- Laws of Fiji

Last Updated: 1 December 2016

[GCF 10,050] Conditions of fresh ginger exporters licence10

Licences issued by the Council to fresh ginger exporters shall be subject to the following conditions—

(a)the licensee will be allowed to export fresh ginger (including baby and mature ginger) to—
- (i)all destinations; or
- (ii)all destinations except North America (including Hawaii and Canada);
(b)a licensee must supply to the Council a list of its existing ginger growers, where they are located and ginger planted by each grower;
(c)the licensees must not purchase ginger from growers who have entered into agreement with, or are listed as owing money to other exporters unless prior approval in writing is obtained from such other exporters;
(d)the licensee must pay ginger farmers no later than 30 days after the date of shipment;
(e)the purchase price will be the price agreed to with the grower prior to harvest or shipment;
(f)the licensee must issue the grower on delivery a receipt or Payment Advice Invoice clearly stating the quantity and price (as agreed to in (e) above) paid or to be paid to the grower. If the price is not stated then the method that price is determined, must be clearly stated. Any such method must be easy to calculate and verify, and the exporter must agree to provide copies of all relevant documents to the Council when the Council is requested by the grower to verify the price;
(g)new applicants for an export licence must furnish to the Council a bank guarantee to ensure that the full financial commitment to growers will be met. Grower or exporter applying for a licence to export his or her own ginger will not require to furnish bank guarantee;
(h)licensee must grade ginger for export according to standards imposed by the Council or Ministry of Agriculture for the intended export market;
(i)the licensee must have adequate facilities for curing, inspection, grading, and packing of ginger. These include:
- (i)adequate space to hold ginger according to fanner lots until it is inspected and graded;
- (ii)adequate air flow to ensure proper drying and curing to avoid mould problems;
- (iii)adequate light for inspection and grading of ginger at night or the licensee must specify that all grading and inspection be performed only between 7.00 am–5.00 pm;
- (iv)the scales used by the licensee are of commercial quality and have been recently certified by the Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards;
- (v)the facilities is kept clean at all times and have adequate facilities for employees to wash and maintain the required standard of cleanliness;
(j)all ginger exported must be packed in new clean cartons or crates or bags. The exporting company name (or code) must be clearly marked on the packaging;
(k)that all air freighted mixed-container shipments to North America (including Hawaii) must have no more than 30 boxes or 900 lbs of ginger;
(l)based upon the capacity of licensee drying and packing facilities, the licensee is authorised to export a maximum number of containers as determined by the Council on any one shipment. The licensee may apply to the Council to increase this limit should he or she increase the capacity of his or her packing facilities during the season;
(m)the licensee must furnish a monthly return to the Council consisting of a copy of shipment invoice detailing quantity of ginger shipped, date of shipment and destination at the end of each month;
(n)the licensee must pay prescribed levy and fees to the Council;
(o)this licence is non-transferable and expires on 31 December of each year or until it is cancelled or suspended by the Council;
(p)licensee who fails to pay producers in accordance with the purchase agreement referred to in (e) and (f) above or who significantly breaches the terms of the export licence and does not rectify the breach is subject to $500 fine and will be required to pay all outstanding amounts due to his or her growers within 30 days from the date the incident was reported to the Council. In the event the same exporter continues to breach the purchase agreement with his or her growers, he or she may lose his or her licence for one or 2 seasons at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee;
(q)a licensee who fails to comply with any of the above conditions is liable to $500 fine and in the event the licensee continues to breach any of the above conditions his or her licence may be suspended or cancelled at the discretion of the Arbitration Committee;
(r)any person or persons other than the licensed fresh ginger exporter who buys and exports fresh ginger will be liable to a fine of $500;
(s)the Council, in any licence issued, may impose conditions additional to any condition to which such licence is subject under the provision of the Act.

[reg 10 am LN 99 of 2016 reg 95, effective 1 December 2016]