expenses incurred by the Minister in carrying this Act into execution shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of monies provided by the Oireachtas.

7. —(1) All fees payable under this Act shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the said Minister.

(2) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of any fees payable under this Act.

8. —(1) The powers conferred on the Minister by this Act shall be, and shall be exercised, without prejudice to the exercise by the Minister for Local Government and Public Health of the powers conferred on him by the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall prejudice or restrict the powers conferred on sanitary authorities by or under the Public Health Acts, 1878 to 1931.

9. —(1) Where a document is required or permitted by this Act to be served on any person, the document shall be served in one or other of the following ways, that is to say:—

(a) by delivering the document to the said person; or

(b) by delivering the document to any person, of not less than sixteen years of age, who is in the employment of the said person; or

(c) by sending the document by post in a prepaid letter addressed to the said person, if he is a registered proprietor, at his registered premises or, in any other case, at the address where he carries on business or at his last known place of abode.

(2) For the purpose of this section a body corporate registered in Ireland under the Companies Acts, 1908 to 1924, shall be deemed to carry on business at its registered office, and every other body corporate and every unincorporated body shall be deemed to carry on business at its principal office or place of business in Ireland.

10. —The Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924 , (No. 35 of 1924) and the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1930 (No. 36 of 1930) are hereby repealed.

11. —(1) Notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924 (No. 35 of 1924), an annual fee under section 9 of that Act shall be payable in respect of the period beginning on the 1st day of January next before the commencement of this Act and ending on the day before such commencement by the registered proprietor (within the meaning of the said section 9) of every premises which are registered in the register of exporters under that Act during the whole or any part of the said period.

(2) Every fee payable by virtue of the next preceding sub-section of this section shall—

(a) be payable to the Minister, and

(b) be calculated in accordance with section 9 of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924 , as if the period mentioned in the said next preceding sub-section were a year, and

(c) shall become due immediately upon the commencement of this Act and shall be paid not later than one month after such commencement, and

(d) may be recovered by the Minister from the person by whom it is payable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(3) Every annual fee which became due under section 9 of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924 , on the 31st day of December next preceding the commencement of this Act shall, if not paid before such commencement, be payable in accordance with the said section 9 (notwithstanding the repeal thereof by this Act) and shall be recoverable by the Minister from the person by whom it is payable as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(4) Sub-sections (5) and (6) of section 9 of the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Act, 1924 , shall, notwithstanding the repeal of that Act by this Act, continue in force for the purposes of all fees which are, by virtue of this section, payable under the said section 9 after the commencement of this Act.

12. —(1) Every order and every regulation made under the Agricultural Produce (Eggs) Acts, 1924 and 1930, which is in force immediately before the commencement of this Act shall, if and so far as it is not inconsistent with this Act, continue in force notwithstanding the repeal by this Act of the Act under which it was made.

(2) Every order and regulation continued in force by virtue of this section shall be deemed to have been made under this Act and shall be capable of being revoked, amended or varied, in the case of any such order, by any order made by the Minister under this Act and, in the case of any such regulation, by any regulation made by the Minister under this Act.