(Establishment)
Article 1. There shall be established the Important Goods Import Fund in order to expedite the acquisition and sale of the goods produced abroad and needed urgently by the Government, and a Special Account shall be established in order to manage the accounting concerning its operation as distinct from the General Account.
(Administration)
Article 2. This Account shall be administered by the Minister of International Trade and Industry in accordance with the provisions of the laws and orders.
(Important Goods Import Fund)
Article 3. The Important Goods Import Fund (hereinafter referred to as "the Fund" ) shall consist of the money transferred from the General Account in"accordance with the provisions of the budget.
(Operation of the Fund)
Article 4. The Fund may be operated for such goods produced abroad as the acquisition thereof by the Government is required urgently for the purpose of fulfilling the special demand.
2 In case there is any surplus cash belonging to the Fund, it may be entrusted with the Trust Fund Bureau.
(Disposal of Profit and Loss in Connection with the Operation of the Fund)
Article 5. In case there accruse any profit as a result of the operation of the Fund under the provision of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article in this Account, it shall be transferred to the annual revenues of this Account of the fiscal year concerned, and in case there accrues any loss as a result of the operation of the Fund under the same paragraph, it shall be covered by the annual expenditures of this Account of the fiscal year concerned; provided that, in case the budgetary appropriation for the said covering of this Account of the fiscal year concerned is short of the actual amount to cover, the said shortage shall be covered in the following fiscal year.
2 The method of accounting of the profit and the loss under the provision of the preceding paragraph, the time of transfer of the said profit and of covering of the said loss, shall be prescribed by Cabinet Order.
(Delegation of Competence of Payment Order of the Cash belonging to the Fund)
Article 6. The Minister of International Trade and Industry may make the subordinate chiefs of bureaus and/or sections issue the order of payment of the cash belonging to the Fund.
(Annual Revenues and Expenditures)
Article 7. In this Account, the annual revenues shall be the profit transferred under the provision of Article 5 paragraph 1, the interests to the entrusted money under the provisions of Article 4 paragraph 2 and Article 15, the proceeds by the borrowings made or accommodation bills issued under the provision of the proviso to Article 16 paragraph 2, the money to cover the shortage to be transferred from the General Account under the provision of Article 12 and incidental sundry receipts;the annual expenditures shall be business handling expenses, money to redeem the borrowings and accommodation bills under the provision of the proviso to Article 16 paragraph 2, interests to temporary borrowings, borrowings and accommodation bills, expenses concerning the issue and redemption of accommodation bills, money to cover the loss under the provision of Article 5 paragraph 1 and incidental miscellaneous expenses.
(Preparation and Sending of Statement of Estimated Annual Revenues and Expenditures)
Article 8. The Minister of International Trade and Industry shall prepare, in each fiscal year, the statement of estimated annual revenues and expenditures of this Account and send it to the Minister of Finance.
2 The statement of estimated annual revenues and expenditures shall be accompanied with the following documents:
(1) Balance sheet and profit and loss statement of the fiscal year before the preceding;
(2) Estimated balance sheets and profit and loss statements of the preceding fiscal year and the fiscal year concerned.
(Classification of the Budget of Annual Revenues and Expenditures)
Article 9. The budget of annual revenues and expenditures of this Account shall be classified into titles and items in accordance with the nature of revenue and the purpose of expenditure.
(Preparation and Submission of the Budget)
Article 10. The Cabinet shall prepare, in each fiscal year, the budget of this Account and submit it to the Diet together with that of the General Account.
2 The budget under the preceding paragraph shall be accompanied with the statement of annual revenues and expenditures prescribed in Article 8 paragraph 1 and the documents mentioned in each item of paragraph 2 of the same Article.
(Transfer of Surplus on the Settlement of Accounts)
Article 11. In case there is any amount of surplus obtained by deducting the sum total of the amounts as disbursed of business handling expenses, interests to temporary borrowings, borrowings and accommodation bills, expenses concerning the issue and redemption of accommodation bills, money to cover the loss under the provision of Article 5 paragraph 1 and incidental miscellaneous expenses and of the amount of appropriation to be carried forward to the next fiscal year under the provision of Article 20 paragraph 1 (hereinafter referred to as "the sum total of the disbursed amounts, etc." ) from the sum total of the amounts as received of the profit transferred under the provision of Article 5 paragraph 1, the interests to the entrusted money under the provisions of Article 4 paragraph 2 and Article 15 and incidental sundry receipts (hereinafter referred to as "the sum total of the received amounts" ) on the settlement of accounts of annual revenues and expenditures of this Account in each fiscal year, it shall be transferred to the revenues of the General Account.
