Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) Regulations Grading, Packing and Marking of Dried Fruit intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa Part I : Definitions, Scope and Restrictions 1. Definitions

 

In these regulations, unless the context indicate otherwise, any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act, shall have that meaning and—

 

"abnormal external moisture"

means  presence  of water,  moisture  or condensation  on the  surface  of the product;

 

"address"

means a physical address and includes the street or road number or name and the name of the town, village or suburb and, in the case of a farm, the name or number of the farm and of the magisterial district in which it is situated;

 

"assignee"

means a person, undertaking, body, institution, association or board designated under section 2(3) of the Act;

 

"batch"

a definite quantity of dried fruit produced essentially under the same conditions and which do not exceed a period of 24 hours;

 

"best before date" or "best quality before date"

means the date which signifies the end of period under any stated storage conditions during which the unopened product will remain fully marketable and will retain any specific qualities for which implied or express claims have been made, however, beyond the date the food may still be acceptable for consumption;

 

"bleached"

means treated with sulfur/sulphur  dioxide or sulphite related compounds  (e.g. sodium sulphite, calcium sulphite etc.) before drying of the fruit;

 

"blemishes"

means noticeable and localized imperfections that significantly impairs the external appearance, from any cause or source, either intrinsic or extrinsic, including staining, dark spots, blotches, scars, hail marks, scabs, blisters, bruises and other similar defects, but excluding blemishes caused by a more serious defect such as mould, decay or damage by pests: Provided that where specifically used with regard to—

 

"bulk container"

means the immediate container in which dried fruit is packed loose, with a minimum mass of 2,5 kg and which is usually packed in an outer container;

 

"callus"

means a scar or deformity due to mechanical injuries (hail, bruising, abrasion,  etc.),  viral  or bacterial diseases, or physiological causes;

 

"close proximity"

means in the immediate vicinity of or nearest/closest/next to, and which shall not be interrupted or separated by for example any wording, symbols, figures, lines, depictions, etc.;

 

"container"

means the immediate packaging in which dried fruit is presented for sale, and includes wrappers when such is offered to the consumer;

 

"damage by pests"

means visible damage or contamination caused by insects, mites, rodents or other animal pests, including the presence of dead insects and/or mites, their debris or excreta;

 

"depipped (deseeded)"

means the removal of the pips or seeds from the fruit;

 

"destoned (pitted)"

means the removal of the stone (pit) in the case of stone fruit and dates;

 

"deviations in colour"

means that the colour does not comply with the typical colour of the dried fruit concerned, but excludes blemishes;

 

"discolouration"

means significant and widespread change  of the typical external  or internal colour, from any cause or source,  either intrinsic or extrinsic, including in particular blackening  and the appearance of very dark colours, but excluding discolouration  caused  by  a  more  serious  defect such as mould, decay or damage by pests;

 

"dried fruit"

means fruit which have been cut, peeled, deppiped (deseeded) or destoned (pitted) and dried by means of the sun-, solar-, tunnel-, oven or wind method, or by any other recognized methods of dehydration, but excludes pureed, minced, cooked and baked dried fruit;

 

"EU SADC EPA"

the European Union and Southern African Development Community Economic Partnership Agreement signed on 10 June 2016 between the member states of the European Union and the Southern African Development Commun ity region of which the Republic of South Africa forms part;

 

"Executive Officer"

means the officer designated under section 2(1) of the Act ;

 

"extraneous vegetable matter"

means any harmless plant material of the plant concerned or originating from other plant sources which are not normally present in the product, excluding berry stems (capstems) and pieces of stalk in the case of dried grapes (raisins);

 

"fermentation"

means a breakdown  of the sugars into alcohol and acetic acid by the action of yeast and bacteria, detected by a characteristic and significant sour/bitter taste of the dried fruit concerned;

 

"food additive"

means a permitted substance as defined in the regulations published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"foodstuffs"

means a foodstuff as defined in the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"foreign matter"

means any matter such as but not limited to sand, soil, dust, mud or grease not normally present in, on or between the dried fruit concerned, but excludes extraneous vegetable matter and hazardous foreign objects: Provided that—

 

"geographical indication"

(GI) means an indication (name) as defined in the regulations relating to the protection of geographical indications used on agricultural products intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa published under the Act;

 

"hazardous foreign objects"

means any stone, glass, bird droppings or staples and other metal objects, or any other similar material or objects not usually associated with dried fruit, which are regarded as hazardous when handling and/or consuming the dried fruit concerned;

