I move amendment No. 89 :—
To add at the end a new sub-section as follows :—
Where a licensee notifies the Bacon Marketing Board of his inability to secure adequate supplies of pigs wherewith to fulfil the terms of the production notice served upon him and the Board has failed to make available the requisite supplies of pigs, such notification shall be a good defence to any proceedings brought against the licensee under this section.
The section provides for a substantial penalty calculated as a fine at the rate of 10/- for every cwt. by which the amount of bacon produced during the production period falls short of the production sub-quota, so that the penalty might be extremely heavy in the case of a large curer. Therefore, I submit to the Minister that where a licensee notifies the Bacon Marketing Board of his inability through want of pigs to fill his quota and cannot get from the Bacon Marketing Board the pigs he requires to fill his quota, that should be a good defence against any prosecution under this section.