Mauritius
Sugar Insurance Fund Act
Act 4 of 1974
- Commenced on 1 June 1974
- [This is the version of this document at 30 June 2017.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Sugar Insurance Fund Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act—"average sugar yield per arpent" means the average cane yield in tonnes per arpent harvested and converted to sugar by reference to extraction;"average sugar yield per hectare" means the average cane yield in tonnes per hectare harvested and converted to sugar by reference to extraction;"Board" means the Sugar Insurance Fund Board referred to in section 4;"Bulk Sugar Insurance Account" means the Bulk Sugar Insurance Account referred to in section 19;"cane plantation" includes all the canes grown by a planter or métayer in a factory area in any given year whether or not these canes were grown in previous years by some other planter or métayer;"Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Board;"Committee" means the Investment Committee established under section 10;"co-operative society" means a co-operative society registered under the Co-operatives Act;"crop year" means the period beginning on 1 June in any year and ending on 31 May in the following year;"Director"—(a)means a Director of the Board; and(b)includes the Chairperson;"employee" means a person, other than an officer, employed by the Board;"enlarged factory area"—(a)means a factory area; and(b)includes any other area or region from which canes are delivered to a factory in operation in the factory area, following any previous or future closing down of another factory to which that area or region was assigned before the closing down;"event year" means a crop year declared as such under section 25;"excessive rainfall" means excessive rainfall with or without the yellow spot disease (Cercospora Koxpkei);"extraction" means the average percentage, determined by the Board and calculated to 2 decimal places of the sugar recovered from the cane supplied to a factory by an insured;"factory" means a sugar factory;"factory area" has the same meaning as in the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority Act;"Fire Insurance Account" means the Fire Insurance Account referred to in section 19;"fire insurance premium" means the premium referred to in section 34;"Fund" means the Sugar Insurance Fund established under section 3;"General Insurance Account" means the General Insurance Account referred to in section 19;"general insurance premium" means the premium determined in accordance with section 24 (6);"General Manager" means the General Manager of the Board appointed under section 12;"growing unit" means a grouping of planters, other than large planters, and métayers cultivating cane in any prescribed area;"insurable sugar" means, in the case of—(a)a large planter or growing unit, the insurable sugar determined in accordance with section 22;(b)a miller, the insurable sugar determined in accordance with section 23;"insurance contract" means an insurance contract referred to in sections 3 and 33A;"insured" means a miller, a planter, a métayer or a refiner;"large planter" means a planter who cultivates cane, whether in one or more factory areas, on an extent under cane of not less than 300 hectares;"métayer" means a person who, by agreement with a planter, cultivates cane on land which belongs to the planter and, in consideration for the use of the land, gives the planter a portion of the annual sugar yield of such land, with or without any additional payment;"miller" has the same meaning as in the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority Act;"Minister" means the Minister to whom responsibility for the subject of finance is assigned;"normal years", in relation to a large planter or growing unit, means the 3 crop years of the 8 crop years preceding any crop year which had the highest average sugar yield per hectare;"officer" means a person employed by the Board to perform administrative or technical duties;"plantation white sugar" means sugar which has a polarisation of more than 99 but less than 99.7;"planter" has the same meaning as in the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority Act;"prescribed area" means such area as may be prescribed by the Minister, following the advice of a consulting actuary under section 48;"prescribed percentage of the total insurable sugar" means such percentage of total insurable sugar as may be prescribed by the Minister for an area, following the advice of a consulting actuary under section 48;"ranking" means a ranking calculated under section 21;"refined sugar" means sugar with a polarisation of 99.7 or more;"refiner" means a miller or another entity, having the Trust or any other vehicle established to foster equity participation of planters and employees of the sugar industry as a shareholder and mandated by the Syndicate to optimise value added for the whole of the sugar industry through the production of refined sugar;"refinery" means a site where plantation white sugar is processed into refined sugar;"refining" means the process by which plantation white sugar is converted into refined sugar;"register" means the register referred to in section 43;"registered" means registered with the Board under section 40;"Reinsurance Fund" means the fund referred to in section 20A;"shortfall" means the insurable sugar of an insured in an event year less the sugar accruing to the insured in that year;"sugar"—(a)means raw sugar with a polarisation of 98.5; and(b)includes white sugar or any other type of sugar converted to raw sugar on the basis of such equivalent as the Minister may, after consultation with the Board, prescribe;"sugar accruing" or "sugar accrued" means—(a)in respect of a planter, the percentage of sugar produced or expected to be produced, from the canes of planters or the métayers, in accordance with section 39 (1) of the Mauritius Cane Industry Authority Act;(b)in respect of a miller, the sugar left to him after giving to planters or métayers the share of sugar accruing to them as set out in paragraph (a);"sugar price" means the price determined under section 47;"Syndicate" means the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate;"total insurable sugar for a prescribed area", in relation to large planters or a growing unit, means the total insurable sugar of all large planters or the growing unit within a prescribed area;"total sugar accrued for a prescribed area", in relation to large planters or a growing unit, means the total sugar accrued of all large planters or the growing unit within a prescribed area;"Trust" has the same meaning as in the Sugar Industry Efficiency Act.