Dairy Produce Act, 1924

Register to be kept on registered premises.

26.—(1) It shall be the duty of the registered proprietor of any premises registered in any register kept in pursuance of this Act to keep or cause to be kept a register in the prescribed form of all consignments of butter dispatched from those premises, and within twelve hours after the dispatch of any such consignment to enter in such register the prescribed particulars of the quantity of butter comprised in such consignment and the name and address of the person to whom and the route by which the same was consigned.

(2) Every register kept in pursuance of this section may be inspected at any time during office hours by an inspector for any purpose arising out of or in connection with this Act or any regulation made thereunder and it shall be the duty of the registered proprietor of the premises where such register is kept to produce for the inspection of such inspector on demand such register and also all invoices, consignment notes, receipts, and other documents (including copies thereof where the originals are not available) reasonably demanded by such inspector for the purpose of verifying any entry in or explaining any omission from such register.

(3) If the registered proprietor of any premises registered in any register kept in pursuance of this Act—

(a) fails to keep or cause to be kept such register as is required by this section; or

(b) fails to make or cause to be made in such register within the time prescribed by this section any entry required by this section to be made therein; or

(c) fails to produce or cause to be produced for the inspection of an inspector on demand any register, document, or copy of a document which he is required by this section so to produce, or obstructs any such inspector in the making of such inspection; or

(d) wilfully or negligently makes or causes to be made in such register any entry which is false or misleading in any material particular,

he shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds.

(4) For the purposes of this section—

(a) inspection of a register or document shall include taking copies thereof or extracts therefrom; and

(b) a demand for inspection of a register or other document shall be deemed to have been duly made by an inspector to the registered proprietor if such demand is made verbally on the registered premises to the manager, secretary, book-keeper, or other member of the clerical staff; and

(c) a refusal or failure to produce a register or other document for inspection if made or committed on the registered premises by a person in the employment of the registered proprietor shall be deemed to have been made or committed by the registered proprietor; and

(d) the expression “office hours” means any time between the hours of ten o'clock in the morning and five o'clock in the afternoon during which business is being carried on or work is being done on the registered premises.