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

Regulations

Regulations relating to the Grading, Packing and Marking of Pineapples 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 indicate —

 

"Arthropod"

means any stage in the life cycle 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;

 

"black heart"

means small yellow or brown, opaque spots in the flesh of the pineapple, especially at the base of the fruit near the core, which enlarge and darken and in serious cases, especially during storage and ageing, give rise to the internal blackening of the fruit to within a few millimetres from the skin;

 

"black spot"

means —

(a) the soft, watery, brown discoloration (wet type) of an infested fruitlet which spreads to neighbouring fruitlets; or
(b) dry spot of which the infested tissue has a brown and corky appearance;

 

"blemish"

means any external skin defect on the surface of the pineapple that detrimentally affects the appearance of the pineapple;

 

"bruise"

means any indentation or discoloration directly under the skin;

 

"consignment"

means —

(a) a quantity of pineapples of the same cultivar, belonging to the same owner and delivered at the same time under cover of the same delivery note, consignment note or receipt note, or delivered by the same vehicle; or
(b) in the case of a quantity of pineapples that is divided into different cultivars, classes, diameter groups, pallet loads, trademarks or types of packaging, every quantity of each of the different cultivars, classes, diameter groups, pallet loads, trademarks or types of packaging;

 

"container"

means the immediate package in which pineapples are packed directly and outer packages in which prepacked units are packed;

 

"decay"

means a state of decomposition, fungus development, internal insect infestation or internal insect quality of the pineapples;

 

"diameter"

means the largest section measured at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the pineapple;

 

"dry crack"

means any crack that exposes the flesh and which has dried out and is sealed off;

 

"foreign matter"

means any material or substance not normally present in, on or between the pineapples;

 

"glassiness"

means—

(a) in relation to major, means the occurrence of a glassy appearance into the core and/or up to a level just beneath the surface of the shell and/or which results in fermentation; and
(b) in relation to minor, means a glassy appearance of the flesh with yellowing and/or browning of the core;

 

"injury"

means any wound which has pierced the skin of the pineapple and exposes the flesh, with the exception of such wounds which have become completely callused;

 

"inspector"

means an officer under the control of the Executive Officer or an Assignee or a qualified employee of an Assignee;

 

"internal heat damage"

means a condition which causes sagging of the flesh directly under the skin, desiccation and grey to yellow-brown discoloration of the flesh and/or a crack in the core;

 

"pineapples"

means the fruit of the cultivar which are grown from the species Ananas Comosus;

 

"prepacked unit"

means any single packing unit for presentation as such to the consumer consisting of pineapples and the packaging into which the pineapples were put before being offered for sale;

 

"the Act"

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

 

"well-formed"

means that the pineapple has a shape which is typical of the cultivar concerned;

 

"winter spot"

means a ring blemish on the ring eyes of the pineapple which covers the total fruit area and which makes the appearance unattractive; and

 

"yellow spot"

means elevated yellow spots on the crown leaves or, if occurring internally, a condition where the individual fruitlets are caused to die off so that a dry cavity is formed (it is also referred to a "dead eye").