Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires“association” means an association of cane farmers or groups of cane farmers and includes any association or organisation formed for the furtherance of interest of cane farmers which has been recognised or registered pursuant to this Act; “Board” means the Sugar Industry Control Board established “cane” means sugar cane; “cane farmer” means a person or entity who is engaged in the production of sugar cane for the purpose of being manufactured into sugar, ethanol or any other derivative of sugar cane and registered by the Sugar Cane Production Committee pursuant to this Act; “coefficient”, means a pro rata increase or decrease of a cane farmer’s annual reference quantity as set by the SCPC; “crop year” means the period between 1st December in a year and 30th November of the following year; 8 “current price” means the price per ton of sugar cane as determined between manufacturers and the association based on the quality of sugar cane ascertained by the core sampling method established by the Sugar Cane Quality Control Provided that the “current price” per ton of sugar cane as provided above shall not come into force until such time as the Minister by Order published in the Gazette declares that that price shall come into force and, before the making of the aforesaid Order, the current price shall be that agreed between the manufacturer and the committee from time to time, Provided further that failure to agree on the price of sugar cane will be reported to the Board which may appoint an arbitrator or arbitrators to determine the current price of sugar cane and the decision of the arbitrator as to the current price of sugar cane shall be final; “estimated cane production” means each sugar cane farmer’s estimated production of sugar cane per crop year, expressed in tons, as determined by the Sugar Cane Production Committee, in accordance with this Act; “ethanol” means ethyl alcohol derived from sugar cane or from any derivative of sugar cane; “export” means to take or cause to be taken out of Belize, and the time at which sugar or ethanol or any derivative of sugar cane is taken on board any vessel for the purpose of being exported shall, for the purpose of this definition, be deemed to be the time of the exportation of such sugar, ethanol or derivative of sugar cane, as the case may be; “grinding season” means the period or periods, fixed by the Board in accordance with this Act, during which manufacturers shall accept sugarcane for manufacture into sugar, ethanol or any derivative of sugar cane; Sugar Industry Act 9 “import” means bring or cause to be brought into Belize, or the territorial waters thereof; means the and Development Institute established under section 21; “manufacturer” means a producer of sugar, ethanol or any derivative of sugar cane to whom a licence has been issued pursuant to section 58; “manufacturer’s quota” means the amount of sugar cane which a manufacturer is licensed by the SCPC to receive from members of the Association; “mature sugar cane” means sugar cane which is suitable for processing and which conforms to standards laid down by the “reference quantity” means a cane farmer’s annual quantity deliverable as determined by the SCPC in accordance with this Act; “sugar” means sugar in any of its recognised commercial forms including non-centrifugal sugar known locally as ‘wet sugar’, ‘raw sugar’ or ‘rapadura’, but excluding final molasses; “Sugar (Industry Development) Fund” means the Sugar (Industry Development) Fund established under section 66; “Sugar (Labour Welfare) Fund means the Sugar (Labour Welfare) Fund established under section 66; “Sugar Cane Production Committee” or “SCPC” means the Committee established under section 15; “Sugar Cane Quality Control Authority” or “SCQCA” means the Authority established under section 28; “ton” means a long ton of 2,240 pounds avoirdupois. 10 Production, Research and Quality Bodies, and Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association DIVISION 1 Sugar Industry Control Board