Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act, 1985- Sections 12 to 35 and Schedules

Chapter III

REGISTRATION

12. Registration of exporters.

12. Registration of exporters.—(1) Every person exporting any one or more of the Scheduled products shall, before the expiration of one month from the date on which he undertakes such export or before the expiration of three months from the date of coming into force of this section, whichever is later, apply to the Authority to be registered as an exporter of the Scheduled product or Scheduled products:

Provided that the Authority may, for sufficient reason, extend the time-limit for registration by such period as it thinks fit.

(2) Registration once made shall continue to be in force until it is cancelled by the Authority.

13. Application, cancellation, fee payable and other matters relating to registration.

13. Application, cancellation, fee payable and other matters relating to registration.— The form of application for registration under Section 12 and for the cancellation of such registration, the fee payable on such applications, the particulars to be included in such applications, the procedure to be followed in granting and cancelling registration and the registers to be kept by the Authority shall be such as may be prescribed.

 

Other Contents of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act, 1985

Sections 1 to 11 Sections 12 to 35 and Schedules

 

14. Returns to be made by exporters.

14. Returns to be made by exporters.—(1) Every exporter, referred to in sub-section (1) of Section 12, shall furnish to the Authority at the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner such returns as may be prescribed.

(2) The Authority may authorise a member or any of its officers to inspect any processing plant or any other establishment of the exporter at any time to verify the accuracy of any return made under this section.

Chapter IV

FINANCE, ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT

15. Grants or loans by the Central Government.

15. Grants or loans by the Central Government.— The Central Government may, after due appropriation made by Parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the Authority by way of grants or loans such sums of money as the Central Government may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of this Act.

16. Constitution of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Fund.

16. Constitution of Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Fund.—(1) There shall be formed a Fund to be called the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Fund and there shall be credited thereto—

(a) any sums of money which the Central Government may, after due appropriation made by Parliament by law in this behalf, provide from and out of the proceeds of the cess credited under Section 4 of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Cess Act, 1985, after deducting therefrom the expenses of collection of the cess and the amount, if any, refunded;

(b) all fees levied and collected in respect of registration and other matters under this Act or the rules made thereunder;

(c) any grants or loans that may be made by the Central Government for the purposes of this Act under Section 15; and

(d) any grants or loans that may be made by any State Government, voluntary organisation or other institution for the purposes of this Act:

Provided that no such grant, loan or donation shall be credited to the Fund except with the prior approval of the Central Government.

(2) The Fund shall be applied for—

(a) meeting the cost of the measures referred to in Section 10;

(b) meeting the salaries, allowances and other remuneration of the members, officers and other employees, as the case may be, of the Authority;

(c) meeting the other administrative expenses of the Authority and any other expenses authorised by or under this Act; and

(d) repayment of any loan.

17. Borrowing powers of the Authority.

17. Borrowing powers of the Authority.— Subject to such rules as may be made in this behalf, the Authority shall have power to borrow on the security of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Fund or any other asset for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

18. Accounts and audit.

18. Accounts and audit.—(1) The Authority shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts, in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.

(2) The accounts of the Authority shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the Authority to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.

(3) The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India and any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the Authority shall have the same rights and privileges and the authority in connection with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General generally has in connection with the audit of Government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the Authority.

(4) The accounts of the Authority as certified by the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India or any other person appointed by him in this behalf together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the Central Government and that Government shall cause the same to be laid before each House of Parliament.

Chapter V

CONTROL BY THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

19. Power to prohibit or control imports and exports of Scheduled products.

19. Power to prohibit or control imports and exports of Scheduled products.—(1) The Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make provision for prohibiting, restricting or otherwise controlling the import or export of the Scheduled products, either generally or in specified classes of cases.

(2) All Scheduled products to which any order under sub-section (1) applies, shall be deemed to be goods of which the export has been prohibited under Section 11 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), and all the provisions of that Act shall have effect accordingly.

