Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) Regulations Regulations regarding the Classification and Marking of Meat 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—

 

"abattoir"

means a slaughter facility as defined in the Meat Safety Act;

 

"abattoir-identification code"

means a code used in the roller-mark of carcasses as well as on stamps in the case of pig carcasses, to identify the abattoir of origin of the carcass;

 

"age classification"

means the classification of a carcass in respect of age in the manner set out in regulation 6;

 

"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);

 

"bovine"

means cattle but does not include other animals from the subfamily Bovinae, e.g. buffalo and kudus;

 

"calf"

means a bovine—

 

"carcass"

means the remaining part of a bovine, sheep, goat or pig after the blood thereof has been drained and the hide, skin, hair, entrails, pluck (heart, liver and lungs), head, tail, hooves and trotters, according to the customs in respect of a particular kind of animal, as well as the diaphragm, sex organs and udder have been removed, and also —

 

"classification equipment"

means roller mark equipment, classification stamps and instruments;

 

"classification stamps"

means the stamps used by the independent qualified person to stamp mark the carcass according to the meat classification requirements in the manner set out in regulation 15;

 

"conformation classification"

means the classification of a carcass in respect of conformation in the manner set out in regulation 8, or regulation 8 as applied by regulation 13;

 

"container"

means the immediate wrapping in which meat is packed for sale;

 

"damage classification"

means the classification of a carcass in respect of damage in the manner set out in regulation 9, or regulation 9 as applied by regulation 14;

 

"executive officer"

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

 

"fatness classification"

means the classification of a carcass in respect of fatness in the manner set out in regulation 7;

 

"fat thickness"

with regard to a pig carcass, means the thickness of the back fat including the skin, as determined in the manner contemplated in regulation 12;

 

"imported"

means any cuts, whole carcasses or parts of carcasses originating from bovines, sheep, goats or pigs which have not been slaughtered in the Republic of South Africa;

 

"independent qualified person"

means an individual, performing meat classification in the service of a service provider, who has been trained and thereafter successfully assessed by the assignee in meat classification in terms of the requirements of these regulations and who has no association, either directly or indirectly, with the abattoir concerned;

 

"ink"

means any colouring as described in the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"instruments"

means instruments used for measuring the fat thickness of pig carcasses (e.g. Hennessey Grading Probe, intrascope, etc.);

 

"mass"

with regard to a carcass, means the warm mass as determined at the time of meat classification;

[Definition substituted by section 2(a) of Notice No. R. 3450, GG48654, dated 26 May 2023 - effective 26 November 2023]

 

"meat"

means those parts of a carcass which are normally sold for human consumption;

 

"meat classification"

means—

 

"no fat"

means no indication of visible subcutaneous fat on a carcass, taking in consideration regulation 7(4);

 

"outer container"

means the carton or case which contains one or more containers of meat;

 

"percentage meat"

with regard to a pig carcass, means the meat content of a carcass after removal of the head, jowls, trotters, skin, subcutaneous fat, kidneys and kidney fat, tail and tailbone, expressed as a percentage of the carcass without the head, jowls, trotters, kidneys and kidney fat and tail;

 

"permitted"

means permitted under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972);

 

"quality indication"

means a word or expression or brand name or trade mark or any other mark or symbol, that may directly or by implication influence the choice of the buyer in buying that specific meat, that has been approved by the executive officer on written request for use in a roller-mark and/or as a stamp on the carcasses and/or as an indication on meat or the packaging thereof;

 

"registration/registered"

with regard to the abattoir-identification code, means the process by which the executive officer allocates an abattoir-identification code, as suggested by the responsible person, to an abattoir that intends to classify meat;

 

"responsible person"

means any individual, partnership, corporation, association or any other business unit that is in possession or in charge of an abattoir;

 

"roller-mark equipment"

means the equipment used to roller-mark classified carcasses in the manner set out in regulations 17 to 20;

 

"service provider"

means an independent organisation or entity that provides independent qualified persons performing meat classification services at abattoirs, and confirmed by the assignee to comply with the list of requirements in Table 6;

 

"subcutaneous fat percentage"

means all the visible fat of a carcass that can be removed, expressed as a percentage of the chilled carcass mass;

 

"the Act"

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

 

"the Meat Safety Act"

means the Meat Safety Act, 2000 (Act No. 40 of 2000); and

 

"treated meat"

means the process of adding a chemical solution with permitted additives, substances and ingredients to meat by processes such as but not limited to injection, in such a manner that there is weight gain of the meat but the appearance of the meat still corresponds with that of a normal raw or frozen raw carcass or meat cut;

 

"week"

with regard to the age of a boar carcass, means the first week of the year which is the earliest week with at least 4 days of the month January and where Monday is the first day of the week.

[Definition inserted by section 2(b) of Notice No. R. 3450, GG48654, dated 26 May 2023 - effective 26 November 2023]