 

"high moisture dried fruit"

means any dried fruit rehydrated after drying to have a moisture content higher than the limit set in these regulations for the type of dried fruit concerned;

 

"immature fruit"

means fruit light in mass, stunted or distinctly rubbery in texture;

 

"inspector"

means an officer under the control of the Executive Officer, or an assignee or an employee of an assignee;

 

"label''

means any tag, brand, mark, pictorial, graphic or other descriptive matter, which is written, printed, stencilled, marked, embossed, impressed upon, or permanently attached to a container of dried fruit, and includes labelling for the purpose of promoting its sale or disposal;

 

"letters"

also means figures and symbols;

 

"living pests"

means the presence of living pests (insects, mites or others) at any stage of development (adult, nymph, larva, egg, etc.);

 

"loose dried fruit"

means dried fruit that are displayed for sale in loose quantities or in a container that is not covered or boxed;

 

"lyed"

means physical-chemical treatment to enhance moisture permeability ;

 

"main panel"

means that part(s) of the container, outer container or label that bears the brand name or trade mark in greatest prominence or any other part of the container or label that bears the brand name or trade name in equal prominence of the container;

 

"major blemishes"

mean that the blemishes, including serious sunburn marks, are conspicuous and larger than 6 mm in diameter, or which detract markedly from the appearance of the fruit , or in total extend over more than one tenth of the area of the fruit: Provided that in the case of prunes, the definition in regulation 22(1) shall apply;

 

"major deviations in colour"

mean that the colour is weaker than the colour specifications for the grade concerned as well as for the subsequent lower grade, except in the case of Sub-Standard Grade: Provided that in the case of raisins, the definition in regulation 34(1) shall apply ;

 

"major foreign matter"

means matter with a total area larger than a circle with a 2 mm diameter: Provided that minor foreign matter which seriously affect the appearance of the dried fruit shall be considered as major foreign matter;

 

"minor blemishes"

mean that the blemishes, including light sunburn marks, are not more than 6 mm in diameter and which in total do not extend over more than one tenth of the area of the fruit: Provided that in the case of prunes, the definition in regulation 22(1) shall apply;

 

"minor foreign matter"

means matter that does not seriously affect the appearance of the dried fruit, and which does not exceed the total area of a circle with a diameter of 2 mm (individual spots which occur on the fruit unit should be combined in an imaginative way);

 

"minor deviations in colour"

mean that the  colour does not comply with the specifications of the  grade concerned, but complies with the colour specifications of the subsequent lower grade, excluding black parts: Provided that in the case of raisins, the definition in regulation 34(1) shall apply ;

 

"mould"

means mould filaments visible to the naked eye, either inside or outside of the fruit; "mixed sizes" means two or more consecutive size groups packed or mixed in one container;

 

"mixed sizes"

means two or more consecutive size groups packed or mixed in one container;

 

"outer container"

means any other suitable packaging in which one or more containers or bulk containers of dried fruit are packed, irrespective whether it completely or partially encloses the containers or bulk containers, but excludes any type of open outer container used only for the purpose of transporting the dried fruit products concerned [e.g. crates, lugs, corrugated cartons, etc.];

 

"overripe"

means showing signs of collapse of the fruit cells, but no signs of decay;

 

"packer"

means—

 

"seedless"

means fruit naturally without pips (seeds);

 

"the Act"

means the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990);

 

"trade mark"

means a trade mark as defined in the Trade Marks Act, 1993 (Act No. 194 of 1993);

 

"transparent"

in relation to containers and outer containers, means that an area of at least a 25 percent continuous portion of the main panel or back panel, or across any two adjacent panels, of a container or outer container is transparent;

 

"unbleached"

means dried fruit which was not treated with sulfur/sulphur dioxide or sulphite containing preservatives;

 

"unspecified fruit"

means any other dried fruit or dried fruit product of which the quality standards and requirements are not outlined in these regulations;

 

"use by date" or "expiration date"

means the date which signifies the end of the  period under any stated storage conditions, after which the product should not be sold or consumed due to safety and quality reasons;

 

"variant name"

means a name used in addition to and separately from the name of the product to distinguish between the different variants of mixed dried fruit and/or dried fruit mixes; and

 

"whole fruit"

means fruit dried as a whole unit, with or without stone (pit), pip (seed) or core.