- Arrangement of Provisions
- 1. Short title
- 2. Interpretation
- 3. Medical devices or contrivances and tobacco
- 4. What constitutes "sale"
- 5. What constitutes "adulteration"
- 6. Appointment of analysts and officers
- 7. Administration of Act
- SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS
- NEW DRUGS
- FURTHER SPECIAL PROVISIONS AS TO DRUGS
- POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICERS
- ANALYSIS OF FOOD AND DRUGS
- MISCELLANEOUS
- 30. Interference with official marks or seals
- 31. Obstruction of officers
- 32. General penalty for offences
- 33. Procedure on prosecutions for offences
- 34. Source of information or reports need not be disclosed
- 35. Forfeiture of food or drugs on conviction
- 36. Payment of expenses of analysis on conviction
- 37. Publication of conviction where ordered by District Court Judge
- 38. Statements by Chief Executive Officer
- 39. Protection of persons acting under authority of Act
- 40. Regulations
- 41. Savings of sales of existing stocks
- 42. Repeals and revocations
- REVISION NOTES 2008
- REVISION NOTES 2008 No. 2
Food and Drugs Act 1967
CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2008
FOOD AND DRUGS ACT 1967
Arrangement of Provisions
TITLE
1. Short title 2. Interpretation 3. Medical devices or contrivances and tobacco 4. What constitutes "sale" 5. What constitutes "adulteration" 6. Appointment of analysts and officers 7. Administration of Act
SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS
8. Offences in relation to sales 9. No defence that act not wilfully committed 10. Reliance on written warranty a good defence 11. Offences in relation to advertisements 12. Liability of persons named on labels 13. Sales by agent or servant
NEW DRUGS
14. Distribution of new drugs postponed 15. Distribution of changed drugs postponed 16. Exemption for drug required by medical practitioner
FURTHER SPECIAL PROVISIONS AS TO DRUGS
17. Further particulars 18. Duty of importer or manufacturer to report untoward effects of drug 19. Offences
POWERS AND DUTIES OF OFFICERS
20. Powers of entry and inspection, etc. 21. Power of Chief Executive Officer to require information 22. Power to require name and address of seller 23. Examination of Customs entries
ANALYSIS OF FOOD AND DRUGS
24. Procuring of samples for analysis 25. How samples to be taken 26. Analysis of sample and certificate of analyst 27. Duty of officer to procure sample for analysis on request 28. Analyst's certificate to be prima facie evidence 29. Order by District Court Judge for further analysis
MISCELLANEOUS
30. Interference with official marks or seals 31. Obstruction of officers 32. General penalty for offences 33. Procedure on prosecutions for offences 34. Source of information or reports need not be disclosed 35. Forfeiture of food or drugs on conviction 36. Payment of expenses of analysis on conviction 37. Publication of conviction where ordered by District Court Judge 38. Statements by Chief Executive Officer 39. Protection of persons acting under authority of Act 40. Regulations 41. Savings of sales of existing stocks 42. Repeals and revocations
THE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT 1967
1967 No.6
AN ACT to consolidate and amend the law relating to the sale of food and drugs.
(24 July 1967) (Commencement date: 24 July 1967)
1. Short title - This Act may be cited as the Food and Drugs Act 1967 . 2. Interpretation - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Advertisement" means any words, whether written, printed, or spoken, and any pictorial representation or design or device used to explain the use or notify the availability or promote the sale of any food or drug; and includes any trade circular, any label, and any advertisement in any trade journal.
"Agent", in relation to any food or drug, includes any person who, not being the owner of the food or drug or a person appointed or employed as the agent or servant of the owner, is, with the consent or concurrence of the owner, for the time being in possession or control of the food or drug.
"Analyst" means an analyst appointed under this Act.
"Appliance" includes the whole or any part of any utensil, machinery, instrument, apparatus, or article used or intended for use in or for the making, keeping, preparing, or supplying of any food.
"Chief Executive Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Health appointed under the Health Ordinance 1959 , and includes any person lawfully acting in the place of the Chief Executive Officer.
"Cosmetic" means any substance or mixture of substances used or intended for use for the purposes of cleansing, beautifying, improving, or altering the hair, skin, or complexion of human beings, and includes any perfume, any deodorant, and any dusting power.
"Dentifrice" means any substance or mixture of substances used or intended for use for the purpose of cleansing the mouths or teeth (natural or artificial) of human beings; and includes any denture fixative.
