ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES RESERVES ORDINANCE

ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES RESERVES ORDINANCE

LAWS OF HONG KONG

ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES RESERVES ORDINANCE

CHAPTER 146





CHAPTER 146.

ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES RESERVES ORDINANCE.

ARRANGEMENT OF S
SECTIO
NS.

Section. Page.
1. Short title ... 1 .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2
2. Interpretation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2
3. Essential commodities ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2
4. Provision of stocks and reserves of scheduled commodities ... ... ... 2
5. Purchase of essential stocks by Government ... ... ... ... ... ... 2
6. Registration of importers of scheduled commodities and stores ... ... 3
7. Permits to import scheduled commodities ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3
8. Permit necessary to authorize importation ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 3
9. Holder of permit to comply with conditions ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
10. Books, registers, etc. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
11. Cancellation of registration and permits ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
12. Powers of entry and examination ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
13. Power to obtain information ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
14. Offences and penalties ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
15. Levy on scheduled imports ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5
16. Regulations ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5
17. Appointment of officers ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6

Schedule ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6





CHAPTER 146.

ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES RESERVES.

To provide for the maintenance of reserve stocks of commodities which
would be essential for the vital needs of the community during war
or other public emergency,. for the registration of importers of
such commodities and for purposes incidental to or connected
with the matters aforesaid.

[27th October, 1939.]

1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Essential Commodities
Reserves Ordinance.

2. In this Ordinance. unless the context otherwise requires

'Controller' means, in relation to foodstuffs, the Controller of Food, and
in relation to other commodities, the Stores Controller;

'other public emergency' means any period, other than war. declared by
Proclamation of the Governor to be a period of public emergency for
the purposes of this Ordinance;

'prescribed' means prescribed by regulation under this Ordinance;

',scheduled commodity' means any commodity described or specified in
the Schedule for the time being in force;

'trader', when used in reference to any scheduled commodity, means
any person who for the purpose of any trade or business carried on
by him (whether as producer, wholesale or retail dealer,
warehouseman or merchant) holds from time to time a stock of that
commodity.

3. (1) The commodities for the time being specified in the Schedule
shall be deemed essential for the vital needs of the community during
war or other public emergency.

(2) The Governor in Council may amend the Schedule as the
occasion may require whenever he deems it necessary to do so.

4. Adequate stocks and reserves of scheduled commodities shall be
provided and maintained for the supply of the needs of the community
during war or other public emergency and it shall be the duty of the
Controller to make all such arrangements and to take all such steps as
may be necessary to secure that such stocks and reserves shall be
available.

5. The Contoller is hereby authorized, in consultation with the
Financial Secretary and with the approval of the Governor, to make all
such arrangements as may be necessary for the purchase





of such quantities of any scheduled commodity as may be required in
the Colony during war or other public emergency. Such purchases may
be made either locally or from abroad; and payment therefor shall be
made out of such moneys as may be provided for the purpose.

6. (1) The Controller shall keep a register of importers of every
scheduled commodity and of the premises, if any, at which their stocks
are kept.

(2) Every application for registration shall be made to the Controller
in the prescribed form.

(3) No charge shall be made for the registration of any importer or
of the premises (hereinafter referred to as the registered store) at which
he keeps his stocks of the scheduled commodity which he imports.

(4) The Controller may refuse to register any person who applies for
registration as an importer. Any such refusal shall be in writing and shall
state the reason for the refusal. An appeal shall lie to the Governor in
Council from any such refusal.

7. (1) The Controller shall, upon the registration of any person as
an importer of a scheduled commodity, issue to that person a permit to
import that commodity.

(2) Every such permit shall be in force for the period specified
therein.

(3) For the purpose of securing adequate stocks and reserves of
any scheduled commodity the Controller may insert in any permit issued
to any importer in respect of that commodity either or both of the
following conditions

(a)that the importer shall import within a specified period a
quantity of that commodity not less than a specified minimum
or exceeding a specified maximum,

(b)that the importer shall, at all times after a date specified in the
permit, keep at his registered store a specified reserve of that
commodity.

The date and quantities referred to in this subsection may be
specified by the Controller at his discretion.

(4) The Controller may also require, as a condition precedent to the
grant of a permit, that any importer shall furnish such security as the
Controller may approve to secure the due observance of the conditions
on which the permit is issued.

8. No person shall import any scheduled commodity unless he is
the holder of a permit issued under this Ordinance authorizing the
importation of that commodity.





9. An importer to whom a permit has been issued under this
Ordinance, authorizing the importation of any scheduled commodity
subject to conditions inserted in such permit, shall import within the time
specified therein a quantity of that commodity which shall not be less
than any minimum or exceed any maximum quantity specified in the
permit, and shall at all times after the date specified in the permit, while
that permit is in force, keep at his registered store the specified reserve
of that commodity:

Provided that no person shall he deemed to have acted in
contravention of the provisions of this section if his failure to comply
therewith is proved to be attributable to causes beyond his control.

10. Every registered importer of any scheduled commodity shall
keep and maintain such books or registers as may be prescribed and
shall enter or cause to be entered therein the prescribed particulars with
respect to his business as an importer of that commodity. Every such
book or register shall be made available for inspection by the Controller
or any person authorized by him.

