S.I. No. 313/1956 - Beet Eelworm Order, 1956.

S.I. No. 313 of 1956.

BEET EELWORM ORDER, 1956.

I, JAMES M. DILLON, Minister for Agriculture, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by the joint operation of section 2 of the Destructive Insects Act, 1877, section 1 of the Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1907, section 3 of the Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1929 (No. 7 of 1929), and section 4 of the Agriculture Act, 1931 (No. 8 of 1931), and for the purpose of preventing the spread of the beet eelworm, hereby order as follows :

1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Beet Eelworm Order, 1956.

(2) This Order shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1957.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to this Order.

3. In this Order—

" susceptible crop " means a crop, including every part of the plants of the crop, of :

sugar beet, red beet, fodder beet, mangel, turnip (including Swede turnip), cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprout, broccoli, kale, rape, spinach or any other crop-plant of the families Chenopodiaceae and Cruciferae ;

" carrier crop " means a crop, including every part of the plants of the crop, grown for the production of plants for transplanting ;

" Inspector " means an officer of the Minister or any person appointed to be an inspector for the purposes of this Order ;

" Minister " means the Minister for Agriculture ;

" package " includes packet, bag, sack, crate, box or other container for the produce of a susceptible crop or carrier crop ;

" the pest " means the pest known as beet eelworm (Heterodera schachtii).

4. The owner or occupier of any land, the owner of any susceptible crop or carrier crop growing or grown thereon or the servant or agent of the owner of the land or of the owner of such crop shall, if he finds the pest on the land or suspects the land to be infested with the pest, forthwith notify the Minister of the fact.

5. No person shall supply, or offer to supply, for use as seed or for planting any roots or tubers or root-carrying parts of a susceptible crop or carrier crop on which the pest exists or grown on land on which the pest exists or carrying soil in which the pest exists.

6. (1) An Inspector may, upon production, if so required, of his appointment or authority, enter upon any land for the purpose of ascertaining whether the pest exists and whether any susceptible crop or carrier crop is growing on the land and if the pest does exist, the extent to which it exists on the land or any susceptible crop or carrier crop and he may make all such inquiries and examinations (including the taking of samples) as are necessary for such purpose.

(2) An Inspector may, upon production, if so required, of his appointment or authority, enter upon any premises, vehicle, waggon, conveyance, aircraft or vessel or other craft in, on or in the vicinity of which he has reason to believe that the pest exists or has existed on any susceptible crop or carrier crop and he may make all such inquiries and examinations (including the taking of samples) as he deems necessary.

(3) The owner or occupier of any land in which the pest is known or is suspected to exist shall if so required in writing by an Inspector give within such time and in such manner as may be specified such information in his possession as may be required for the purposes of this Order concerning the crops grown on such land at any time.

7. An Inspector shall forthwith report and furnish particulars of the finding of the pest on any land to the Minister.

8. (1) Whenever, whether through the report of an Inspector or otherwise, it comes to the knowledge of the Minister that the pest exists on any land, he may serve on the owner of the land, the occupier of the land or the owner of a susceptible crop or carrier crop growing or grown on the land a notice (in this Order referred to as an eelworm prevention notice) requiring the person on whom it is served to do any one or more of the following :—

(a) remove and dispose of the susceptible crop or carrier crop in such manner and within such time as may be specified in the notice ;

(b) collect from every specified part of the land all or any part of a susceptible crop or carrier crop growing or grown on the land ;

(c) isolate to any specified part of the land all or any part of a susceptible crop or carrier crop growing or grown on the land ;

(d) remove from any specified part of the land all or any part of a susceptible crop or carrier crop growing or grown on the land to such place as may be specified in such manner as may be specified ;

(e) abstain from selling, exchanging, making a gift of or otherwise parting with all or any part of a susceptible crop or carrier crop growing or grown on the land save under and in accordance with a written direction given by the Minister or an Inspector ;

(f) sow the land in grass or plant on the land such alternative plants as may be specified ;

(g) abstain from moving any of the soil (whether loose or adhering to the roots of plants) of the land or any specified part of such soil save under and in accordance with a written direction given by the Minister or an Inspector.

(2) The Minister may serve more than one eelworm prevention notice on the same person.

9. If the produce of any susceptible crop or carrier crop is moved, supplied, used or dealt with in contravention of this Order, or a notice (including an eelworm prevention notice) or direction served hereunder, the Minister or an Inspector may seize such produce and may dispose of or cause to be disposed of in such manner as the Minister or the Inspector may think fit, such produce and any packages in which such produce is or has been contained, or may remove or cause to be removed any of such produce or packages to such place and in such manner as the Minister or the Inspector may think fit, and may serve a notice on the consignee of, or on the person in charge of, or in possession of, any of the aforesaid produce or packages, directing the person on whom the notice is served to dispose of such produce and packages within such time and in such manner as may be specified in the notice, or to remove such produce and packages within such time and to such place as may be specified in the notice.

10. (1) If, on the expiration of fourteen days after the service, under this Order, on a person of an eelworm prevention notice requiring the removal or disposal as specified by the person of all or any part of a susceptible crop or carrier crop such person has not complied with the notice, an Inspector may enter on the land where all or any part of such crop then is and may do all such things as may be necessary to comply with the notice.

(2) Any expenses incurred by an Inspector under paragraph (1) of this Article in connection with all or any part of a susceptible crop or carrier crop shall be paid by the owner of the crop or part of a crop, and may be recovered by the Minister in any court of competent jurisdiction as a simple contract debt.

11. For the purpose of this Order, a notice or a direction served hereunder shall be deemed to be served on any person if it is delivered to him personally, or left for him at his last known place of abode or business, or sent in a prepaid registered letter addressed to him there and a notice purporting to be signed by an Inspector shall be prima facie evidence that it was signed by him as an Inspector.

12. Any person who, whether by act or omission, fails to comply with any provision of this Order or with any notice (including an eelworm prevention notice) or with a direction, served hereunder, shall be guilty of an offence under this Order and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding in the case of a first offence, ten pounds or, in the case of a second or any subsequent offence, twenty pounds.

13. Notwithstanding anything in this Order, a susceptible crop or carrier crop may be planted, moved, supplied, used or dealt with in the manner specified in a licence specially granted for that purpose by the Minister.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 12th day of December, 1956.

(Sgd.) JAMES M. DILLON,

Minister for Agriculture.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

This Order is intended to prevent the spread of beet eelworm. The existence or suspected existence of the pest on a holding must be notified to the Minister. Restrictions may be placed on the sale, exchange or movement of crops, grown on infested land, which are either susceptible to attack by the eelworm or which, although not susceptible, would be likely to encourage the increase of the eelworm as carriers of infested soil. The removal and disposal of such crops may also be prescribed.

The owner of infested land may be required, as a preventive measure, to sow the land in specified crops and to abstain from moving, any of the soil of such land.