LEX-FAOC039235

This Act provides rules relative to good agricultural practice and in particular rules for the use of agricultural land and aiming at its development and preservation. Furthermore, the Act provides for administrative instruments to ensure a sound agricultural development and the marketing of agricultural products. The Act consists of 223 sections divided into 16 Parts.; Instruments for the development of agriculture and marketing of agricultural products include: (a) the fixing and guaranteeing of prices and assured markets for scheduled crops and scheduled animal products and a yearly review by the Minister of the agricultural industry and the establishment of price equalization funds for this purpose; and (b) the control of the purchase, collection, storage and marketing of such crops and animal products. A district agricultural committee shall be established for each district and a provincial agricultural board shall be established for each province. A Central Agricultural Board shall be established so as to advise the Minister on all matters of national agricultural policy and to coordinate agricultural policy on matters affecting more than one province. For purposes of preservation of the soil and its fertility, the Minister may issue Land Preservation Rules and the Director of Agriculture or the Minister may issue Land Preservation Orders. The Orders shall be registered in a register to be maintained by the Director of Agriculture. The Minister may also issue Land Development Orders. These Orders shall be registered with the Central Agricultural Board. Appeals against orders may be had with the Agricultural Appeals Tribunal established under this Act. Other instruments at the disposal of the administration for the development of agriculture include: general schemes for land preservation and land development, programmes of production of essential crops, production approval, production orders, etc. The Act further provides for the establishment of an Agricultural Settlement Fund, the dispossession of owners and occupiers of agricultural land that do not observe rules made by or under this Act, agricultural levies, the Agricultural Appeals Tribunal and the power of the Minister to make Regulations and to declare special crops. (The Act is completed by 4 Schedules)