(3) If any person contravenes any order made under sub-section (1), he shall, without prejudice to any confiscation or penalty to which he may be liable under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), as applied by sub-section (2), be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

20. Directions by the Central Government.

20. Directions by the Central Government.— The Authority shall carry out such directions as may be issued to it from time to time by the Central Government for the efficient administration of this Act.

21. Returns and reports.

21. Returns and reports.—(1) The Authority shall furnish to the Central Government at such time and in such form and manner as may be prescribed or as the Central Government may direct, such returns and statements and such particulars in regard to any proposed or existing programme for the promotion and development of the export of the Scheduled products, as the Central Government may, from time to time, require.

(2) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (1), the Authority shall, as soon as possible, after the end of each financial year, submit to the Central Government a report in such form and before such date, as may be prescribed, giving a true and full account of its activities, policy and programmes during the previous financial year.

(3) A copy of the report received under sub-section (2) shall be laid, as soon as may be, after it is received, before each House of Parliament.

Chapter VI

MISCELLANEOUS

22. Penalty for making false reports.

22. Penalty for making false reports.— Any person who, being required by or under this Act to furnish any return, fails to furnish such return or furnishes a return containing any particular which is false and which he knows to be false or does not believe to be true shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees.

23. Penalties for obstructing a member or officer of the Authority in the discharge of his duty and for failure to produce books and records.

23. Penalties for obstructing a member or officer of the Authority in the discharge of his duty and for failure to produce books and records.— Any person who—

(a) obstructs any member authorised by the Chairman in writing or any officer or other employee of the Authority authorised in this behalf by the Central Government or by the Authority, in the exercise of any power conferred, or in the discharge of any duty imposed on him by or under this Act; or

(b) having control over or custody of any account book or other record fails to produce such book or record when required to do so by or under this Act,

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both.

24. Other penalties.

24. Other penalties.— Whoever contravenes or attempts to contravene or abets the contravention of the provisions of this Act or of any rules made thereunder other than the provisions, the punishment for the contravention whereof has been provided for in Sections 19, 22 and 23, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to one thousand rupees, or with both and in the case of a continuing contravention with an additional fine which may extend to fifty rupees for every day during which such contravention continues after conviction for the first such contravention.

25. Offences by companies.

25. Offences by companies.—(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time the offence was committed was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company as well as the company shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section,—

(a) “company” means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and

(b) “director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.

26. Jurisdiction of court.

26. Jurisdiction of court.— No court inferior to that of a Metropolitan Magistrate or a Magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this Act.

27. Previous sanction of the Central Government.

27. Previous sanction of the Central Government.— No prosecution for any offence punishable under this Act shall be instituted except with the previous sanction of the Central Government.

28. Protection of action taken in good faith.

28. Protection of action taken in good faith.— No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Central Government, or the Authority or any committee appointed by it, or any member of the Authority or such committee, or any officer or other employee of the Central Government or of the Authority or any other person authorised by the Central Government or the Authority, for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

29. Power to delegate.

29. Power to delegate.— The Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, direct that any power exercisable by it under this Act (not being the power to make rules under Section 32) may also be exercised in such cases and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the order, by such officer or authority as may be specified therein.

30. Suspension of operation of this Act.

30. Suspension of operation of this Act.—(1) If the Central Government is satisfied that circumstances have arisen rendering it necessary that certain of the restrictions imposed by this Act should cease to be imposed or if it considers necessary or expedient so to do in the public interest, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, suspend or relax to such extent and either indefinitely or for such period as may be specified in the notification, the operation of all or any of the provisions of this Act.

(2) Where the operation of any provision of this Act has under sub-section (1) been suspended or relaxed indefinitely, such suspension or relaxation may, at any time while this Act remains in force, be removed by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.

31. Application of other laws not barred.

31. Application of other laws not barred.— The provisions of this Act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force.

