In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, - [(a) "agricultural produce" means all produce and commodities whether processed or unprocessed of agriculture, horticulture/apiculture, sericulture, animal husbandry, fleeces (raw wool) and skin of animals, forest produce [livestock, fisheries,] etc. as are specified in the Schedule or declared by the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, from time to time and also includes a mixture of more than two such products;
[(i-a) "ad hoc buyer" means a buyer registered under this Act;]
[(aa) "assaying lab" means a laboratory set up on such parameters as prescribed by the State Government for testing the quality of agricultural produce;]] [(b) "Board" means the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board established under the Act;]
(c) "broker" means a person, other than a private servant or an auctioneer, usually employed on commission to enter into contracts on behalf of others for the purchase or sale of agricultural produce;
[(ca) "business" means purchase-sale, processing, value addition, storage, transportation and connected activities of agricultural produce;
(cb) "buyer" means a person, a firm, a company or co-operative society or government agency, public undertaking/public agency or corporation, commission agent, who himself or on behalf of any other person or agent buys or agrees to buy agricultural produce in the market area as notified under this Act;]
[(cc) "Chief Administrator" means the Chief Administrator of the Board.]
(d) "Committee" means a market committee established and constituted under sections 11 and 12;
[(da) "contract farming" means farming by a contract farming producer under a written agreement with contract farming sponsor to the effect that his farm produce shall be purchased as specified in the agreement;
(db) "contract farming agreement" means an agreement made for contract farming between contract farming sponsor and contract farming producer;
(dc) "contract farming producer" means an agriculturist association of agriculturists, self-help group, authorised tenants of agriculturist, co- operative societies registered under the Haryana Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 (22 of 1984), and shall include the successors, heirs, executors and representatives of the party executing the agreement;
(dd) "contract farming sponsor" means a person, a sole proprietor, a company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), a partnership firm registered under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (9 of 1932), a Government agency, a co-operative society registered under the Haryana Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 (22 of 1984), and shall include its administrators, successors, representatives and assignees;]
[(de) "consumer's market" means a market notified under section 7, where retail sale of agriculture produce is made especially to consumer, not exceeding quantities, as may be prescribed;]
(e) "Co-operative Society" means a Co-operative Society registered or deemed to be registered under the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act 1954, [or any other corresponding law for the time being in force] which deals in the purchase, sale, processing or storage of agricultural produce; or is otherwise engaged in the business of disposal of agricultural produce;
(f) "dealer" means any person who within the notified market area sets up, establishes or continues or allows to be continued any place for the purchase, sale, storage or processing or agricultural produce notified under sub-section (1) of section 6 or purchases, sells, stores or processes such agricultural produce;
[(g) "Director" means the Director of marketing for the State of Punjab, or the State of Haryana or the transferred territory or the Union territory of Chandigarh, as the case may be, and includes a Joint Director of marketing.]
[(ga) "e-trading" means trading of agricultural produce in which registration, auctioning, billing, booking, contracting, tendering, information exchanging, record keeping and other connected activities are done electronically on computer network/ internet;
(gb) "e-trading platform" means electronic platform set up either by State Government or its agencies or a person licensed under this Act for conducting sale or purchase of agricultural produce through electronic media or by any means of communication in which registration, buying and selling, billing, booking, contracting auctioning, tendering, etc. are carried out online through computer network/ internet or any other such electronic device, where physical transaction takes place;]
(h) "Godown keeper" means a person, other than a producer who stores agricultural produce for himself for sale or stores agricultural produce of others in lieu of storage charges;
[(hh) "licensee" means a dealer to whom a licence is granted under section 10 and the rules made under this Act and includes any person who purchases or sells agricultural produce and to whom a licence is granted as Kacha Arhtia or commission agent or otherwise but does not include a person licensed under section 13;]
(i) "Market" means any area including all lands with the buildings thereon, within such distance of the Principal market or sub-market yard, as may be notified in the Official Gazette by the State Government, to be a market proper;
(ia) " marketing" means all activities involved in the flow of agricultural produce from the production points commencing from the stage of harvest till these reach the ultimate consumers viz. grading, processing, storage, transport, channels of distribution and all other contract farming;
[(ib) "market of national or international importance" means a market notified under section 7 for the purpose of trading in agricultural or horticultural produce from more than one State of the Union or outside the country;]
(j) Omitted by Punjab Act 40 of 1963.
