Spices Board Act, 1986
No: 10 Dated: Mar, 20 1986
The Spices Board Act, 1986
Act No. 10 of 1986
An act to provide for the constitution of a Board for the development of export of spices and for the control of cardamom industry including the control of cultivation of cardamom and matters connected therewith.
Be it enacted by parliament in the Thirty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:
CHAPTER - I
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Spices Board Act, 1986
(2) It extents to the whole of India
(3) [It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.]
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires;
(a) "Board" means the Spices Board constituted under sub-section (1) of section 3;
(b) "cardamom" means the fruit of cardamom plant and includes green cardamom, bleached cardamom, bleachable white cardamom, sun-dried cardamom, cardamom seeds, powdered cardamom and oil extracted from cardamom;
(c) "cardamom plant" means Elettaria cardamom maton, ammomum subulatum Roxb and any other plant which the Board may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be a cardamom plant for the purposes of this Act;
(d) "certificate" means a certificate granted under section 12;
(e) "dealer" means a dealer in spices
(f) "estate" means the area administered as one unit which contains land planted with cardamom plants.
(g) "export" and "import" mean, respectively, taking out of or bringing into India by land, sea and air;
(h) "manufacturer" means a manufacturer of spices;
(i) "member" means a member of the Board appointed under subsection (3) of section 3;
(j) "owner" in relation to any land planted with cardamom plants, includes -
(i) any agent of the owner; and
(ii) a mortgagee, lessee or other person in actual possession of the land;
(k) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(l) "registered estate" means an estate in respect of which an owner is registered under sub-section (1) of section 8 and includes any estate in respect of which an owner is required to be registered under the provisions of that sub-section;
(m) "registered owner" means an owner of a registered estate which has been or is registered or is required to be registered under sub-section (1) of section 8; and
(n) "spices" means the spices specified in the Schedule:
Provided that the Central Government may, if satisfied that it is necessary or expendient in the public interest so to do, by notification in the Official Gazette, add any other spice to the Schedule or omit any spice therefrom.
CHAPTER - II
The Spices Board
3. Constitution and incorporation of the Board. - (1) The Central Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette constitute, for the purposes of this Act, a Board, to be called the Spices Board.
(2) The Board shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid having perpetual succession and a common seal with power, subject of the provisions of this Act to contract and shall, by the said name, sue and be sued.
(3) [The Board shall consist of such number of members, not exceeding thirty-two, as may be prescribed, and unless the rules made in this behalf otherwise provide, the Board shall consist of the following members, namely:-]
(a) a Chairman
(b) three Members of Parliament, of whom two shall be elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States;
(c) three members to represent respectively the Ministries of the Central Government dealing with:
(i) Commerce;
(ii) Agriculture; and
(iii) Finance;
(d) six members to represent the growers of spices;
(e) eleven members to represent the exporters of spices;
(f) three members to represent major spice producing States;
(g) five members, one each to represent:-
(i) the Directorate of Cocoa, Arecanut and Spices Development, Calicut;
(ii) the Indian Institute of Packaging, Bombay
(iii) the Central Food Technological and Research Institute, Mysore
(iv) the Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum; and
(v) the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasargode.
(4) The office of member of the Board shall not disqualify its holder for being chosen as or for being, a member of either House of Parliament.
(5) The term of office of the members and other conditions of service of the members shall be such as may be prescribed.
(6) The Chairman shall, in addition to presiding over the meetings of the Board, exercise and discharge such powers and duties of the Board as may be delegated to him by the Board and such other powers and duties as may be prescribed.
(7) The Board shall elect from among its members a Vice-Chairman who shall exercise such of the powers and perform such of the functions of the Chairman as may be prescribed or as may be delegated to him by the Chairman.
(8) No act or proceeding of the Board shall be invalidated merely by reason of:-
(a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of the Board;
(b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a member of the Board;
(c) any irregularity in the procedure of the Board not affecting the merits of the case.