Regulation 5 Amendment of the Milk Marketing Board (Residuary Functions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995.

After regulation 26 there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Transfer of property, rights and liabilities

26A

(1)

Where an order under Article 17(5) of the Order has been made in relation to the Board, the property, rights and liabilities of the Board shall, by virtue of this regulation and with effect from the day after the date on which such order is made, be transferred to the Department.

(2)

The Department shall for the appropriate period—

(a)

hold any transferred assets, being any sums distributed under an interim distribution, or under the final distributions made under regulation 26(2), and remaining unclaimed, for the purpose of paying such sums to the persons entitled to claim them under the terms of the distribution in question; and

(b)

hold any other transferred assets for the purpose of discharging any liability of the Board which was transferred to it by virtue of regulation 26A(1).

(3)

Subject to paragraph (5), upon the expiry of the appropriate period, the Department shall hold any transferred assets for the purpose of disposing of them in such manner as it may determine, provided that the disposal is for one of the purposes specified in paragraph (4), or in part for one of those purposes and in part for the other.

(4)

The purposes referred to in paragraph (3) are—

(a)

making such distribution of the transferred assets to relevant producers as would have been required of the Board had the assets fallen to be distributed on the final distributions under regulation 26(2); and

(b)

transferring them to such body corporate or other organisation as the Department may determine, being a body corporate or organisation appearing to it to be established for purposes—

(i)

connected with milk production in Northern Ireland; or

(ii)

beneficial to relevant producers or to persons engaged in the production of milk in Northern Ireland.

(5)

Before making any determination under paragraph (3) or (4)(b), the Department shall consult the relevant persons or organisations.

(6)

In this regulation—

(a)

“the appropriate period” means such period, being a period of not less than one year, as the Department shall determine after consulting the relevant persons or organisations;

(b)

“relevant persons or organisations” means any such persons or organisations as appear to the Department to represent the interests of relevant producers;

(c)

“relevant producer” means any person who on the date of the final distribution under regulation 26(2) was a registered producer; and

(d)

“transferred asset” means any asset transferred to the Department by virtue of regulation 26A(1).”.