The Gujarat Cotton Seeds (Regulation of Supply, Distribution. Sale and Fixation of Sale Price) Act. 2008

Extra No. 21 REGISTERED No. G/G)..'R/2 'Cltbt d9ujarat d9obtmment @a;tttt EXTRAORDINARY PL"BLISHED BY AUTHORITY Vol. XLIXJ TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008/ASVINA 8, 1930 Separate paging is given to this Part i11 order thnt it mav be filed as a Separate Compilation. PART IV Aces of Gujarat Ugislature and Ordilw>ces promulgated and Regulations made by the Governor. The follo\\ing Ac1 of the Gujarat Legislruure. ha\ing been asscotoo to b) the Go\·emor on the 30 September. 2008 i~ hereby published for general information. H.D. VYAS, Secretary to the Government of Gujarat, Legislati\'e and Parliamentary Affairs Dcpartm~>nt. GUJARAT ACT NO. 20 OF' 2008. (First pubhshed. after having received the assent of the Governor, in the "Gujarat Go~-emmenr Gazene" on the 3011 September, 2008). AN ACT to regulate the supply. distribution, sale and fixation of sale price of canon seeds and for the maners connected there\\ith and incidental thereto. WHEREAS cotton seeds of certain \'arieties arc not notified under section 5 of the Seeds Act. 1966 and consequently no sale of such seeds are regulated under section 7 oft he said Act, AND WHEREAS cotton seeds is not· an essentjal commodity within the meaning of the Essential Commodities Act. 1955 as amended by the Essential 10of1955. Commodities (Amendment) Act. 2006; 54 ofl006. IV-Ex., 21-1 21-1 ......... ...... -··· ............... ··-. ···-........... ········ ········- ········- ··- -·· . ... . 21-2 GUJARAT GOVERKME\T GAZE! IE, EX,. 30-9-2008 {PART IV A.~"D WHEREAS the provisions of lhe Seeds (Control) Order, 1983, issued under section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 arc not applicable in so far as 10or1~. they relate to lhc cotton seeds with effect from 12'h February. 2007; AND WHEREAS there is no provisions in the Enviromncnt (Protection) AcL, 1986 to regulate the supply, distribution and sale of transgenic and genetically modified 29ofI980. cotton seeds and to control the sale price of such cotton seeds in the State; A.'1 0 WHEREAS the traders in cotton seeds including transgenic cotton seedJ> are exploiting poor farmers by collecting exorbitant price; A.~ D \\ HEREAS there IS oo provision to regulate the supply. distribution, sale of cotton seeds and to control the sale price of such cotton seeds in the State; Ai'1D WHEREAS it bas become imperative on the part of the State Government to reglllate the supply, distribution and sale of cotton seeds by fixing the sale price in the interests of the farmei:s in the State. It is hereby enacted in the Fifty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:- Short title 1. (1) This Act may be called the Gujarat Cotton Seeds (Regulation of Supply, and commtn- Distribution. Sale and Fixation of Sale Price) Act. 2008. CHn~nL (2) It shall be deemed to ha'e come into force on I !Ill June. 2008. Ddiaiboas. 2. In this AeL unless the context othen.nsc requires,- (!) '·Agronomic Performances" means distinguishable agronomic qualitative and quantitative characteristics of any conon seeds variety considered for evaluation of performance as claimed by the producer on label; (2) "Controller" means the Cotton Seeds Controller appointed under section 3; (3) "Cotton Seeds" means cotton seeds of any variety and includes transgenic and genetically modified cotton seeds varieties used for sowing; (4) -·Farmer" means any pcr:.on "'<ho raise..~ cotton crops dther by cultivating the land by himsdf or through any other person but shall not include person-, companies. traders, dealen; who arc engaged in the commercial procurement and sale of seeds; (5) ··Misbranded. . the seeds >hall be deemed to be misbranded, if - (i) it is a substitute for, or resembles in a manner likely to deceive, another variety of seed under the name of which it is sold, and is not plainly and conspicuollSly labe!cd so as to indicate its true nature; or (ii) it is falsely stated co be the produce of any place or country: or (iii) it is sold by a name which belongs to another kind or variety of seeds; or (iv) false claims are made for it upon the label or othel'\\ise; or (v) i.old in a package which bas been sealed or prepared by, or at the instance, of the dealer and which bears his name and address, the contents of each package are not conspicuously and correctly stated on the outside thereof within Lhe limits of variability prescribed under this Act; or (vi) the package containing it or the label on the package bears any statement, design or device regarding the quality of cotton seeds contained therein, which is false or misleading in any material particular or if the package is otherwise deceptive with respect oi ns contentS: or PART IV] GUJARAT GOVbRNMENT GAZETTE, EX,. 