SAMOA

OIL FUEL SUPPLY ACT 1974

Arrangement of Provisions

1.	Short title
2.	Interpretation
3.	Powers of the Minister
4.	Notices
5.	Regulations
6.	Offences and penalties
7.	Revocation

		

OIL FUEL SUPPLY ACT 1974
1974	No.5

AN ACT to provide for the control of the supply and use of oil fuel in the public interest, to avert or lessen the effects of oil fuel shortages in Samoa. 	
[Assent and commencement date: 28 August 1974]

1.	Short title –This Act may be cited as the Oil Fuel Supply Act 1974.

2.	Interpretation –In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
“Minister” means the Minister responsible for works, transport and infrastructure;
“oil fuel” includes motor spirits, diesoline, power kerosene, and any other form of petroleum distillate;
“supply” includes importation, distribution, and sale.

3.	Powers of the Minister –(1)To avert or lessen the effects of oil fuel shortages in Samoa, the Minister may take such steps and do such things as the Minister considers necessary and proper, in the public interest, relating to the supply, possession, and use of oil fuel.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Minister may for the purposes of that subsection do all or any of the following things:
(a) 	regulate or restrict services conducted by omnibus operators, taxi proprietors, or carriers; or
(b)	regulate or restrict the use of motor vehicles for purposes ofbusiness or personal convenience or pleasure, or forany other purposes; or
(c)	restrict or prohibit the supply or use of oil fuel or during any specified periods; or
(d)	give directions to suppliers of oil fuel as to the persons orclasses of persons to whom they may supply oil fuel, andrestrict or prohibit the supply of oil fuel to any persons; or
(e)	require suppliers of oil fuel to enter into working agreements with one another for the pooling of supplies of oil fuel and the storage of oil fuel, and restrict or limit the number of suppliers of oil fuel who may operate in an area or district or otherwise; or
(f)	restrict the quantities of oil fuel which may be suppliedby or to any persons during any specified periods; or
(g)	require any persons to furnish such returns or other information relating to oil fuel and the supplypossession, and use of oil fuel as the Minister may require; or
(h)	issue permits or coupons for the purchase of oil fuel byany persons on such terms and conditions (as to payment and otherwise) as the Minister may specify, and prohibit the purchase of oil fuel otherwise than by means of such permits or coupons.
(3) A step taken or thing done by the Minister under this section may relate:
(a)	to oil fuel generally, or to  a specified class or classes ofoil fuel, or to all oil fuel other than oil fuel of a specifiedclass or classes; and
(b)	to suppliers, users, and persons generally, or to aspecified class or classes of supplier, user, or person, orto all suppliers, users, or persons other than those of aspecified class or classes.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, there shall be established a committee, to be known as the Oil Fuel Supply Committee, which shall consist of the following members:
(a) 	theChief Executive Officer, Ministry of Works,Transport and Infrastructure or his or her nominee, whoshall be the chairperson; and
(b) 	theChiefExecutive Officer, Ministry of the PrimeMinisteror his or her nominee; and
(c) 	three other members, to be appointed by the Minister to represent oil fuel suppliers, distributors, and usersrespectively in Samoa.
(5) Before exercising any of his or her powers under this section, the Minister shall consult with the Oil Fuel Supply Committee, unless the Minister is satisfied in any case of emergency that it is not practicable to do so.

4.	Notices–(1)The Minister shall give public notice of an exercise of any of his or her powers under this Act.
(2) Such public notice is to be given by being published in the Savali and in at least onenewspaper circulating in Samoa.
(3) The Minister shall by any other means give notice to a person of an exercise of any of the Minister's powers under this Act.
(4)A public notice or other notice under this Act shall take effect when it is first published or given, or at such later time as may be specified in that behalf in the notice.
(5) A notice under this Act may at any time be varied or revoked by a subsequent notice.

5.	Regulations–The Head of State, acting on the advice of Cabinet, may make all such regulations as shall be necessary or expedient for the general purpose of this Act and for giving full effect to this Act and for its due administration.

6.	Offences and penalties–(1)A person who does an act, or makes an omission, in contravention of a restriction, prohibition, direction, or requirement imposed, given, or made by the Minister under this Act of which public notice has been given or of which notice has been given to that person, commits an offence against this Act.
(2) A person who commits an offence against this Act or against any regulations made under this Act is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 20 penalty units, and if the offence is a continuing one, to a further fine not exceeding 5 penalty units for every day on which the offence has continued.

7.	Revocation –The Oil Fuel Supply Regulations 1973 are revoked.

REVISION NOTES 2008 – 2014

This is the official version of this Act as at 31 December 2014.

This Act has been revised by the Legislative Drafting Division from2008 to 2014respectively under the authority of the Attorney General given under the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008.

The following general revisions have been made:
(a)	Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.
(b)	Amendments have been made to up-date references to offices, officers and statutes.
(c)	Insertion of the commencement date
(d)	References to the male gender made gender neutral 
(e)	Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General, where appropriate:
(i)	“Every” and “any” changed to “a/an” 
(ii)	Present tense drafting style:
o	“shall” changed to “is to be”
o	“hereby” and “from time to time” removed 
(iii)	Removal of superfluous terms – “the generality of”
(iv)	Offence provisions: “shall be guilty” changed to “commits”
(v)	Numbers in words changed to figures

There were no amendments made to this Act since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This Act is administered by
 the Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure