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

Regulations

Regulations regarding Control of the Export of Processed Products

1. Definitions

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In these Regulations any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act, shall have that meaning, and—

 

"apricot and peach kernels"

means the seeds and part of seeds of apricots and peaches which are obtained by shelling;

 

"assignee"

means a person, undertaking, body, institution, association or board designated as such under section 2(3)(a) of the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990);

 

"canned fruit"

means commercially sterile fruit in hermetically sealed containers;

 

"canned mushrooms"

means commercially sterile mushrooms in hermetically sealed containers;

 

"canned pasta"

means commercially sterile spaghetti, macaroni, vermicelli or any other suitable pasta in hermetically sealed containers ;

 

"canned vegetables"

means commercially sterile vegetables in hermetically sealed containers;

 

"certificate"

means a certificate that may be issued either in paper format (including electronically prepared) or in a verified electronic format which describe and attest to conformity of a consignment of regulated agricultural products to stipulated requirements as set out in regulation 6;

 

"commercially sterile"

means the conditions achieved by application of heat, sufficient, alone or in combination with other appropriate treatments , to render the canned fruit, mushrooms, pasta or vegetables free from micro-organisms capable of growing in food at normal non-refrigerated conditions at which the canned fruit, mushrooms, pasta or vegetables are likely to be held during distribution, storage and display;

 

"consignment"

means, where used with regard to—

(a)apricot and peach kernels, a quantity of apricot or peach kernels which is delivered at any one time under cover of the same consignment note, delivery note or receipt note or is delivered by the same vehicle or, if such quantity is subdivided into different classes each quantity of each of the different classes;
(b)canned fruit, canned mushrooms, canned pasta, canned vegetables, frozen fruit, frozen vegetables, jam ,jelly or marmalade, a quantity of canned fruit,canned mushrooms, canned pasta, canned vegetables, frozen fruit, frozen vegetables, jam, jelly or marmalade of the same kind which is delivered at any one time under cover of the same delivery note or receipt note, or which is delivered by the same vehicle, or if such a quantity is subdivided into different production groups, types, grades or packing sizes, each quantity of each of the different production groups, types, grades or packing sizes;
(c)dried fruit, a quantity of dried fruit of the same type, belonging to the same owner, which is delivered at any one time under cover of the same consignment note, delivery note or receipt note, or which is delivered by the same vehicle, or if any such quantity is subdivided into different classes, grades or size groups, each quantity of each of the different classes, grades or size groups; or
(d)honeybush, green honeybush, honeybush mixtures, rooibos, green rooibos or rooibos mixtures, a quantity of honeybush, green honeybush, honeybush mixtures, rooibos, green rooibos or rooibos mixtures which is delivered at any one time under cover of the same delivery note or receipt note, or is delivered by the same vehicle, or if such a quantity is subdivided into different production groups or classes,each quantity of each of the different production groups or classes;

 

"consignment note"

means a consignment note approved by the Executive Officer or Assignee;

 

"Department"

means the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development;

 

"dried fruit"

means processed and unprocessed fruit, in its original form, deppiped (deseeded) or destoned (pitted), cut, peeled and dried by sun-, solar-, tunnel-, oven, wind-, or by any other recognized methods of dehydration, but does not include pureed, minced, cooked and baked dried fruit;

 

"Executive Officer"

means the officer designated under section 2(1) of the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990);

 

"food additive"

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

 

"food business operator (FBO)"

means the person or persons responsible for ensuring that the prescribed requirements of these standards are met within the food business under his or her control and include both the management of the food business as well as the person with overall authority on site or in the specific establishment;

 

"food business operator code"

means an alpha-numeric code which needs to be uniquely identified and has been registered with the Executive Officer of the Act by each responsible person (FBO) producing or handling in any way products of plant origin destined for the export market. Examples include farms, fields, processing facilities, storage units, transportation, etc.;

 

"frozen fruit and frozen vegetables"

means—

(a) fruit and vegetables which are frozen; or
(b) fruit and vegetables, presented as frozen products;

 

"green honeybush"

means the product obtained from the leaves,flowers and stems of the Cyclopia genus whether it has been cut, bruised, and dried or not, but which has not been fermented;

 

