Coir Industry Act, 1953

For establishment of a Board for the development of the Coir Industry and to levy a customs duty on coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products exported from India.

Coir Industry Act, 1953

[Act 45 of 1953]      [23rd December, 1953]

[i][An Act to provide for the establishment of a Board for the development of the Coir Industry and for that purpose to levy a customs duty on coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products exported from India and for matters connected therewith]

Be it enacted by Parliament as follows:—

Chapter I

PRELIMINARY

1. Short title, extent and commencement.

1. Short title, extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Coir Industry Act, 1953.

(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

(3) It shall come into force on such date[ii] as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

Other Contents of Coir Industry Act, 1953​
Sections 1 to 15 Sections 16 to 27

2. Declaration as to expediency of control by the Union.

2. Declaration as to expediency of control by the Union.—It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that the Union should take under its control the coir industry.

3. Definitions.

3. Definitions. —In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, —

(a) ‘Board’ means the Coir Board constituted under Section 4;

(b) ‘cess’ means the customs duty imposed by Section 13;

(c) ‘coir’ or ‘coir fibre’ means the fibre extracted from the husk of the coconut;

(d) ‘coir products’ means mats and mattings, rugs and carpets, ropes and other articles manufactured wholly or partly from coir or coir yarn;

(e) ‘coir yarn’ means yarn obtained by the spinning of coir;

(f) ‘export’ with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions means to take out of the territories to which this Act extends by land, sea or air to any place outside India other than a country or territory notified in this behalf by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette;

(g) ‘Fund’ means the Coir Fund referred to in Section 15;

(h) ‘husks’ means coconut husks, both raw and retied;

(i) ‘member’ means a member of the Board;

(j) ‘prescribed’ means prescribed by rules made under this Act.

Chapter II

THE COIR BOARD

4. Establishment and constitution of the Coir Board.

4. Establishment and constitution of the Coir Board.—(1) With effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf, there shall be established for the purpose of this Act a Board to be called the Coir Board.

(2) The Board shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract, and shall, by the said name, sue and be sued.

(3) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and such number of other members not exceeding forty as the Central Government may think expedient, to be appointed by that Government by notification in the Official Gazette from among persons who are in its opinion capable of representing —

(a) growers of coconut and producers of husks and coir yarn;

(b) persons engaged in the production of husks, coir and coir yarn and in the manufacture of coir products;

(c) manufactures of coir products;

(d) dealers in coir, coir yarn and coir products, including both exporters and internal traders;

(e) Parliament;

(f) the Government of the principal coconut growing States;

(g) such other person or class of persons who, in the opinion of the Central Government, ought to be represented on the Board;

(4) The number of persons to be appointed as members from each of the categories specified in sub-section (3), the term of office of, the procedure to be followed in the discharge of their functions by, and the manner of filling vacancies among, the members of the Board shall be such as may be prescribed.

(5) Any officer of the Central Government when deputed by that Government in this behalf shall have the right to attend meetings of the Board and take part in the proceedings thereof but shall not be entitled to vote.

5. Vacancies, etc. not to invalidate acts and proceedings.

5. Vacancies, etc. not to invalidate acts and proceedings.—No act or proceedings taken by the Board under this Act shall be questioned on the ground merely of —

(a) the existence of any vacancy in, or defect in the constitution of, the Board; or

(b) any omission, defect or irregularity not affecting the merits of the case.

6. Salary and allowances of Chairman.

6. Salary and allowances of Chairman. —The Chairman shall be entitled to such salary and allowances and shall be subject to such conditions of service in respect to leave, pension, provident fund and other matters as may from time to time be fixed by the Central Government.

7. Vice-Chairman.

7. Vice-Chairman. —The Board shall elect from among its members a Vice-Chairman, who shall exercise such powers and discharge such duties of the Chairman as may be prescribed or as may be delegated to him by the Chairman.

8. Executive and other Committees.

8. Executive and other Committees.—(1) There shall be an Executive Committee of the Board for the purpose of exercising such powers and performing such duties of the Board as may be prescribed or as the Board may delegate to it.

(2) The Executive Committee shall consist of—

(i) the Chairman;

(ii) the Vice-Chairman, and

(iii) five other members elected by the members of the Board, from among themselves of whom not more than two shall be Government official and one shall be from the members representing persons engaged in the production of husks, coir and coir yarn and in the manufacture of coir products.

(3) Subject to such control and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Board may constitute other standing committees or ad hoc committees for exercising any power or discharging any duty of the Board or for enquiring into or reporting and advising on any matter which the Board may refer to them.

(4) A Standing Committee shall consist exclusively of members of the Board.

(5) An ad hoc Committee may include persons who are not members of the Board, but their number shall be than one-half of its strength.

9. Secretary and staff.

9. Secretary and staff.—(1) The Central Government shall, after consulting the Board, appoint a Secretary to the Board who shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed or as may be delegated to him by the Board or the Chairman.

(2) Subject to such control and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Board may appoint such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of its functions and pay them such salaries and allowances as it may determine from time to time.

(3) The Chairman, Secretary and other officers and employees of the Board shall not undertake any work unconnected with their duties under this Act except with the permission of the Central Government.

