GHANA TOBACCO COMPANY LIMITED (TOBACCO PURCHASES) ACT - 1978 (SMCD 174)

• Section - 1 - Prohibition Of Unauthorised Purchase, Export And Import Of Unmanufactured Tobacco.

  • (1) No person shall purchase unmanufactured tobacco except the Ghana Tobacco Company Limited or a person authorised in writing by the Company to purchase unmanufactured tobacco for sale to the Company.
    
    (2) No person shall export or import unmanufactured tobacco except the Ghana Tobacco Company Limited or a person authorised in writing by the Company so to do.

• Section - 2 - Offence.

  • (1) Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 1 of this Decree is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding c5,000 or to imprisonment not exceeding one year or to both.
    
    (2) Without prejudice to the provisions of any enactment relating to customs, any unmanufactured tobacco in relation to which an offence is committed under this Decree shall be liable to forfeiture on the orders of the Court by which the offender is convicted.

• Section - 3 - Offences By Bodies Of Persons.

  • (1) Where the offence under this Decree is committed by a body of persons then:-
    
    (a) in the case of a body corporate other than a partnership, every Director, Secretary or similar officer of that body shall also be deemed to have committed the offence; and
    
    (b) in the case of a partnership, every partner shall also be deemed to have committed the offence.
    
    (2) No person shall be deemed to have committed an offence under this section if he proves to the satisfaction of the court that the offence was committed without his knowledge or connivance and that he did all that he could reasonably have been required to do to prevent the commission of the offence having regard to all the circumstances.

• Section - 4 - Interpretation.

  • In this Decree, "unmanufactured tobacco" means leaf tobacco that has not been treated in any way.