The Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg, has set aside a Food Safety Agency (FSA) decision to seize meat analogue, or plant-based meat products, from retail outlets, a statement from the Consumer Goods Council (CGCSA) said on Wednesday.
The CGCSA said it had been forced to urgently seek an interdict to stop the FSA from seizing meat analogue products from retailers’ shelves.
The court success follows hard on the heels of a judgment last August, when South Africa’s largest plant-based food producer, Fry’s, won an appeal against a government directive that had claimed six of its meat alternative products did not comply with processed meat regulations.
CGCSA executive head: Legal Regulatory & Stakeholder Engagement Neo Momodu said they hoped that with this decision, the department would consider developing regulations applicable to meat analogue.
“This will further support the growth of a sector that has become an increasingly important source of alternative food for South Africans who have chosen a plant-based diet. It is also a growing provider of employment opportunities and is contributing to economic growth,” said Momodu.
The latest judgment related to the treatment of meat analogue products by the FSA, the executive officer for Agricultural Product Standards (APS) and the Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, arising out of the naming conventions adopted in respect of these meat analogue products.
The FSA and the executive officer of APS had sought to prohibit the use of certain generic product names for meat analogue products, names that were congruent with the product names of certain processed meat products, such as “nugget” and “sausage”. They also had the power to seize any meat analogue products that made use of these generic product names.
Momodu said the CGCSA successfully, with the assistance of its attorney, Lauren Fine of Clyde and Co, had reviewed and set aside the APS executive officer’s directive prohibiting meat analogue products from using naming conventions congruent to those used for processed meat products.
The executive officer’s powers to seize meat analogue products that made use of these naming conventions, without a warrant, in terms of section 8 of the Agricultural Products Standards Act 119 of 1990, was also set aside.
This meant meat analogues remained on the shelves and would continue to do so.
Momodu said the CGCSA had contended there was no provision in the regulations that entitled the FSA, or anyone else, to inspect, classify or regulate meat analogues, as such products were excluded from existing regulations.
It was, therefore, unclear what legal or otherwise instrument was planned to be used to enforce the seizures.
The CGCSA was found to be correct in its interpretation of the law and, through its actions, ensured that South African meat analogues or otherwise known as plant-based products consumers were not prejudiced by having diverse product offerings removed from the shelves.
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