32. Power to make rules.

32. Power to make rules.—(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—

(a) the term of office of the members [other than the member referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (4) of Section 4], the manner of filling vacancies among, and the procedure to be followed in the discharge of their functions by the members, under sub-section (5) of Section 4;

(b) the powers which may be exercised and the duties which may be performed by the Chairman as the chief executive of the Authority under Section 6;

(c) the powers which may be exercised and the duties which shall be performed by the Secretary of the Authority under sub-section (1) of Section 7;

(d) the control and restrictions subject to which other officers and employees may be appointed by the Authority under sub-section (3) of Section 7;

(e) the form in which and the time within which option may be given by the officers and employees of the Processed Foods Export Promotion Council under sub-section (3) of Section 8;

(f) payment of fees for the registration of exporters of Scheduled products under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 10;

(g) persons other than the owners from whom the collection of statistics in respect of any matter relating to Scheduled products may be made under clause (h) of sub-section (2) of Section 10;

(h) the additional matters in respect of which the Authority may undertake measures in the discharge of its functions under clause (j) of sub-section (2) of Section 10;

[i][(ha) the measure for registration and protection of the Intellectual Property rights under Section 10-A;]

(i) the form and the manner of making application for registration and for cancellation of registration, the fee payable on such application and the procedure to be followed in granting and cancelling registration and the conditions governing such registration, under Section 13;

(j) the time at which and the manner in which an exporter shall furnish returns to the Authority under sub-section (1) of Section 14;

(k) the form in which the accounts of the Authority shall be maintained under sub-section (1) of Section 18;

(l) the form and manner in which and the time at which the Authority shall furnish returns and statements to the Central Government under sub-section (1) of Section 21;

(m) the form in which and the date before which the Authority shall furnish to the Central Government the report of its activities and programme under sub-section (2) of Section 21;

33. Power to make regulations.

33. Power to make regulations.—(1) The Authority may, with the previous sanction of the Central Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, make regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder, to provide for all matters for which provision is necessary or expedient for the purposes of giving effect to the provisions of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—

(a) the times and places at which meetings of the Authority or any committee thereof, shall be held and the procedure to be followed thereat and the number of members which shall form a quorum at a meeting under sub-section (8) of Section 4;

(b) the method of appointment, the conditions of service and the scales of pay and allowances of any of the officers and other employees of the Authority under sub-section (3) of Section 7;

(c) generally for the efficient conduct of the affairs of the Authority.

(3) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, modify or rescind any regulation sanctioned by it and the regulation so modified or rescinded shall have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or rescission shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything done under the regulation before its modification or rescission.

34. Rules and regulations to be laid before Parliament.

34. Rules and regulations to be laid before Parliament.— Every rule and every regulation made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or regulation, as the case may be, or both Houses agree that the rule or regulation, as the case may be, should not be made, the rule or regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or regulation.

35. Validation.

[ii][35. Validation.— [All things done, or, omitted to be done, and all actions or measures taken, or, not during the peaiod begining on or after the 13th day of October, 2008 and ending immediately before the commencement of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Amendment) Act, 2009, shall, in so far as they are in conformity with the provisions of this Act, as amended by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Amendment) Act, 2009, be deemed to have been done, or, omitted to be done, or, taken, or, not taken, under the provisions of this Act, as amended by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Amendment) Act, 2009, as if such provisions were in force at the time such things were done or omitted to be done and actions or measures taken or not taken during the said period.]

First Schedule

[iii][First Schedule

[See Section 2(i)]

1. Fruits, vegetables and their products.

2. Meat and meat products.

3. Poultry and poultry products.

4. Dairy products.

5. Confectionary, biscuits and bakery products.

6. Honey, jaggery and sugar products.

7. Cocoa and its products, chocolates of all kinds.

8. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

9. Cereal products.

10. Cashewnuts, groundnuts, peanuts and walnuts.

11. Pickles, chutneys and papads.

12. Guar Gum.

13. Floriculture and floriculture products.

14. Herbal and medicinal plants.

Second Schedule

[iv][Second Schedule

[See Section 2(j)]

Basmati Rice.

References

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