FOODSTUFFS, COSMETICS AND DISINFECTANTS AMENDMENT BILL

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FOODSTUFFS, COSMETICS AND DISINFECTANTS AMENDMENT
BILL

• AWJ Pretorius
• Directorate Food Control
• Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Health
• 13 March 2006

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MAIN ACT

• To control the sale, manufacture and importation
  of foodstuffs, cosmetics and disinfectants and
  to provide for incidental matters.

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Limited but urgent amendments for three basic
reasons

1. To bring Act into line with the new
   Constitutional and organizational dispensation.
2. To include those provisions in the Health Act,
   1977, that relate to food safety.
3. To update certain outdated provisions

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Definitions

• Old definitions are updated, and new definitions
  are brought in from the Health Act, 1977

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Section 10 Inspectors

• Amendment so that the Director-General can also
  authorize persons that are not subject to his
  control.
• Further amendment carried over from Health Act,
  1977, so that local authorities can authorize
  categories of persons other than environmental
  health practitioners.

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Section 13 Further analysis or examination of
sample.

• The amount that an accused has to deposit if
  he/she desires a further analysis of a sample has
  been raised from R25 to R500 to counteract the
  effect of inflation.

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Section 15 Regulations

• Everything new in this section, which authorizes
  the Minister to make regulations,is taken over
  from the Health Act, 1977

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Section 15 A Regulations relating to mollusc
farming and fish farming

• This section has been taken over from the Health
  Act, 1977, with slight technical amendments.

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Section 16 Preservation of secrecy

• This section has been omitted because it
  seriously affects the ability of the authorities
  in all three tiers of government to issue food
  safety warnings.

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Section 18 Penalties

• The amendment raises the fines that may be levied
  because currently they are ridiculously low.

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Section 25 Delegation of powers

• The amendment aims to enable the Director-General
  to delegate certain functions to persons other
  than persons in the (National) Department of
  Health.

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• Thank You