Cap. 352 Art. 15Lienorprivilegein respect of rates.

(1) For the amount of all rates leviable under this Act in respect of any goods, the Authority shall have a lien or privilege on such goods and shall be entitled to seize and detain the same until such rates are paid in full.

(2) Rates in respect of goods to be landed shall become payable immediately on the landing of such goods.

(3) Rates in respect of goods to be removed from warehouses, or to be shipped by sea, shall be payable before such goods are removed or loaded, as the case may be: Provided that for the purpose of preventing delay, the Authority may allow goods to be placed on a ship before such rates are paid, and in such cases the Authority shall retain the ship’s receipts as security for the payment of such rates.

(4) The lien or privilege for such rates shall have priority over all other privileges and hypothecs on the goods and a claim in respect of such rates shall be paid in preference to all other claims, whether privileged or hypothecary, on such goods notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary. warehouse are subject to a lien or privilege for freight, general average, or charges to an amount mentioned in such notice, the Authority may retain such goods, at the risk and expense of the owner of the goods, until the lien or privilege is discharged as hereinafter mentioned or until it is entitled, under the provisions hereinafter specified, to sell them, or until the goods are transferred to a Government warehouse as defined in the Customs Ordinance in accordance with the provisions of that Ordinance.

(2) Nothing in this article shall be construed as requiring the Authority or a contractor, as the case may be, to take into custody any goods which the Authority or the contractor may refuse to accept under the provisions of this Act, or as requiring the Authority to inquire into the validity of any claim made in any notice given under subarticle (1).