Tamil Nadu Oilpalm (Regulation of Production and processing) Act, 1994
No: 34 Dated: Jun, 30 1996
THE TAMIL NADU OILPALM(REGULATION OF PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING) ACT, 1994
(Tamil Nadu Act 34 of 1994)
An Act to provide for the regulation of cultivation of oilpalm and for orderly growth and processing thereof and for matters connected therewith.
Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tamil Nadu in the Forty-fifth Year of the Republic of India as follows : -
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Tamil Nadu Oilpalm (Regulation of Production and Processing) Act, 1994.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Government may, by notification, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different areas and for different provisions of this Act.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a) "factory" means any premises including the precincts thereof or any part of which any manufacturing process connected with the processing of oilpalm FFB is carried on with aid of mechanical power;
(b) "factory zone" means an area assigned to a factory under section 11;
(c) "Government" means the State Government;
(d) "occupier of the factory" means the person who, or the authority which, has the ultimate control over the affairs of the factory and, where the said affairs are entrusted to a Secretary, Manager, Managing Director, Executive Director or Chief Executive Director, such Secretary, Manager, Managing Director, Executive Director or Chief Executive Director shall be deemed to be the occupier of the factory;
(e) "oilpalm" means the palm of the genus, Elaeis and includes the species, Elaeis guineensis and its hybrids;
(f) "Oilpalm Commissioner" means the Oilpalm Commissioner appointed or designated under section 8;
(g) "Oilpalm FFB" means the unprocessed oilpalm fresh fruit bunch and includes its loose form also;
(h) "Oilpalm grower" means a person who cultivates oilpalm, whether by himself or by his own servants or by hired labour or by members of his family or by his tenants and includes Oilpalm Grower's Co-operative Society, but not a member thereof, and a company as defined in section 3 of the Companies Act, 1956 (Central Act I of 1956);
(i) "Oilpalm Grower's Co-operative Society" means a society registers under the Tamil Nadu Co-operative Societies Act, 1983 (Tamil Nadu Act 30 of 1983) which has among its objects and functions the cultivation and sale of oilpalm FFB by its members, and includes the Union or Federation of any such societies;
(j) "Oilpalm Inspector" means the Oilpalm Inspector appointed or designated under section 9;
(k) "oilpalm product" means any product obtained directly from the oil-palm and includes palm oil, palm kernal, palm kernal cake, palm fatty acids, oil-palm seeds, oilpalm seedlings and palm kernal oil;
(l) "Project Management Committee" means the Tamil Nadu Oilpalm Project Management Committee constituted under section 3;
(m) "Zonal Committee" means a Zonal Committee constituted under section 5.
3. Constitution of Project Management Committee. - (1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the Government shall, by notification, constitute a committee for the State to be called the Tamil Nadu Oilpalm Project Management Committee.
(2) The Project Management Committee shall consist of the following members, namely :-
(a) the Secretary to Government in-charge of Agriculture, who shall be the Chairman, ex-officio;
(b) the Secretary to Government in-charge of Finance, ex-officio;
(c) the Secretary to Government in-charge of Planning and Development, ex-officio;
(d) the Secretary to Government in-charge of Co-operation, Food and Consumer Protection, ex-officio;
(e) the Secretary to Government in-charge of Industries, ex-officio;
(f) a representative of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research, New Delhi;
(g) a representative of the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation (Technology Mission on Oilseeds and Pulses), Government of India;
(h) a representative of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development;
(i) a representative of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to be nominated by its Vice-Chancellor;
(j) a representative of the Oilpalm processing factories nominated by the Government;
(k) one person from among the oilpalm growers nominated by the Government;
(l) the Director of Agriculture, who shall be the Member-Secretary, ex-officio.
(3) The term of the Project Management Committee shall be three years, but the Government may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, reconstitute the Committee at any time before the expiry of the term.
(4) In case a Secretary to Government, who is an ex-officio member, is unable to attend the meetings of the Project Management Committee for any reason, he may depute any officer of his department not lower in rank than that of a Deputy Secretary to Government to attend the meeting.