(Covering of Shortage on the Settlement of Accounts)
Article 12. In case there is any amount of shortage obtained by deducting the sum total of the disbursed amounts, etc. from the sum total of the received amounts on the settlement of accounts of annual revenues and expenditures of this Account in each fiscal year, it shall be covered with the appropriation of the General Account in the fiscal year concerned; provided that, in case it cannot be covered owing to the budget of appropriation of the fiscal year concerned of the General Account having no amount specified for the said covering, or to the specified amount for the said covering in the fiscal year concerned being short of the actual amount to cover, the amount that can not be covered shall be covered in the following fiscal year.
(Preparation and Sending of Final Statement of Annual Revenues and Expenditures)
Article 13. The Minister of International Trade and Industry shall prepare, in each fiscal year, the final statement of annual revenues and expenditures of this Account with the same classification as that of the statement of estimated annual revenues and expenditures, and send it to the Minister of Finance.
2 The final statement of annual revenues and expenditures shall be accompanied with the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement of the fiscal year concerned.
(Preparation and Submission of the Settlement of Annual Revenues and Expenditures)
Article 14. The Cabinet shall prepare, in each fiscal year, the settlement of annual revenues and expenditures of this Account, and submit it to the Diet together with the settlement of annual revenues and expenditures of the General Account.
2 The settlement of annual revenues and expenditures shall be accompanied with the final statement of annual revenues and expenditures under the provision of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, and the balance sheet and the profit and loss statement of the fiscal year concerned under the provision of paragraph 2 of the same Article.
(Entrust of Surplus Cash on Payment of Annual Expenditures)
Article 15. In case there is any surplus cash on payment of annual expenditures, in this Account, it may be entrusted with the Trust Fund Bureau.
(Temporary Borrowings, Borrowings and Accommodation Bills, and Diversion of Cash belonging to the Fund)
Article 16. In case there is any shortage of cash on payment of annual expenditures, in this Account, temporary borrowings may be made or accommodation bills may be issued on the responsibility of this Account, or the cash belonging to the Fund may be diverted.
2 The temporary borrowings, accommodation bills and diverted money under the provision of the preceding paragraph shall be redeemed by the revenues of the fiscal year concerned; provided that, if it cannot be redeemed owing to the shortage of revenues, borrowings may be made or accommodation bills may be issued, on the responsibility of this Account, within the amount that cannot be redeemed.
3 The borrowings and accommodation bills under the provision of the proviso to the preceding paragraph shall be redeemed within a year.
(Business concerning the Floatation, Redemption, Etc. of Temporary Borrowings, Borrowings and Accommodation Bills)
Article 17. The business concerning the floatation, redemption, etc. of the temporary borrowings and accommodation bills under the provision of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article, and the borrowings and accommodation bills under the provision of the proviso to paragraph 2 of the same Article shall be managed by the Minister of Finance.
(Transfer to the National Debt Consolidation Fund Special Account)
Article 18. The amount necessary for disbursement of the interests to the temporary borrowings, borrowings, and accommodation bills on the responsibility of this Account, money to redeem the borrowings and accommodation bills under the provision of the proviso to Article 16 paragraph 2, and the expenses concerning the issue and redemption of accommodation bills on the responsibility of this Account shall be transferred, in each fiscal year, to the National Debt Consolidation Fund Special Account.
(Fund Obligation Plan and Fund Payment Plan)
Article 19. The Minister of International Trade and Industry shall decide, as prescribed by Cabinet Order, the necessary amounts for contracts and other acts to cause the disbursement of the cash belonging to the Fund (hereinafter referred to as "the fund obligation" ), and the necessary amounts for payment of the cash belonging to the Fund (hereinafter referred to as "the fund payment" ), shall prepare the documents concerning the plan of the fund obligation (hereinafter referred to as "the fund obligation plan" ) and the plan of the fund payment (hereinafter referred to as "the fund payment plan" ), and shall submit them to the Minister of Finance and get the approval from him.
2 When the Minister of Finance approves the fund obligation plan and the fund payment plan prescribed in the preceding paragraph, he shall notify to that effect to the Minister of International Trade and Industry and the Board of Audit, as regards the fund obligation plan, and to the Minister of International Trade and Industry, the Board of Audit and the Bank of Japan, as regards the fund payment plan.
3 When the Minister of International Trade and Industry intends to make the fund obligation or the fund payment, it shall not exceed the amounts provided for in the fund obligation plan or the fund payment plan as approved by the Minister of Finance in accordance with the provision of paragraph 1.
