The Agricultural Marketing (Northern Ireland) Order 1982

Approval of schemes N.I.

4 .F1 —(1) Before approving a scheme submitted under Article 3, the Department shall cause to be published, in the Belfast Gazette and in such other manner as it thinks best for informing persons affected, a notice—

(a) stating that the scheme has been submitted to it;

(b) specifying the place where copies of the scheme may be obtained, on payment of such fee as may be specified in the notice, and inspected; and

(c) specifying the period, which shall not be less than six weeks after the date of publication of the notice in the Belfast Gazette, within which objections and representations with respect to the scheme may be made.

(2) Every objection shall be made to the Department in writing and shall state the grounds of objection and the specific modifications required.

(3) Where an objection has been duly made to a scheme by a person affected thereby and has not been withdrawn, the Department, unless it considers the objection to be frivolous, or unless it proposes to modify the scheme to meet the objection, shall, before taking any further action under this Article, direct a public inquiry to be held and consider the report of the person who held the inquiry.

(4) After considering any scheme duly submitted to it under Article 3 and any objections and representations duly made with respect thereto, and after holding such inquiries, if any, as it thinks fit or is required to hold under this Article, the Department may, subject to paragraph (5), make such modifications in the scheme as it thinks proper.

(5) Before making any modifications in a scheme, the Department shall give notice of the proposed modifications to such persons (not being less than nine nor more than twenty-one) as may be nominated for the purpose, at the time of the submission of the scheme, by the persons submitting the scheme, and unless, within four weeks after notice has been so given or such longer time as the Department may allow, more than half the persons so nominated notify the Department that they assent to the modifications, the Department shall take no further action under this Article.

(6) If the Department after making such modifications, if any, as aforesaid, is satisfied that the scheme will conduce to the more efficient production and marketing of the regulated product, it may lay before the Assembly a draft of the scheme, and if the Assembly resolves that the scheme shall be approved the Department shall make an order approving the scheme in terms of the draft.

(7) The Department, on laying before the Assembly a draft of a scheme under paragraph (6), shall at the same time lay before the Assembly—

(a) if the scheme is not a substitutional scheme, a report as to the evidence by which it has been satisfied for the purposes of Article 3(1) that the persons submitting the scheme were duly representative; or

(b) if the scheme is a substitutional scheme, a report showing that the provisions of Article 3(5) and (6) have been complied with.

(8) Where the Department has made an order under paragraph (6) approving a scheme, the scheme shall, subject to paragraph (9), come into force on such date as may be specified in the order, being a date after that on which the Assembly resolves that the scheme shall be approved.

(9) Except in the case of a substitutional scheme, the operation of any provision of a scheme made in pursuance of Article 8(1), (2) or (3), 9, 10(2), 11(2), 15(1)(b) or (c) or (3) or 16(1) shall be suspended until the expiration of the suspensory period.

(10) The Department may by regulations subject to negative resolution provide for such matters as it thinks necessary regarding an inquiry held under paragraph (3); and[F2 Schedule A1 to the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall, in its application to any such inquiry by virtue of section 23 of that Act,] be subject to the provisions of any regulations made under this paragraph.

(11) Such expenses of any inquiry under this Article as may be incurred by the Department with the approval of the Department of Finance and Personnel shall be defrayed out of moneys appropriated by Measure.

(12) A scheme may be amended or revoked in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 1.

F1 mod. by 1984 NI 12, SR 1995/103

F2 2005 c. 12