Seeds and Fertilisers Supply Act, 1956

Schemes for guarantees.

3.—(1) The council of a county may make and carry out a scheme whereby they undertake to guarantee to any approved seed merchant the due payment to the merchant of the whole or a specified proportion of the price payable by an approved occupier or cultivator of land in the county for seeds and fertilisers or seeds only or fertilisers only supplied by the merchant to the occupier or cultivator during a specified sale period.

(2) A scheme under this section shall not be made before the commencement of the period of thirteen months ending on the last day of the sale period specified in the scheme.

(3) Where the council of a county give pursuant to a scheme under this section a guarantee to an approved seed merchant and, in consequence of the default of the occupier or cultivator to whom the guarantee relates, the council make any payment to the merchant under the guarantee, any sum lawfully recoverable by the council from the occupier or cultivator or his sureties (if any) on account of the payment shall (in addition and without prejudice to any other method of recovery) be recoverable under this Act as if it were a sum payable by the occupier, cultivator or surety (as the case may be) in respect of a sale of goods to him by the council pursuant to a scheme under this Act.

(4) The making under this section of a scheme shall be a reserved function for the purposes of the County Management Acts, 1940 to 1955.

(5) In this section “approved” means approved of by the council concerned.