Collection of conservation fee

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, there shall be levied and collected from every non-Belizean person departing from any air, land or sea border point, a fee, to be known as a “conservation fee”, equivalent to seven dollars and fifty cents in Belizean currency. (1A) Subject to the provisions of this section, there shall be levied and collected from every non-Belizean person departing from any air border point, a fee, to be known as a “development fee”, equivalent to thirty-two dollars and fifty cents in Belizean currency. (2) The fees mentioned in sub-sections (1) and (1A), respectively, of this section, shall not be payable by– (a) members of the crew of an aircraft departing Belize from any international point of departure; Protected Areas Conservation Trust[CAP. 218 31 (b) persons exempted from paying the Departure Processing Fee under the Border Management Agency (Departure Processing Fee) Regulations, 2000 levied by the Border Management Agency who are departing from a border managed by the Border Management Agency; and CAP. 50. (c) persons exempted from paying the departure tax under the Departure Tax Act who are departing from all other points other than cruise ship passengers. (3) The fees mentioned in sub-section (1) and (1A), respective, shall be collected as follows– (a) in the case of a person departing from Belize by air, by the airline or its agent concerned responsible for the carriage of that person; (b) in the case of persons departing Belize by sea, other than cruise ship passengers, by the captain of the sea vessel or boat or by the immigration officer charged with the inspection of such vessel; (c) in the case of persons departing Belize by road, by the Border Management Agency or any other legally authorized agent. (4) The conservation fee collected under this section shall be paid monthly within thirty days from the last day of any preceding calendar month period of collection to the Executive Director of the Trust to the credit of the Trust Fund established under section 20 of this Act. (4A) The development fee shall be paid monthly within thirty days from the last day of any preceding calendar month period of collection to32 (a) the Accountant General; or (b) the Executive Director of the Trust for onward submission to the Accountant General, for the credit of the Consolidated Revenue Fund. (5) Where an airline or its agent or the captain of a sea vessel or boat, as the case may be, fails to collect or to pay the conservation fee levied under this section to the Executive Director of the Trust or the development fee levied under this section to the Accountant General, or as the case may be, the Executive Director of the Trust for onward transmission to the Accountant General, such airline and its agent or the captain of the cruise ship, as the case may be, shall– (a) be liable to pay such sum, plus interest thereon at the rate of ten per centum per month of the amount due which may be recovered as a civil debt; and (b) be guilty of an offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and term of imprisonment. (6) The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister of Finance, by Order published in the Gazette, vary from time to time the conservation fee or development fee payable under this section. (7) Every Order made under sub-section (6) shall, as soon as may be after the making thereof, be laid before the House of Representatives and shall be subject to negative resolution. Protected Areas Conservation Trust[CAP. 218 33 (8) The conservation fee and development fee, respectively levied under this section shall be in addition to the Departure Processing Fee levied under the Border Management Agency (Departure Processing Fee) Regulations 2000 by the Border Management Agency or by any other legally authorized agent and the departure tax levied. (9) For the purposes of this section a person is non-Belizean if the person is neither a citizen nor legal permanent resident of Belize. fees,