WARNING : POTATO POLICE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR ILLEGAL POTATOES In a throw back to centralised planning that would make the most committed socialist proud, in Western Australia the all powerful Potato Marketing Corporation (PMC) has the authority to determine; * Who can grow potatoes. * How many hectares of potatoes can be planted. * What varieties of potato are produced. One can only imagine the chaos if these tasks were left to the market !! In addition the PMC has the power to stop and search any vehicle suspected of carrying more than 50kg of potatoes, and its inspectors can impound any unlawful potatoes found. Section 22A of the Marketing of Potatoes Act 1946 titled; Vehicles carrying potatoes, power to stop and search etc - provides; (1) Where an inspector has reasonable grounds for suspecting that there is on a vehicle a quantity of potatoes exceeding 50 kg in weight, he may — (a) direct the driver, or the person apparently in charge, of the vehicle to permit the inspector to search the vehicle and anything thereon; and if upon his inspection of the vehicle the inspector is satisfied that there is on the vehicle a quantity of potatoes exceeding 50 kg in weight he may — impound any packaging that he has reasonable cause to believe may be or have been used for potatoes, and any quantity of potatoes, found on the vehicle ..... and shall cause any such document, packaging or potatoes to be impounded .... There is even a section of the Act for dealing with impounded potatoes. Section 41B provides; (1) Where any quantity of potatoes, or any document or packaging, is impounded under this Act and taken before a justice — (b) if a person is convicted of any offence in relation to the thing impounded, the court before which the person is convicted may cause that thing to be destroyed or to be forfeited to the Crown and disposed of .... So be warned : if you are transporting a sack of potatoes in your car in WA - make sure a they are approved by a government bureaucrat. Also see: austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/consol_act/mopa1946232/s22a.html mobile.news.au/finance/business/political-hot-potato-wa-government-rejects-calls-for-soviet-style-regulator-to-be-abolished/story-fnkgdftz-1227185925919
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 11:19:06 +0000