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

Regulations

2026 Regulations

Regulations regarding the Grading, Packing and Marking of Edible Vegetable Oils intended for Sale in the Republic of South Africa

Part IV: Sampling and Analysis of Edible Vegetable Oils

17. Sampling and conformity checks - General

Purchase

(1)

(a)

Samples for the verification of the characteristics of edible vegetable oils shall be taken in accordance with the latest version of the International Standards Organisation's standard on sampling of animal and vegetable fats and oils (i.e., 'ISO 5555: 2001'), or any other alternative method recognised internationally .

(b)

Samples taken shall be kept in a dark place and away from strong heat as quickly as possible and sent to the laboratory for analysis no later than 5 working days from the date of sampling. Samples shall furthermore be kept in such a way that they will not degrade or damage during transport or storage prior to being sent to the laboratory.

(2)

(a)	Inspectors may carry out conformity checks selectively based on a risk analysis, and with appropriate frequency, to ensure that the edible vegetable oil marketed is consistent with the grade or type declared.

(b)	The criteria to assess the risk of an operator may include—

(i)	the grade or type of vegetable oil, the period of production, the blending and packing operations, the storage facilities and conditions, the country of origin, the means of transport or the volume of the batch;

(ii)	the position of the operator in the marketing chain, the volume and/or value marketed by him or her, the range of vegetable oils he or she markets, the type of business carried out such as milling, storage, refining, blending, packaging or retail sale;

(iii)

findings made during previous checks, including the number and type of defects found, the usual quality of vegetable oils marketed, the performance of technical equipment used;

(iv)	the reliability of the operators' quality assurance systems or self-checking systems related to the conformity to the standards set out in these regulations;

(v)	the place where the check is carried out, in particular if it is the first point of entry in the case of imported vegetable oils, or the place where the vegetable oils are produced, packaged or loaded;

(vi)	focusing on specific parameters determining the quality of edible vegetable oils such as free acidity, expressed as free oleic acid, and peroxide value, for example;

(vii)

certification and/or records provided for products regulated by certification schemes;

(viii)

analysis results of internal conformity check by the operator : Provided that the samples for analysis are obtained independently, such as making use of the inspectors for sampling; and

(ix)	any other information that might indicate a risk of non-compliance.

(3)

(a)	At least one conformity check per thousand tonnes of a particular edible vegetable oil marketed in the Republic of South Africa may be carried out within a twelve-month period.

(b)	Where conformity checks reveal significant irregularities, inspectors may increase the frequency of checks in relation to the marketing stage, oil grade or type, origin, or any other criteria.