Prices Act 1974

1 Food subsidies

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Secretary of State may make payments out of moneys provided by Parliament for the purpose of reducing, or preventing or limiting increases in, food prices in the United Kingdom.

(2) Payments under this section may be made in respect of—

(a) milk, butter, cheese, flour for the manufacture of bread for sale and household flour, that is to say, flour not for the manufacture of any product for sale; and

(b) food of any other description specified by an order made by the Secretary of State.

(3) The power to make payments under this section in respect of milk shall, in the case of milk produced in a marketing area as denned in Article 2(1) of the [S.I. 1956/363.] Milk (Guaranteed Prices) Order 1956, be exercised by making good to the appropriate Ministers the whole or any part of the sums paid by them in the year ending with 31st March 1975 under Article 5 of that Order.

(4) The power to make payments under this section in respect of butter—

(a) shall be exercised by making good to the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce the sums paid by them out of moneys provided by Parliament in respect of the year ending with 31st March 1975 in pursuance of the EEC butter subsidy regulations; and

(b) may, in addition, be exercised in accordance with subsection (5) below.

(5) The power to make payments under this section in respect of food of any description, other than payments required to be made in accordance with subsection (3) or (4)(a) above, shall be exercisable by making payments, in accordance with a scheme or schemes prepared by the Secretary of State with the approval of the Treasury, to persons carrying on business in the United Kingdom who are concerned (whether as producers, manufacturers, importers, distributors or otherwise) with the supply of food of that description or of products in which such food is an ingredient.

(6) The total payments made by the Secretary of State under this section shall not exceed £700 million.

(7) For the purpose of securing that payments under this section do not confer any benefit in relation to goods exported from the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State may by order make provision for requiring payments to be made to him in respect of goods so exported which consist of or contain food in respect of which payments have been made by him under this section; and any such order—

(a) may impose obligations on persons who have not themselves received payments under this section; and

(b) may make different provision in relation to different circumstances and may contain such supplementary provisions as the Secretary of State thinks necessary or expedient.

(8) The power to make an order under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument and includes power to vary or revoke a previous order ; and—

(a) a statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (2)(b) above shall be laid before Parliament after being made, and the order shall cease to have effect at the end of the period of twenty-eight days beginning with the day on which it was made (but without prejudice to anything previously done by virtue of the order or to the making of a new order) unless during that period it is approved by resolution of each House of Parliament;

(b) a statutory instrument containing an order under subsection (7) above shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament ;

In reckoning the period mentioned in paragraph (a) above no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days.

(9) The Secretary of State may make arrangements with any other government department (including a Northern Ireland department), with the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce or with any other authority or body for the discharge by it or by its officers of functions relating to the administration of any scheme under this section or any order under subsection (7) above; and any such authority or body shall (if it would not otherwise do so) have power to enter into and give effect to any such arrangements.

(10) In subsection (4) above "the EEC butter subsidy regulations" means [O.J. No. L 122, 9, 5, 73. p. 5;.] Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1191/73 laying down general rules for the grant of a consumer subsidy for butter, [O.J. No. L 88, 1, 4, 74 p. 13.] Council Regulation (EEC) No. 711/74 authorising the United Kingdom to grant a national supplementary consumer subsidy for butter and any Regulation amending, replacing or supplementing either of those Regulations.