30-9-2008 21-3 (vii) it is not registered in the manner required by or under the provisions of this Act; or (viii) its label does not contain a warning or caution, which may be necessary and sufficient, if complied with to prevent risk to human beings or animals; or (ix) the package containing it or the label on the package bears the name of a fictitious individual or company as the dealer of the kind or variety; or (x) it is not labeled in accordance v.ith the requirement of the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder; (6) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (7) ''producer" means a person, group of persons, firm or company or organisation who grov.-s or organises the production of canon seeds: (8) "Spurious Seeds- means the cotton seeds "'hicb is not genuine or true to its type; (9) "State Seeds Testing Laboratory" means a I aboratory established or declared as such by the State Government by a notification published in the Official Gazette: (10) ''sub-standard seeds" means conon seeds which does not meet with the prescribed standards for the cotton seeds; (11) '·Transgenic Variety" means seeds or planting material synthesised or developed by modifying or altering the genetic composition by means of genetic engineering; ( 12) "V aricty" means a plant grouping except micro-organi~m within a single botanical taxon oft he lowest known rank. which can be - (i) defined by the expression of the cbar<1eteristics resulting from a given genotype of that plant grouping; (ii) distinguished from any other plant grouping by expression of at least one of the said characteristics; (iii considered as a unit v.ith regard to Its suitability for being propagated which remains unchanged after such propagation; and includes propagating material of such variety, extant variety, transgenic variety, farmers' variety and essentially derived variety; 54 ofl966. (13) The words and expressions US<.~ in this Act but 001 defined shall have the same meaning assigned to them in the Seeds Act, 1966, the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, 10 ofl'5S. Seeds (Control) Order, 1983 issued there under and the Environment (Protection) Act, 29 ofl986. 1986. 3. The State Government may, by notification published in the Official Gazelle, Appointment appoint an officer to be the Conon Seeds Controller for the State. or Controller. 4. {l) Subject to the conrrol of the State Government, the ControUcr, ifi t appears to Powers or him to be necessary or expedient for regulating. maintaining or increasing the supply or Controller. distribution or sale of cotton seeds, may, by order in writing, - {a) require any person holding stock of cotton seeds to sell the whole or specified part thereof at such prices as may be fixed by the State Government from time to time aod to such persons in such circumstances as may be specified in the said order; ...... . ........................... ··- -· ......... . :!1-4 GLJARAT C.OVERX\fE'IT GAZETTE, EX .. 30-9-2008 [PARTlV (b) require any person engaged in the supply, distribution and sale of conon seeds to comply with such directions as may be specified in the order as to the variety, quality or quantity of the cotton seeds to be sold or delivered by him from time to time. (2) Any person to v.iiom an order is issued under sub-section {I) shall comply with such order. not\\ithstanding anything inconsistent there\\;th contained in any contract or other instrument to which he !s a pany. License ror 5. (1) Every person desirous to carry on the business of sale in corton seeds shall vendor. apply to the Controller for grant of licence in such form as may be prescribed. (2) Such application shall be accompanied by such fees and such other documents. as ma} be prescribed. (3) The Controller shall, after making such enquiry as he deems fiL either grant the apphcation or TCJect it. (4) If the Controller grants the application, be shall issue a licence to carry on the business of sale in cotton seeds, subject to such tem1s and conditions and in such form a~ may be prescribed. Functions of 6. The Controller appointed under this Act shall perform the following functions. Controller. oamel) :- (a) a=ge for mandatory registration of cotton seeds finns which are engaged m the trade of cotton seeds duly indicattng the production aspects and areas of operation etc; (b) arrange for payment of compensation to the fanncrs; (c) advice the State Government on matters relating to regulation of sale of cotton seeds by way of compulsory D~A finger printing test or genetic purit~ test; and (d) such other matters as assigned to him by the State Government. St~" Sec<b 7. The State Government may in consultation with the Controller and by Tcs1ini notification in the Official Gazelle, - Laboratory. (a) establish one or more State Seeds Testing Laboratories or declare any seeds testing laboratory in the Government or non-Government sector a.