10. Functions of the Board.

10. Functions of the Board.—(1) It shall be the duty of the Board to promote by such measures as it thinks fit the development under the control of the Central Government of the Coir Industry.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of Sub-section (1), the measures referred to therein may relate to—

(a) promoting exports of coir yarn and coir products, and carrying on propaganda for that purpose;

(b) regulating under the supervision of the Central Government the production of husks, coir yarn and coir products by registering coir spindles and looms for manufacturing coir products as also manufacturers of coir products, licensing exporters of coir, coir yarn and coir products and taking such other appropriate steps as may be prescribed;

(c) undertaking, assisting or encouraging scientific, technological and economic research and maintaining and assisting in the maintenance of one or more research institutes;

(d) collecting statistics from manufacturers of, and dealers in, coir products and from such other persons as may be prescribed, on any matter relating to the coir industry; the publication of statistics so collected or portions thereof or extracts therefrom;

(e) fixing grade standards and arranging when necessary for inspection of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products;

(f) improving the marketing of coconut husk, coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products in Indian and elsewhere and preventing unfair competition;

[iii][(ff) setting up or assisting in the setting up of factories for the production of coir products with the aid of power;]

(g) promoting co-operative organisation among producers of husks, coir fibre and coir yarn and manufactures of coir products;

(h) ensuring remunerative returns to producers of husks, coir fibre and coir yarn and manufacturers of coir products;

(i) licensing of retting places and warehouses and otherwise regulating the stocking and sale of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products both for the internal market and for exports;

(j) advising on all matters relating to the development of the coir industry;

(k) such other matters as may be prescribed.

(3) The Board shall perform its functions under this section in accordance with and subject to such rules as may be made by the Central Government.

11. Dissolution of the Board.

11. Dissolution of the Board.—(1) The Central Government may, if the Board does any act exceeding the powers conferred upon it or acts in a manner contrary to the rules or prejudicial to the interests of the industry or acts [iv][* * *] contrary to the directions given by the Central Government, call upon the Board to show cause why the Board should not be dissolved and if no explanation is offered or if the Central Government is dissatisfied with the explanation given it may suspend or dissolve the Board from such date and for such period as may be specified in the notification.

(2) When the Board is dissolved under the provisions of Sub-section (1) —

(a) all members shall, from the date of dissolution, vacate their offices as such members;

(b) all powers and duties of the Board shall, during the period of dissolution, be exercised and performed by such person or persons as the Central Government may appoint in this behalf;

(c) all funds and other property vested in the Board shall, during the period of dissolution, vest in the Central Government; and

(d) as soon as the period of dissolution expires, the Board shall be reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Chapter III

CONTROL OVER THE EXPORT OF COIR FIBRE, COIR YARN AND COIR PRODUCTS

12. Control of export of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products.

12. Control of export of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products.—No coir fibre, coir yarn or coir products shall be exported otherwise than under a licence issued by or on behalf of the Board in the prescribed manner and the provisions of the Sea Customs Act, 1878 (VII of 1878) shall have effect as if the provisions made by this section had been made by notification issued under Section 19 of that Act:

Provided that nothing herein contained shall apply to any coir product dispatched out of the territories to which this Act extends by post or carried in a passenger's luggage for his personal use:

Provided further that the Central Government may exempt from the operation of this section either absolutely or subject to specified conditions, the export of any coir fibre, coir yarn or coir product to any foreign settlement bounded by India.

Chapter IV

FINANCE, ACCOUNTS AND AUDITS

13. Imposition of a duty of customs on export of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products.

13. Imposition of a duty of customs on export of coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products.—(1) With effect from such date as may be specified by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette, there shall be levied and collected as a cess for the purposes of this Act a duty of customs on all coir fibre, coir yarn and coir products which are exported, at such rate not exceeding [v][two rupees per quintal] as the Central Government may, by the same or a like notification from time to time, fix.

(2) The cess levied under Sub-section (1) shall be in addition to any other duty leviable under the Indian Tariff Act, 1934 (XXXII of 1934) or any other law for the time being in force and shall be collected by such agencies and in such manner as may be prescribed.

14. Payment of proceeds of cess to the Board.

14. Payment of proceeds of cess to the Board.—The proceeds of the cess levied under sub-section (1) of Section 13 shall first be credited to the Consolidated Funds of India and the Central Government may thereafter from time to time may to the Board from and out of such proceeds such sums of money as it may think fit after deducting the expenses of collection.

14-A. Grants by the Central Government to the Board.

[vi][14-A. Grants by the Central Government to the Board.—The Central Government may, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the Board by way of grants, such sums of money as the Central Government may consider necessary.]

15. Constitution of Fund.

15. Constitution of Fund.—(1) There shall be formed by the Board Fund to be called the Coir Fund and there shall be credited thereto —

(a) the proceeds of the cess made over to the Board by the Central Government;

(b) any other fee that may be leived and collected under this Act or the rules made thereunder.

[vii][(c) any sum of money that may be paid by way of grants under Section 14-A.]

(2) The fund shall be applied towards meeting the expenses of the Board and the cost of the measures referred to in Section 10.

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