11. The Controller may at any time cancel the registration and the
permit of any importer who has contravened any provision of this
Ordinance or of any regulation thereunder. Any such cancellation shall
be in writing and shall state the reason for the cancellation. An appeal
shall lie to the Governor in Council against any such cancellation.

12. The Controller or any person authorized by him may at any
reasonable time during the day enter any granary, warehouse, godown,
shop. store or other premises in which stocks or reserves of any
scheduled commodity are kept or required under this Ordinance to be
kept, and may make such examination therein as he may deem necessary.
In this section, 'examination' includes the weighing and measuring of
any stocks or reserves.

13. The Controller may, by notice served on any trader or importer
concerned with any scheduled commodity, require him to make
periodical and other returns at such times and containing such
particulars as may be specified in the notice, as to the stocks of the
commodity from time to time held by him and as to the facilities available
for storing and for utilizing stocks of the commodity.

14. (1) Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions of
section 8 or 9 shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine of two thousand dollars and to
imprisonment for six months.

(2) The court which convicts any person of the offence of having
imported any quantity of a scheduled commodity in con





travention of the provisions of section 9 may, in addition to any other
punishment which it may impose for that offence, order that the whole
or any part of such quantity shall be forfeited.

(3) The court which convicts any registered importer of the offence
of contravening the provisions of section 9 may, in addition to any
other punishment which it may impose for that offence, make an order
cancelling the registration of that importer and the permit issued to him.

(4) Any person who-

(a)fails or refuses to furnish any return required to be furnished
under this Ordinance., or

(b)makes in any return or other document furnished under this
Ordinance any statement which is false in any material
particular; or

(c)resists or obstructs the Controller or any other person in the
exercise of the powers conferred or in the discharge of the
duties imposed on the Controller or such other person by or
under this Ordinance,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction
to a fine of one hundred dollars and to imprisonment for three months.

15. If the Governor in Council shall so order there shall be paid by
the importer of any scheduled commodity a levy on such imports, at
such rates and in such manner as shall be specified in the order; and
there may be paid from the proceeds of such levy such expenses
incurred in connexion with the maintenance of stocks of the commodity
in question, including contributions towards the costs of such
maintenance incurred by licensed importers, as may be approved by the
Governor in Council.

16. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for the
purpose of carrying out or giving effect to the principles and provisions
of this Ordinance.

(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the
powers conferred by subsection (1), the Governor in Council may make
regulations in respect of all or any of the following matters

(a)all matters stated or required in this Ordinance to be
prescribed;

(b)the letting, occupation and use, for the storage of stocks or
reserves of scheduled commodities of any granary,
warehouse, godown or other premises belonging to the
Crown;

(c)the storage of stocks or reserves of scheduled commodities in
private premises;





(d)the sale or disposal of stocks or reserves of scheduled
commodities purchased by the Controller, or of any quantity
of a scheduled commodity forfeited under this Ordinance;

(e)the issue and form of permits to import scheduled
commodities, the conditions attached thereto and the period
for which such permits shall be in force;

appeals to the Governor in Council under this Ordinance, the
time within which such appeals shall be preferred;

(g)the registration of importers of scheduled commodities and of
the stores of such importers;

(h)the form of books and registers to be kept by registered
importers, the particulars to be entered therein, and the forms
of all returns and declarations required to be made for the
purposes of this Ordinance;

(i)the collection and management of any levy on scheduled
imports;

(1)all matters incidental to or connected with the matters
specifically referred to in this subsection.

17. (1) The Governor may appoint any persons, by name or office,
to be Deputy or Assistant Controllers for the purposes of this
Ordinance.

(2) The Controller may authorize any Deputy or Assistant
Controller to exercise and perform any power or duty conferred or
imposed upon the Controller by or under this Ordinance.

SCHEDULE. [s. 3.1

COMMODITIES DEEMED ESSENTIAL FOR THE VITAL NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY
DURING WAR OR OTHER PUBLIC EMERGENCY.

The following commodities, of such standards as the Controller may direct,
namely

1. Rice.

2. All types of dried beans.

3. Peanut oil.

4. Flour.

5. Salt, other than refined table-salt.

(Replaced, G.N. 820141)
Originally 38 of 1939. G.N. 87/41. G.N. 135/41. G.N. 230/41. G.N. 712/41. G.N. 820/41. Short title. Interpretation. Essential commodities. Schedule. Provision of stocks and reserves of scheduled commodities. Purchase of essential stocks by Government. Registration of importers of scheduled commodities and stores. Permits to import scheduled commodities. Permit necessary to authorize importation. Holder of permit to comply with conditions. Books, registers, etc. Cancellation of registration and permits. Powers of entry and examination. Power to obtain information. Offences and penalties. Levy on scheduled imports. Regulations. Appointment of officers.

Originally 38 of 1939. G.N. 87/41. G.N. 135/41. G.N. 230/41. G.N. 712/41. G.N. 820/41. Short title. Interpretation. Essential commodities. Schedule. Provision of stocks and reserves of scheduled commodities. Purchase of essential stocks by Government. Registration of importers of scheduled commodities and stores. Permits to import scheduled commodities. Permit necessary to authorize importation. Holder of permit to comply with conditions. Books, registers, etc. Cancellation of registration and permits. Powers of entry and examination. Power to obtain information. Offences and penalties. Levy on scheduled imports. Regulations. Appointment of officers.

https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/items/show/2693

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