I hereby give My sanction to the Special Account Law for National Forestry Enterprises, for which the concurrence of the Imperial Diet has been obtained, and cause the same to be promulgated.
Signed:HIROHITO, Seal of the Emperor
This thirty-first day of the third month of the twenty-second year of Showa (March 31, 1947)
Countersigned: Prime Minister YOSHIDA Shigeru
Minister of Finance ISHIBASHI Tanzan
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry KIMURA Kozaemon
Special Account Law for National Forestry Enterprises
Art.1, A Special Account shall be established separately from the General Account in order to operate the national forestry work on enterprise basis and promote the sound development of the account.
National forestry work in this law covers the business of control and management of the national forestry in Article 1st of the National Forestry Law, research study and investigation related to forestry with other miscellaneous minor business attached thereto.
Art.2. Agricultural and Forestry Minister shall manage this Special Account in accordance with laws and orders.
Art.3. In this account the capital shall consist of the amounts of assets, such as ground, forest, meadows, building, machine and other equipments, and stock material all belonging to the former national forestry work (containing the national forestry work in Hokkaido) and also consists of the amount of assets which may belong to this account in the future.
Art.4. In order to make manifest the results of the work and financial condition of the national forestry work, the increase and decrease, and other changes shall be accounted on accrual basis.
The assets and liabilities of this account shall be made clear in accordance with the Cabinet Order.
Art.5. In this acconut Government is authorized to issue public loan or make the borrowing on the charge of this account in case it is necessary to cover the expenses for the facilities of the business.
The highest limit of public loan and borrowing in the preceding paragraph shall be decided and approved by the Diet in the form of the budget.
Art.6. In case it is necessary to appropriate the operating fund in this account, it is authorized to make a temporary borrowing or the charge of this account or publish negotiable bonds.
The temporary borrowing and circulating bond mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be redempted within the fiscal year concerned.
The limit of the temporary borrowing and negotiable bond in paragraph 1 shall be approved by the diet in the form of budget.
Art.7. The offices of issue and redemption of public loans, borrowings, temporary borrowings and negotiable bonds which are_provided in the preceding two Articles, shall be done by the Finance Minister.
Art.8. The amount necessary for the redemption and interest of public loan and borrowing for which this account has responsibility, for the interest of the temporary borrowing and circulating bonds, and for other necessary expenses required for the issuance and the redemption of them shall be transferred to the national debt consolidation fund Special Account every fiscal year.
Art.9. Every fiscal year, the Agriculture and Forestry Minister shall prepare the estimates of revenue and expenditure, and National Liability in this Special Account, and send them to the Finance Minister.
Art.10. The budget of annual revenues and expendiutres of this Account with be divided into part and item in accordance with the character of revenue and purpose of expenditure.
Art.11. The Cabinet shall prepare the budget of this account and submit it to the Diet together with the budget of general accounts.
The budget mentioned above shall accompany the following documents.
1. Estimates of revenues and expenditures, and National Liability.
2. Account book of profit and loss, balance sheet and inventory in the year before last.
3. Estimates of profit and loss;and balance sheet in this year and last year.
4. Regarding the National Liability which continues after following fiscal year the disbursed amounts and estimates until last year, the estimates of disbursements after the present year and total plan and the progress of the business when the national Liability is created from the business which continues several_fiscal years.
Art.12. In this account, the reserve funds may be held in order to conserve the forest resources.
The reserve funds above mentioned in the preceding paragraph be created out of the profit which arises in the settlement of this account in accordance with the decision of budget.
The reseve fund mentioned in the first paragraph shall be used in accordance with the decision of budget.
Art.13. When any profit arises in this account, the amount equal to such profit minus the sum set aside as reserve fund in accordance with the provious Article, shall be trausferred to the revenue of General Account of the fiscal year which the profit accrues to.
Art.14. The Agriculture and Forestry Minister shall prepare the decided accounting book of revenue and expenditure of this account in accordance with the same division as the estimates of revenue and expenditure, and send it to Finance Minister.
Art.15. The Cabiet shall, every year, prepare the settlement of account of revenue and expenditure of this account, and submit it to the Diet accompanied with the settlement of the revenue and expenditure of general accounts.
The settlement of accounts of above revenue and expenditure shall accompany the following documents:
1. Decided accounts of revenue and expenditure.
2. Accounts of profit and loss, balance sheet and inventory in the year concerned.
Art.16. The expenditure money due to this account which are not completely disbursed during the concerned fiscal year may be transferred to and used in the following fiscal year.
The transfers mentioned in the provisions of the preceding paragraph may be made without the approval of the Minister of Finance in spite of the provision of Art.43 of Finance Law.
The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry shall make information about the above mentioned transfers to the Minister of Finance and Board of Audit.
Art.17. The reserve fund provided for in Art.12 shall be held in the form of public loans or deposited into the Deposit Bureau of Finance Ministry and used in it.
In this account the surplus shall be deposited in the Deposit Bureau of Finance Ministry.
Art.18. The management and administration of forest, manufarturing of woods, work of machne and establishment of forest enterprises and examination, investigation and inspection of forest enterprises shall be made on the charge of this account, owing to the trust by people, if it does not prevent the management of the national forest enterprises.
Art.19. Matters necessary to the application of this Law shall be provided by Cabinet Orders.
Supplementary Provisions:
Art.1. The present Law shall come into force as from April 1, 1947.
Art.2. The liabilities belonging to the existing national forestry work (including the national forest in Hokkaido) shall be transferred to this account.
Art.3. Such assets as the Capital Levy and other receipts which belong to the Special Account and which have been used for the forestry enterprise of the Imperial Household shall be transferred without consideration to the Jurisdiction of this account.
Art.4. Those assets and liabilities which belong to the former Imperial Household forestry enterprise and which are transferred to the state, shall be transferred to this account.
Art.5. Government may transfer the payments into the General Account from this account for the time being, notwithstanding the provision of Article 13 of the present Law.
In the case stated in the preceding paragraph, when the amount of profit exceeds the total of the sum to be transferred to the reserved fund in accordance with the provision of Art.13 and the sun of transfer to the general account, that excess shall be made reserve to offset the future lose in this account.
Art.6. Those expenses for the national forestry works in the expenditure budget of the general account for the fiscal year of 1946-47, of which contract were made during the year, but which are not disbursed by April 30th, 1947, may be transferred and used for the Accocnt.
Art.7. The "Diet" , "Cabinet" , and "Cabinet Order" in this law shall read respectively "Imperial Diet" , "Government" and "Imperial Ordinance" , until the day of the enforcement of the Constitution of Japan.