(Carrying Forward of Undisbursed Amount)
Article 20. A budgetary appropriation in this Account covering such expenditures as have become binding and yet have not been disbursed in full by the conclusion of receipt and payment for the fiscal year concerned may be carried forward to and disbursed in the following fiscal year.
2 In case the Minister of International Trade and Industry has made the carrying forward in accordance with the provision of the preceding paragraph, he shall notify it to the Minister of Finance and the Board of Audit.
3 In case the carrying forward has been made in accordance with the provision of paragraph 1, the expenses concerned shall be deemed to be the budget allocated in accordance with the provision of Article 31 paragraph 1 of the Finance Law (Law No.34 of 1947).
(Enforcement Provision)
Article 21. Necessary procedural and administrative matters for enforcement of this Law shall be prescribed by Cabinet Order.
Supplementary Provisions:
1 In this Law, the provision of paragraph 3 of the Supplementary Provisions shall come into force as from the day of its promulgation, and the other provisions shall come into force as from April 1, 1951.
2 The Foreign Trade Special Account Law (Law No.41 of 1949) shall be abolished.
3 Of the short term borrowings borrowed or accommodation bills issued on the responsibility of the Foreign Trade Special Account in the fiscal year 1950-51 in accordance with the provision of Article 10 paragraph 2 of the former Foreign Trade Special Account Law, the amount that cannot be redeemed by March 31, 1951 (hereinafter referred to as "the unredeemed borrowings, etc." ) may be redeemed by the annual revenues of the fiscal year 1950-51 of the said Special Account, regardless of the provision of paragraph 3 of the said Article.
4 As regards the receipt and payment of the fiscal year 1950-51 and the settlement of Accounts of the fiscal years 1949-50 and 1950-51 of the Foreign Trade Special Account, former procedures shall still prevail.
5 At the time of enforcement of this Law, of the assets (excluding cash and claims for receivable amount) and liabilities (excluding the liabilities concerning the expenditures that have become binding in the fiscal year 1950-51 and yet have not been disbursed in full by the time of enforcement of this Law and the unredeemed borrowings, etc.) belonging to the Foreign Trade Special Account, those concerning the acts done in the fiscal year 1950-51 in the said Account in accordance with the provisions of Table "B" , Contract Authorization, in the Revised Budget of Special Accounts for the Fiscal Year 1950-51 (S. No.1), shall belong to the Fund, and the remainder shall belong to the General Account.
6 At the time of the conclusion of receipt and payment of the Foreign Trade Special Account (hereinafter referred to as "the conclusion of receipt and payment" ) the claims for receivable amount belonging to the Foreign Trade Special Account and the liabilities concerning the expenditures that have become binding in the fiscal year 1950-51 and yet have not been disbursed in full by the time of the conclusion receipt and payment shall belong to the General Account at the time of the conclusion of receipt and payment.
7 The cash belonging to the Foreign Trade Special Account at the time of the conclusion of receipt and payment shall be transferred to the revenues of the General Account at the time of the conclusion of receipt and payment.
8 A budgetary appropriation of the Foreign Trade Special Account of the fiscal year 1950-51 covering such expenditures as have become binding in the said fiscal year and yet have not been disbursed in full by the conclusion of receipt and payment, may be carried forward to and disbursed in the following fiscal year in the General Account.
9 The provisions of Article 20 paragraphs 2 and 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the carrying forward under the provision of the preceding paragraph.
10 The Ministry of International Trade and Industry Establishment Law (Law No.102 of 1949) shall be partially amended as follows:
In Article 7 paragraph 1 items (5) and (6), "for international trade" shall be amended as "for important goods import fund" .
In Article 9 paragraph 1 item (12), "for foreign trade" shall be amended as "for Important goods import fund" ;and next to item (11)-2) of the same paragraph, the following one item shall be added:
(11)-3) Acquisition and sale of goods related to the important goods import fund special account (excluding the matters under the jurisdiction of the Temporary Trade Business Bureau).
11 The Cabinet Order concerning the Acquisition of Real Property and/or Rights thereto by Foreign Governments (Cabinet Order No.311 of 1949) shall be partially amended as follows:
In Article 9 paragraph 2, "claim against the Trade Special Account" shall be amended as "claim against the General Account which was handed over to the General Account from the Foreign Trade Special Account in consequence of the abolition of the said Special Account" .
12 The Law concerning Transfer and Payment from Special Accounts, Etc. to the General Account for Appropriation for Retirement Allowances to be Paid to Retired Officials (Law No.62 of 1950) shall be partially amended as follows:
In Article 1, "the Foreign Trade Special Account," shall be deleted, and next to "the Export Credit Insurance Special Account" , "the Smaller Enterprises Credit Insurance Special Account, the Important Goods Import Special Account," shall be added.