(k) "market proper" means any area including all lands with the buildings thereon, within such distance of the principal market or sub-market yard, as may be notified in the official gazette by the State Government, to be a market proper;
[(kk) 'member' includes the Chairman and Chief Administrator of the Board;]
(l) "notified market area" means any area notified under section 6;
[(la) "person" means an individual, registered firm, company, society, association of persons, body of individuals, agency or any other legal entity which may sue and be sued in the eyes of law;]
(m) "Prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(n) "principal market yard" and "sub-market yard" means an enclosure, building or locality declared to be a principal market yard and sub-market yard under section 7;
[(nn) "processing" means giving a treatment or a series of treatment to an agricultural produce in order to make it fit for use or consumption and includes manufacturing [out] of an agricultural produce.]
(o) "producer" means a person whose sole avoication is to produce, grow or rear agricultural produce, through tenants or otherwise. If a question arises as to whether any person is a producer or not for the purposes of this Act, the decision of the Deputy Commissioner of the district concerned shall be final :
Provided that no person shall be disqualified from being a producer merely on the ground that he is a member of a Co-operative Society :
Provided further that a person shall be disqualified from being a producer if he subsequently obtains a licence under Section 10 or Section 13 of this Act.
[Explanation. - The term "producer" shall include tenant, agriculturalist, association of agriculturalists by whatever name called, registered under any law for the time being in force.]
[ - ]
(q) "retail sale" means sale of agricultural produce not exceeding such quantity as may be prescribed;
(r) "Secretary" means the Executive Officer of a Committee and includes an Assistant Secretary or a person officiating or acting as Secretary;
[(ra) "special commodity market" means a market notified under section 7 for the purchase and sale of particular agricultural produce, as may be specified, from time to time, by a general or special order;
(rb) "special market" means a market notified under section 7 for the purchase of horticultural produce and other commercial specified crops sourced from the State of Haryana or from anywhere else in the country or outside the country;
(rc) "spot exchange" means a place where notified agricultural produce is traded, in which billing, booking, contracting, negotiating, information exchange, record keeping and other connected activities are done through e-trading by licensee;
(rd) "terminal market" means a market notified under section 7 where facilities are provided for attracting the produce from national and international level to encourage bulk purchase, export etc.;]
(s) "trade allowance" includes an allowance having the sanction of custom in the notified market area concerned and market charges payable to various functionaries.
[(t) "transferred territory" means the territory transferred to the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh under section 5 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 (31 of 1966)].
[(u) "user charges" means charges levied for the use of infrastructure or for services rendered by the Board or the Committee or by any other entity authorized by the State Government in this behalf;
and
(v) "value addition" includes cleaning, processing, standardization, grading, packing or other such activities which enhance the value of agricultural produce.]
[2A. Construction of certain references in this Act. - In the application of the provisions of this Act, -
(1) to the State of Haryana, any reference therein to any expression mentioned in column (1) of the Table below shall be construed as a reference to the corresponding expression mentioned in column
(2) of the said Table.]
1 2 State Government The Government of the State of Haryana.
Punjab State or State of Punjab except in Section 1 of the Act.
State of Haryana.
State Agricultural Marketing Board.
Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board.
(2) to the territory transferred to Himachal Pradesh any reference therein to any expression mentioned in column (1) of the Table below shall be construed as a reference to the corresponding expression mentioned in column (2) of the said Table.
1 2 State Government. Administrator of the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh.
Punjab State or State of Punjab except in Section 1 of the Act.
Transferred territory.
State Agricultural Marketing Board.
Administrator of the Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh.
(3) to the Union territory of Chandigarh, any reference, therein to any expression mentioned in column
(1) of the Table below shall be construed as a reference to the corresponding expression mentioned in column (2) of the said Table.
1 2 State Government. Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Punjab State or State of Punjab except in Section 1 of the Act.
Union Territory of Chandigarh.
State Agricultural Marketing Board Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.