Western Australian Current Acts

MARKETING OF POTATOES ACT 1946 - SECT 22

22 . Sale and delivery of potatoes regulated; evidentiary provisions

(1) A person shall not sell or deliver ware potatoes, otherwise than —



(a) to —



(i) the Corporation; or



(ii) an agent authorised to act on behalf of the Corporation;

or



(b) in accordance with a permit granted, or exemption notified, under section 25.



(2) A person, other than the Corporation or an agent authorised to act on behalf of the Corporation, shall not purchase or take delivery of ware potatoes —



(a) from a grower of those potatoes; or



(b) from a person other than such a grower, unless those potatoes are sold or delivered in accordance with a permit granted, or exemption notified, under section 25.



(2a) A person shall not purchase or take delivery of any potatoes, whether or not ware potatoes, unless the potatoes are —



(a) accompanied by such a sales docket, delivery note or relevant consignment advice as may be required by the regulations and which contains the prescribed information; or



(b) the subject of a sale or transaction in respect of which under section 25(3) an exemption from the provisions of paragraph (a) applies.



(3) In a charge of an offence of purchasing, or an offence of taking delivery of, potatoes from a grower, contrary to the provisions of subsection (2), it is sufficient to refer to the grower as “a grower” without the necessity of stating the name of a grower.



(4) At the hearing of a charge of any offence against this section, evidence —



(a) that an inspector had reasonable cause to believe the person charged was in possession or control of a quantity of potatoes at a material time; and



(b) that the quantity of potatoes exceeded 50 kg in weight, or was estimated by an inspector in a manner which the Court deems reasonable to exceed 50 kg in weight; and



(c) that the person charged was at that material time required by an inspector to produce to the inspector a sales docket evidencing that the potatoes were purchased by the person charged, or a delivery note evidencing the delivery of the potatoes to the person charged or a relevant consignment advice from the grower; and



(d) either —



(i) that the person charged did not produce to the inspector any sales docket, delivery note or relevant consignment advice from the grower; or



(ii) that the person charged produced to the inspector a sales docket, delivery note or relevant consignment advice but —



(I) it did not contain the prescribed information; or



(II) it did not purport to have been issued by or on behalf of the Corporation or the holder of a relevant permit under section 25; or



(III) it was not in fact issued by or on behalf of the Corporation or the holder of a relevant permit under section 25; or



(IV) the potatoes were not contained in any bags or other containers, or were not contained in bags or other containers branded or marked in accordance with particulars shown in the sales docket or delivery note or relevant consignment advice, or did not correspond with the description given in the sales docket or delivery note or relevant consignment advice,



shall be deemed to be prima facie evidence that the person charged purchased, or as the case may be, took delivery of, the potatoes in a manner contravening the provisions of this Act.



(5) A person who is the driver or who is in charge or apparently in charge of a vehicle on which there are potatoes to a quantity exceeding 50 kg in weight, or estimated by an inspector in a manner which the Court deems reasonable to exceed 50 kg in weight, shall be deemed to have control of the potatoes, but this presumption does not prejudice any other method of proof of possession or control.



(6) Evidence that a person had in his possession or control potatoes of a quantity exceeding 50 kg in weight, or estimated by an inspector in a manner which the Court deems reasonable to exceed 50 kg in weight, shall be deemed prima facie evidence that he received the whole of the quantity into his possession or control by one and the same purchase, or, as the case may be, by one and the same acceptance of delivery.



(7) Where an inspector has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a quantity of potatoes exceeding 50 kg in weight is being, is likely to be, or has been, dealt within a manner contravening this Act, he may, upon giving a written receipt therefor to the person, if any, apparently in possession or having the control of the potatoes, impound the whole or any quantity of the potatoes suspected by him of being so dealt with and also —



(a) any sales docket, delivery note, consignment advice or other document that appears to him to relate to those potatoes and is produced to him or that he finds; and



(b) any packaging used for those potatoes,



which is, in the opinion of the inspector, likely to be evidence relevant to the investigation of a suspected offence under this Act and shall cause any potatoes, document or packaging so impounded to be taken before a justice, to be dealt with in the manner provided in subsection (10).



(8) A person convicted of an offence against subsection (2) is, subject to section 41(4), liable —



(a) for a first offence, to a fine of not more than $2 000;



(b) for a subsequent offence, to a fine of not more than $5 000,



and the Court convicting that person may, impose on that person a further penalty of an amount not exceeding twice the value of the quantity of potatoes involved, as ascertained in accordance with the provisions of subsection (9).



(9) The value of a quantity of potatoes is to be ascertained, for the purposes of subsection (8), by applying to that quantity a figure calculated by reference to the price for potatoes of that grade, or if no sales of that grade occurred the average price, obtained by the Corporation from wholesale merchants, on or about the day on which the offence was committed, for potatoes sold by it.



(10) Where any document or packaging, or any quantity of potatoes, is impounded under this Act and taken before a justice, the justice may cause the thing impounded to be detained in such custody as he may direct until the conclusion of any investigation that may be held with respect to it and, if any person is charged with an offence in respect of which the thing impounded is likely to afford evidence at the trial, may cause it to be further detained for the purpose of being produced in evidence at such trial, subject to section 41B.



[Section 22 amended: No. 4 of 1949 s. 3; No. 29 of 1957 s. 3; No. 55 of 1966 s. 3; No. 94 of 1972 s. 4 (as amended: No. 19 of 1973 s. 4); No. 26 of 1974 s. 6; No. 96 of 1985 s. 12 and 22; No. 20 of 1989 s. 3; No. 11 of 1995 s. 12 and 27; No. 84 of 2004 s. 80; No. 17 of 2014 s. 28.]