~ the State Seeds Testing Laboratory where analysis of cotton seeds shall be carried out in the prcscrib...'CI manner: (b) recogni:tc one or more seeds testing labora1orics as referral seeds testing laboratories for the purpose ofr eferral analysis in the prescribed manner. Compen~:t1ion 8. (I) The producer or distributor or vendor of cotton seeds or, as the case may be, to farmer"· whose address appears on the label shall disclose the expected performance of such sc...'CI~, under given conditions to the Controller and if ~uch seeds fails to provide the expected performance under si:ch given conditions. the State Gov. .- mment or farmer may claim compensation in such manner as may be prescribed. In respect of transgenic seeds alJ the conditions that are imposed by Genetic Engineering Approval Committee has to be complied. (2) In case the claim of expected performance is found fictitiOlL~, the producer whose address appears on the label. shall be responsible for payment of all such claims related to agronomic pcrfonnance as specified in sub-section (1). ··-·· ----- .................. ....... .... . .............. ····-····--- .... PART fV) GUJARJ\ T GOVE&"JMENT GAZETTE. cX .. 30-9-2008 21-5 (3) The compensation payable under sub-sections (I) and (2) shall be assessed and fixed by the comminee appointed for each agro-climatic zone separately, consisting of crop experts and representatives of the State Gowmment, as may be notified by the State Government. 9. (I) The State Government may, by notification published in the Official Gazette, s-is appoint such person as it thinks fit to be Seeds Inspector and specify tbc areas within Inspector. which he shall exercise his jurisdiction. (2) The Seeds InspectOr, if he bas information that any person dealing in the trade of conon seeds has contravened any of the conditions issued by the Controller, or suspecting the quality of the cotton seeds or any person is about to commit an offence in respect of cotton seeds, he may enter in any premises for the purpose of search, and draw samples and detain or seize tbe stock of cotton seeds and records and after recehing the reports of Seeds Analysts, shall take all further actions in accordance v.ith the. p•ovisions of this Act. 10. The State Government may, by notification published in the Official Ga::ette, appoint such person a:. it thinks fit, to be the Seeds Analyst and speci~ the areas ..._;thin AHlyst. which he shall exeTCise his jurisdiction. 11. (1) The Seeds Analyst shall, as soon as may be after the receipt of the sample R<port of from the s~eds Inspector. analyse the sampk at the State Seeds Testing Laboratory and Sftds AnatysL furnish a report on the result of the analysis to the Seeds Inspector. "'ithm thiny days of receipt of the sample to the laboratOry. (2) The Seeds Inspector shall on the basis of the report of the Seeds Analyst under sub-section {I). institute proceedings for the prosecution on the producer or. as the case may be, vendor of the said seeds. (3) After institution of prosecution under this Act, the accused producer or vendor or, as the case may be, the complainant rnay on payment of the prescribed fees, make an application to the Court for sending any of the sample retained with Seeds Inspector or producer or vend er as per discretion of Magistrate to any of the laborator)' referred to in section 7 of this Act, for its report. The Court shall first ascertain the mark or seal or the fastening as may be prescribed or the intact. On receipt of the application, the Court may dispatch the sample under its own seal to any of the referral laboratory specified for the pwpose. "'il.ieh shall thereupon send its report to the Court in the prescribed form specifying the result of the analysis within a period of thirty days from the date of reoeipt of the sample. ( 4) The report sent by the referral laboratory under sub-section (3) shall supersede the report given by the Seeds Analyst under sub-section {I). (5) 'When the report sent by the referral laboratory under su!rsection (3) is produced in any proceedings, it shall not be necessary to produce any such sample or part thereof taken for analysis in any proceedings. 12. (I) The State Government may, after taking into consideration of tbe cost of Pow•r to production, etc. including trait value and other related factors wherever necessary, fix th• prict. obtained from various agencies concerned, fix maximum sale price from time to time, of all types of cotton seeds. (2) Every such price shall be published in the Official Gazeue and shall be effecti\'e from such date as may be specified therein. ··-·····-··--· ·- _., ................. ................... .................................... ...... .. .... ............ ''° 21-6 Gt;JARAT GOV ERNME~'T GAZETTE, EX,. 