S.L. 117.42 Art. 4Functions of the Board.

(1) The Board shall act as the enforcement authority according to the Directive and these regulations, with a view to advancing the purposes of the Directive according to its subject matter and scope, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing it shall:

(a) discuss, suggest and publish best practices to be adopted by sectoral authorities and operators to avoid the possibility of, or halt the continuation of, practices which are contrary to the Directive or which hinder its purposes;

(b) suggest minimum requirements for complaint forms to be received by it from market operators;

(c) provide advice to the sectoral authorities for the purpose of achieving the goals of the Directive and these regulations;

(d) generally assist, coordinate and instruct the sectoral authorities for the purposes of these regulations, in relation to any complaint, investigation or query submitted according to these regulations;

(e) indicate to the sectoral authorities any evidence that it might be deemed advisable to gather for the purposes of any investigation according to these regulations;

(f) provide recommendations on the manner in which a sectoral authority may exercise its functions so as to hinder the development or continuation of prohibited practices;

(g) initiate and conduct investigations on its own initiative or on the basis of a complaint falling within the scope of the Directive;

(h) investigate any complaint on any alleged unfair trading practice as received from a supplier and determine whether the complaint falls under the scope of the Directive;

(i) provide its decision on any investigation falling within the scope of the Directive to those concerned by it, whether such decision resulted from a complaint, or whether it was initiated according to its own discretion;

(j) give all those orders as may be given by an enforcement authority according to the Directive, in particular the order to stop any prohibited practice; and

(k) act as the single contact point for the purposes of the Directive.

(2) The Board, and a sectoral authority acting upon its instructions, may:

(a) require the provision of any information and, or document from any person which they deem relevant to any investigation; and

(b) conduct inspections on the premises of any operator.

(3) Without prejudice to any confidentiality obligations under these regulations, the Directive and at law, the Board shall publish its decisions and may do so at regular intervals, whether individually or as part of a collection of decisions.

(4) When acting as the single contact point and as an enforcement authority, the Board shall do all that is required by the Directive to fulfil said function, inclusive of submission of reports as referred in the Directive, as well as participating in all discussions with the European Commission, as provided by the Directive.

(5) For the purposes of sub-regulation (4) the Board may require that it be provided with any information or documents known or held by the sectoral authorities, if it deems it necessary or expedient to fulfil those purposes.