"green rooibos"

means the product obtained from the needle-like leaves and fine stems of the plant Aspalathus linearis (also known as A. contaminatus) or Borbonia pinifolia after it has been cut, bruised, and dried or not, but which has not been fermented ;

 

"herbs"

means either fresh or dried non-toxic leafy green or flowering parts of a plant used for among others the flavouring of foodstuffs;

 

"hermetically sealed containers"

means containers which are sealed to protect the contents against the entry of micro-organisms during and after heat processing;

 

"honeybush"

means the product obtained from the leaves, flowers and sterns of the Cyclopia genus whether it has been cut, bruised, sweated and dried or not, but excludes honeybush dust presented for export on its own;

 

"honeybush dust"

means the honeybush material that passes through a 60 mesh sieve (i.e.<60 mesh) which is not sterilized and is intended for industrial use only;

 

"honeybush mixtures"

means honeybush or green honeybush blended with herbs, spices and/ or other herbal teas, and include honeybush or green honeybush with permitted food additives;

 

"Inspector"

means the Executive Officer or an officer under his/her control, or an Assignee or an employee of an Assignee;

 

"ISO"

means International Organization for Standardization;

 

"jam"

means the product—

(a) which shall consist of whole fruit, pieces of fruit, fruit pulp or fruit puree of one or more types of fruit;
(b) to which sweeteners permitted under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972), with or without the addition of water, shall be added;
(c)to which food additives permitted under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972), with or without the addition of water , may be added;
(d)with or without fruit juice or concentrated fruit juice as optional ingredient; and
(e)processed to a suitable consistency;

 

"jelly"

means the product—

(a)which shall consist of either the juice or aqueous extracts of one or more types of fruit or of the ju ice and aqueous extracts of one or more types of fruit;
(b)to which sweeteners permitted under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972),with or without the addition of water, shall be added;
(c)to which food additives permitted under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972), with or without the addition of water, may be added;
(d)which is practically free from suspended fruit particles; and
(e)processed to a semi-solid consistency;

 

"marmalade"

means the product—

(a)which shall consist of whole fruit,fruit pulp or fruit puree of one or more types of citrus fruit with some or all of the peel removed;
(b)to which sweeteners permitted under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972), with or without the addition of water, shall be added;
(c)to which food additives permitted under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972), with or without the addition of water, may be added;
(d)with or without citrus juice and the extraction of peel; and
(e)processed to a suitable consistency;

 

"National Reference Laboratory"

means an official laboratory of the Department and the Perishable Products Export Control Board that has been nominated in writing by the Executive Officer for the testing of compliance as envisaged in terms of regulations 6(1) and 7(1);

 

"Officially Recognized Laboratory"

means any laboratory that is not a National Reference Laboratory and that is nominated by the Executive Officer in writing as being suitable or required for the testing of compliance as envisaged in terms of regulations 6(1) and 7(1);

 

"other herbal tea"

means all of the recognised herbal teas suitable for blending with rooibos, green rooibos, honeybush or green honeybush, including but not limited to the generally consumed tea plant (Camelia sinensis), chamomile (Matricaria retutica or Chamaemelum nobile), Buchu (Agathosma Betulina), etc.;

 

"processed products"

means—

(a)apricot and peach kernels;
(b)canned fruit;
(c)canned mushrooms;
(d)canned pasta products;
(e)canned vegetables;
(f)dried fruit;
(g)frozen fruit and frozen vegetables;
(h)honeybush,green honeybush and honeybush mixtures;
(i)jam,jelly and marmalade; and
(j)rooibos, green rooibos and rooibos mixtures;

 

"rooibos"

means the product obtained from the needle-like leaves and fine stems of the 'plant Aspalathus linearis (also known as A. contaminatus or Borbonia pinifolia) whether It has been cut, bruised, fermented and dried or not, but excludes rooibos dust presented for export on its own;

 

"rooibos dust"

means the rooibos material that passes through a 60 mesh sieve (i.e.<60 mesh) which is not sterilized and is intended for industrial use only;

 

"rooibos mixtures"

means rooibos or green rooibos blended with herbs, spices and/ or other herbal teas, and include rooibos or green rooibos with permitted food additives ;

 

"spices"

means dried, pungent or aromatic substances of edible plant origin (i.e.from the root, stem, bulb, bark or seeds) primarily used for flavouring, colouring or preserving foodstuffs; and

 

"the Act"

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