Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) Regulations Regulations relating to the Quality, Grading, Packing and Marking of Tomatoes intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa 1. Definitions

 

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

 

"abrasion marks"

means an indentation on the surface of the tomato that does not penetrate the skin and is caused by friction or scraping of the fruit during handling or transport;

 

"Arthropoda"

means any stage in the life of an invertebrate member of the Animal Kingdom that is bilaterally symmetrical with a segmented body, with jointed limbs that are paired and a chitinous external skeleton;

 

"bacterial speck"

means small dark brown to black lesions on the surface of the tomato caused by bacterial pathogens;

 

"blemishes"

means any mark or skin defects on the surface of the tomato which adversely affects the appearance thereof;

 

"blotchy ripening"

means the partial ripening of the tomato fruit, with green to yellow areas of varying extent;

 

"blossom-end rot"

means a dark brown or black patch which develops a sunken or leathery on the blossom end of the tomato fruit;

 

"bruises"

means any pressure which shows an indentation or results in discoloration directly under the skin, adversely affect the quality of the tomatoes and is visually noticeable;

 

"carrier container"

means a container in which more than one consumer package of tomatoes is packed;

 

"cat faces"

means a condition involving malformation and scarring of tomato, particularly at the blossom end;

 

"chemical residues"

means residues of agricultural remedies which in terms of the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act, 1947 (Act No. 36 of 1947), are permissible for the treatment of pests and diseases and which do not exceed the prescribed maximum residue limit;

 

"chilling injury/pitting"

means a physiological disorder caused by exposure to low, non-freezing temperature for a prolonged period of time. The fruit is affected with a dull pink/translucent colour with shrivelling or sunken indentations on shoulders;

 

"class"

means a class referred to in regulation 4(2);

 

"classified tomatoes"

means tomatoes which have been classified according to the classes specified in these regulations and of which the container is marked with a class designation or other designation indicating that the tomato is of a particular class or possesses particular quality properties;

 

"consignment"

means—

 

"container"

means the immediate container in which tomatoes are packed directly, the outer container in which prepacked units are packed and bulk containers excluding prepacked units and shipping containers in which pallet loads are shipped;

 

"colour defects"

means tomatoes which show striped, blotchy, or other colour patterns that are not characteristic of normal colouring/ripening;

 

"cracks"

means the splitting of the epidermis around the calyx or stem scar; there are two types of tomato cracks:

 

"decay"

means a state of decomposition, fungal development, or internal insect infestation or excrement or insect damage with signs of tissue collapse which partly or completely affect the quality of the tomato detrimentally, is visually noticeable;

 

"diameter"

means the greatest transverse measurement of a tomato, measured at right angles to a line running from the stem-end to the apex of the tomato;

 

"firm"

means a stage of development at which the flesh of the tomato is hard enough to withstand normal commercial handling;

 

"Food Business Operator" (FBO)

means the person or persons responsible for ensuring that the prescribed requirements of these regulations are met within the food business as well as the person with overall authority on site or in the specific establishment;

 

"foreign matter"

means any material or substance that is visually noticeable, which does not naturally form part of the tomatoes;

 

"green shoulder or green back"

means is a physiological disorder of tomatoes that is characterized by discoloured regions under the skin that show through and reduce the quality of the fruit;

 

"injury"

means any wound which exposes the flesh of the tomato, excluding a wound which has healed completely or has calloused;

 

"insect puncture marks or damage"

means any damage caused by insects on the surface of the tomato with no signs of tissue collapsing for example not limited to sting and bite marks;

 

"inspector"

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

 

"malformed"

means that the shape of a tomato is not typical of the cultivar concerned;

 

"Mosaic"

means abnormal yellow colour pattern on the surface of the fruit caused by Tomato Mosaic Virus;

 

"size group"

means a size group referred to in Table 2 and 3 of the Annexures;

 

"speciality tomatoes"

mean the smaller snacking and heirloom-type varieties of various sizes, shapes and colours;

 

"the Act"

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

 

"tomato"

means the unprocessed fruit of the plant Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L.) Karsten ex. Farwell intended for human consumption and includes all cultivars, varieties, and commercial types;

 

"unclassified tomatoes"

means tomatoes which have not  been classified according to the  classes specified in these regulations and the quality specifications in Table 1, and of which the container is marked with a designation to indicate that no definite class or grade has been applied to the container or marked as unclassed or no class;

 

"unprocessed"

means that the tomatoes have not been cooked, peeled, dried, or processed in any other way, excluding normal sorting, grading, packing or cleaning practices;

 

"unspecified defects"

means any defects caused by physiological or non-physiological factors affecting the quality of the tomato detrimentally; and.

 

"Yellow shoulder or yellowback"

means is a physiological disorder of tomatoes that is characterized by discoloured regions under the skin that show through and reduce the quality of the fruit.