[S. 2 amended by s. 3 of Act 42 of 1984 w.e.f. 16 July 1984; s. 3 of Act 21 of 1988 w.e.f. 16 July 1988; s. 3 of Act 44 of 1989 w.e.f. 1 June 1988; s. 12 of Act 17 of 2000 w.e.f. 5 August 2000; s. 3 of Act 7 of 2007 w.e.f. 1 June 2007; s. 44 (a) of Act 14 of 2009 w.e.f. 1 July 2009; s. 65 (7) (a) of Act 40 of 2011 w.e.f. 19 March 2012; s. 3 of Act 1 of 2012 w.e.f. 12 May 2012; s. 12 of Act 15 of 2013 w.e.f. 29 June 2013; s. 13 (2) (a) of Act 5 of 2014 w.e.f. 20 August 2014; s. 50 (a) of Act 9 of 2015 w.e.f. 1 June 2014, s. 67 (1) (a) of Act 11 of 2018 w.e.f. 1 June 2017.]Part II – The Fund, Board and Committee
3. The Fund and its objects
4. The Board
5. Constitution of Board
6. Quorum
At a meeting of the Board, 5 members shall constitute a quorum.7. ***
8. Execution of documents
9. Attendance of experts
A party to any proceedings before the Board may be assisted by Counsel or technical experts.10. Investment Committee
11. ***
[S. 11 repealed by s. 5 of Act 7 of 2007 w.e.f. 2 June 2007.]Part III – Staff of Board
12. General Manager
13. Appointment of staff
14. Delegation of powers
15. Conditions of service of staff
The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, make such rules as it thinks fit to govern the conditions of service of its officers and employees and, in particular, to deal with—Part IV – Financial provisions
16. Administrative expenses
Subject to section 20 (2) (b), the expenses of administering the Fund shall be defrayed out of the assets of the Fund.17. Investment of assets of Fund
The Board may, on the recommendation of the Committee, invest any money forming part of the assets of the Fund which is not required to meet the liabilities of the Fund.[S. 17 repealed and replaced by s. 6 of Act 7 of 2007.]18. Loans by Board
The Board may, on the recommendation of the Committee and with the approval of the Minister—18A. Loans granted by Board
19. General Insurance, Fire Insurance and Bulk Sugar Insurance Account
20. Reserve Fund
20A. Reinsurance Fund
Part V – General insurance
21. Assignment of ranking
22. Insurable sugar of a large planter or growing unit
23. Insurable sugar of a miller
The insurable sugar of a miller shall be calculated in accordance with the formula set out in the Fourth Schedule.[S. 23 amended by Act 42 of 1984; Act 44 of 1989.]24. General insurance premium
25. Declaration of event year
25A. Prescribed area and prescribed percentage of total insurable sugar
For the purpose of section 25 (1) of the Act—26. Assessment of compensation
27. Reduction of compensation
28. Payments out of General Insurance Account
29. Limitation of compensation
Where the net amount standing to the credit of the General Insurance Account estimated as at 31 May is insufficient to meet the liabilities of the General Insurance Account in respect of losses incurred in an event year under this Part, the Minister may, by regulations published in the Gazette and in 2 daily newspapers, direct that compensation assessed in accordance with section 26 or 27 shall be reduced by such percentage as shall ensure that the compensation payable shall not, in the aggregate, exceed the net amount standing to the credit of the General Insurance Account.30. Advances to an insured
31. ***
32. Bar to claim
33. Forfeiture of compensation
Where the Board is satisfied that a planter or métayer—33A. Insurance of refiners
Part VI – Fire insurance
34. Fire insurance premium
35. Report of fire
36. Inspection of plantation after damage by fire
37. Compensation for loss by fire
38. Compensation met by Fire Insurance Account
39. Where insured ineligible for compensation
Where compensation is paid under this Part to an insured, the insured shall not be eligible for compensation under Part V in respect of the insurable sugar represented by sugar short produced as a result of fire.39A. Payments out of Bulk Sugar Insurance Account
Part VII – Miscellaneous
40. Registration of factories and plantations
41. Change of ownership
42. Inspection of property
An officer may, on being so directed by the Board for the purposes of this Act—43. Survey of plantations
44. Special privilege
45. Returns
46. ***
47. Sugar price
48. Consulting actuary
49. Recommendations made by Board
The Board shall consider any recommendation made and advice given by the consulting actuary under section 48 and shall make such recommendations to the Minister as it considers appropriate.[S. 49 inserted by s. 13 of Act 1 of 2012 w.e.f. 12 May 2012.]50. Special duty
51. Reduced premiums for groups of planters and métayers
52. Appeal to Supreme Court
An insured, who is aggrieved by a decision of the Board under section 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 32, 33, 37 or 53 (2), may appeal against the decision to the Supreme Court in such manner as may be provided by rules made by the Supreme Court.53. Offences
54. Burden of proof
In any proceedings—55. Regulations made by Minister
56. Regulations made by Board
The Board may make such regulations as it thinks fit for the purposes of this Act.[S. 56 amended by s. 15 of Act 1 of 2012 w.e.f. 12 May 2012.]57. Transitional provision
History of this document
30 June 2017 this version
Consolidation
01 June 1974
Commenced