30-9-2008 [PART IV Pn121Ua. 13. (I) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or the rules or the order issued to him by the Controller under this Act, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a tem:1 which ma) extend to three years or with fine which may extend up to rupees five thou.c;and or "'ith both. (2) If any person commits any act of misbranding, sale of spurious and substandard conon seeds shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to rupees five thousand or with both. Offences by 14. (!)Where an offence under this Act or the rules thereunder has been commined companies. by a company, every person who, at the time the offence v:as committed, was in-<:harge of, and was responsible to the company, for the conduct ofthc business of the company, as \'lell as the company shall be deemed to be guilty oft he offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly : Provided that nothmg contained in th!s sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in this Act if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge oc that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (I), 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. E.rplanation - For the purpose of this section. - (a) ··company" mct1.'1S a body corporate. and includes a firm or other association of pe:i.ons; and (bj "director~ in relation to a firm means a partner in the firm. C01:•aoncc 15. No coun shall take cognizance of any offence punishable under this Act except or offences. on a report in writing of the facts constituting such offence made by the Controller or any other authority authorized by him. Appeal. 16. (I) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Controller under section 4 or 5 may. within thirty days from Lhc date on which the decision is communicated to him and on payment of such fees as may be prescribed, prefer an appeal to the State Government: Provided that the appellate authority may admit an appeal after the expiry of the said period of thiny days if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time. (2) On receipt of an appeal under sub-section (1) the appellate authority shall, after giving the appellant an opportunity of being heard, dispose of the appeal as expeditiously as po:>sible. (3) Every order of the appellate authority under this section shall be final. Forfriture 17. When any person has been convicted for the contravention of any of the or cotton provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, the cotton seeds in respect of which seeds. the contravention has been committed may be forfeited to the State Government. .. ·---. ·---- -· ... ···-· ·········· ....... ...... PART IV] GLJ \RAT GOVER.'-.~ffi.'T GAZE;ITF_ EX. . 30-9-2008 21-7 18. Nothing in this Act shall apply to any cotton seeds grown by a fanner and sold Exemption. or delivered by him on his own premises directly to another farmer for being used by that farmer for the purpose of sowing. 19. The Controller and all other officers appointed under this Act shall be deemed to Oflittrs to be a public servant \\ithin the meaning of section 2 I of the Indian Penal Code. M p•bhc SUVUL 45 ort860. 20. No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the State Protection Government or the Controller, the Seeds Inspector, the Seeds Analyst or an officer or of action taken in employee of the State Government for anything which is done or intended to be done in &O<>d faith. pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder. 2 I. The State Government may give such directions to th<! Controller. the Seeds Powuor Statt Govern. lnspector or the Seeds Analyst as may appear to it to be necessary for carrying out the mmt togt'-t provisions of this Act or of any rules made thereunder. directions. 22. (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazelle, make Power to rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act. m~ke rule>. (2) In particular and v.ithout prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the matters, v.ilich under any pro'vision of this Act. arc required to be prescribed or to be pro'vided for b) rules. (3) All rules made under this section shall be laid for not Jess than thirty days before the State Legislarurc as soon as possible afler they arc made and shall be subject to rescission by the State Legislature or to such modification as the State Legislature may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following. (4) Any rescission or modification so made by the State Legislature shall be published in the Offic1al Gtcelte and shall thereupon take effect. 23. (!) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of th.is Act, the Power to State Government may, by order publi~hed in the Official Gazeue, make such remove provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as appears it to be necessary diffi<ulty. or expedient for removing the difficulty : Provided that no order under sub-section (1) shall be made after the expiry of two years from the date of commencement of this Act. (2) Every order made under this section shall be laid. as soon as may be after it is made, before the State Legislature. Cuj. Ord. 24. (!) The Gujarat Cotton Seeds (Regulation of Supply, Distribution, Sale and R•p••l No. I of Fixation of Sale Price) Ordinance, 2008 is hereby repealed. •11d 2008. savings. (2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to bave been done or taken under th.is Act. Government Cenual Press. Gandlunagar.