3.       Establishment of Board

            (1) There is hereby established a Board to be known as the Agricultural Resources Board.

            (2)        The Board shall be a body corporate capable of suing and being sued in its own name and, subject to the provisions of this Act, of performing such acts as bodies corporate may by law perform.

4.       Composition of Board

            (1) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and nine other members who shall be appointed by the President by notice published in the Gazette.

            (2)        The Board shall co-opt the Chief Game Warden to participate as a member in meetings at which questions affecting game or wild life or affecting any area of land declared to be a game reserve or sanctuary under the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act are discussed or considered; and in relation to such questions the Chief Game Warden shall when so co-opted be entitled to vote as if he were a member.

            (3)        The Minister shall appoint a public officer as Secretary of the Board.

5.       Tenure of Office

            (1) Subject to the provisions of this section the members of the Board, excluding any member appointed by the term designating a public office, shall hold office for such period not exceeding three years as may be specified in the notice appointing them, and on the expiration of such period shall be eligible for re-appointment:

            Provided that in appointing members of the Board the President shall specify such periods of appointment that the periods of appointment of not more than one third of the members shall expire in any one year.

            (2) On the expiration of the period for which a member is appointed he shall continue to hold office until his successor has been appointed.

            (3)        If after three months reckoned from such expiration a successor has not been appointed to replace a member whose period of appointment has expired he shall be deemed to have been re-appointed on the expiration of the said period.

            (4)        The Board shall once in every year elect from among its members a Deputy Chairman who shall hold office as such for a period of one year and shall be eligible for re-election.

            (5) Any member who is not a public officer shall be paid out of funds of the Board such remuneration and allowances, if any, as the Minister may prescribe.

6.       Disqualification of members and vacation of office

            (1) No person shall be appointed a member-

     (a)            if he has been declared insolvent or bankrupt under any law in any country and has not been rehabilitated or discharged or has made a composition with his creditors and has not paid his debts in full;

     (b)     if he is, or is becoming, incapacitated by mental or physical illness or infirmity from performing his functions;

     (c)     if he is a member of the National Assembly.

            (2) If the President is satisfied that a member other than a member appointed by the term designating a public office-

     (a)     is subject to any of the disabilities set out in subsection (1);

     (b)     since his appointment has been sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine or has been convicted of an offence under this Act or an offence involving dishonesty;

     (c)     has been absent from three consecutive meetings of the Board without the special leave of the Chairman; or

     (d)     is otherwise unable or unfit to discharge the functions of a member,

the President may declare the office of such member to be vacant, and thereupon such office shall become vacant.

            (3) A member other than a member appointed by the term designating a public office may at any time resign his office by one month's notice in writing of his intention to resign given by him to the President.

7.       Proceedings

            (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall conduct its proceedings in such manner as may be directed by the Minister or, in the absence of such direction, in such manner as the Board deems fit.

            (2) The Chairman, or in his absence the Deputy Chairman, or in the absence of both, a member elected by the Board shall preside at all meetings of the Board, and the person presiding at any meeting, if not the Chairman, shall with respect to such meeting or any business transacted thereat have all the powers of, and be deemed to be, the Chairman.

            (3) The Board shall meet not less than four times in a year at such times and places and on such dates as the Chairman may determine or as may be directed by the Minister, and such meeting shall be convened by notice given by the Chairman.

            (4) A quorum of the Board shall consist of a majority of the members.

            (5) The decision of the majority of the members present and voting at any meeting of the Board shall be deemed to be the decision of the Board:

            Provided that in the event of an equality of votes the Chairman shall have a casting as well as a deliberative vote.

            (6) No member of the Board shall participate in any discussion or vote on any matter in which he or his spouse, father, grandfather, son, grandson, brother, father-in-law, brother-in-law or son-in-law has a pecuniary interest or other direct or indirect material interest.

            (7) Any member of the Board who contravenes subsection (6) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

            (8) No act, decision, or proceeding of the Board shall be questioned on account of any vacancy in the membership thereof, or on account of the appointment of any member being defective, if the act was done or authorized or the decision was made or the proceeding took place by or in accordance with a majority vote of the persons who at the time were entitled to act as members.

8.       Committees

            (1) The Board may with the consent of the Minister appoint one or more committees of the Board consisting of such number of persons, whether members of the Board or not, as it may deem necessary to assist it in the performance of its functions:

            Provided that a person, other than a member of the Board, shall not be a member of such a committee except for a period for which the Minister by notice published in the Gazette has authorized his appointment,and that the provisions of section 6 shall apply to such a person mutatis mutandis and with the functions of the President thereunder vesting in the Minister.

            (2)        The Chairman of any committee shall be appointed by the Board from among the members of such committee with the approval of the Minister, which shall be signified by notice in the Gazette.

            (3)        The procedure and functions of any committee shall be determined by the Board:

            Provided that the Board shall not delegate to any committee any of the functions assigned to it under the provisions of paragraphs (c), (d), (e) and (f) of section 9.

            (4)        The Chairman of a committee may convene meetings of such committee at such places and times as he may determine.

            (5) The Minister may nominate in writing any public officer to attend any meeting of any committee and such public officer may take part in the proceedings at such meeting as if he were a member of such committee, except that he shall not be entitled to vote.

            (6) Any member of a committee who is not a public officer shall be paid out of funds of the Board such remuneration and allowances, if any, as the Minister may prescribe.