"Drug" means:
(a) Any substance or mixture of substances used or intended for use, whether internally or externally, for the purposes of the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of any disease, ailment, disorder, deformity, defect, or injury of the human body;
(b) Any substance or mixture of substances used or intended for use for the purpose of altering the nutrition or structure of the human body;
(c) Any substance or mixture of substances used or intended for use for the purposes of influencing, inhibiting, or modifying any physiological process in human beings, or the desires or emotions connected with any such physiological process, or the desire for tobacco;
(d) Any disinfectant, germicide, antiseptic, or preservative used for any purpose;
(e) Any anaesthetic;
(f) Any laundry soap, any toilet soap, cream, or lotion, and any synthetic detergent;
(g) Any cosmetic;
(h) Any dentifrice; and
(i) Any chemical contraceptive.
"Employee", in relation to the Public Service, means a person employed therein whether on the permanent staff or as a probationer or temporarily whether full time or part time and whether remunerated by salary, wages, fees or commission or giving honorary service.
"Food" includes any article which is used for food or drink by human beings, or which enters into or is used in the composition or preparation of any such article, and also includes flavouring matters and condiments.
"Gazette" means the Samoa Gazette.
"Inspector" means an officer appointed as an inspector of Health under the Health Ordinance 1959 .
"Milk" means cows' milk or goats' milk and includes cream; and also includes reconstituted milk or reconstituted cream, but does not include dried milk, condensed milk or condensed cream, or milk intended for manufacture into butter, cheese, casein, dried milk, condensed milk or condensed cream.
"Minister" means the Minister of Health.
"Ministry" means the Ministry of Health.
"New drug" means any substance or preparation within the meaning of paragraphs (a) or (b) or (c), or (e) or (i) of the definition of the term "drug" in this section which has not previously been used in Samoa; but does not include any narcotic within the meaning of the Narcotics Act 1967 or any radioactive substance.
"Officer" means an officer of the Ministry or any person appointed as an officer for the purposes of this Act.
"Package" includes anything in or by which goods for carriage or for sale may be cased, covered, enclosed, contained, or packed; and, in the case of goods sold or carried or intended for sale or carriage in more than one package, includes every such package.
"Prescribed" means prescribed by any regulations.
"Radioactive substance" means any substance which:
(a) Emits alpha particles and has a half life of less than 1,000,000 years and undergoes more than 100 atomic disintegrations per gram per second; or
(b) Has been artificially produced and emits beta or gamma rays and undergoes more than 37,000 atomic disintegrations per second.
"Regulations" means regulations made under this Act.
"Substance" means any natural or artificial substance, whether in solid or liquid form or in the form of gas or vapour; and includes any manufactured article or any article which has been subjected to any artificial treatment or process.
3. Medical devices or contrivances and tobacco - The provisions of this Act relating to drugs, so far as they are applicable, shall extend and apply to:
(a) Any device or contrivance sold for the purpose of producing the effect that would be produced by a drug within the meaning of any of the provisions of paragraphs (a) to (e) of the definition of the term "drug" in section 2; and
(b) Tobacco, cigars and cigarettes.
4. What constitutes "sale" - (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires "sale" includes barter, and also includes offering or attempting to sell, or receiving for sale, or having in possession for sale, or exposing for sale, or sending or delivering for sale, or causing or allowing to be sold, offered, or exposed for sale, and refers only to sale for human consumption or use, and "sell" has a corresponding meaning. (2) For the purposes of this Act any article of food being part of or supplied with any meal or food which payment is made or required to be made, and which is supplied for consumption in any shop, hotel, restaurant, or eating house, or at any stall or other place, shall be deemed to have been sold or offered or exposed for sale. (3) For the purposes of this Act, every person shall be deemed to sell or to intend to sell any food or drug if he or she sells or intends to sell for human consumption or use any article of which the food or drug is a constituent. (4) When any food or drug is sold or offered or exposed for sale it shall be deemed to be sold or, as the case may require, offered or exposed for sale, for human consumption or use, unless the contrary is proved. (5) For the purposes of this Act, the sale of any food or drug for the purpose of being mixed with any other food or drug, or with a food or drug of the same kind, shall be deemed to be a sale for human consumption or use if the bulk or product produced by the mixing, or any part thereof, is intended to be sold for human consumption or use. (6) The purchase and sale, under the provisions of this Act, of a sample of any food or drug for the purpose of analysis shall be deemed to be a purchase and sale of the food or drug for human consumption or use, unless the seller proves that the bulk from which the sample was taken was offered, exposed, or intended for sale for purposes other than human consumption or use. Where under this Act a sample of any milk is taken from any container, and the milk so taken is found on analysis to be adulterated, the sample shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be a sample of any bulk of which the milk in that container forms part, notwithstanding that the milk in that container was intended to be mixed with milk in any other container or containers before being sold. 5. What constitutes "adulteration" - For the purposes of this Act, any food or drug shall be deemed to be adulterated:
(a) If it contains or is mixed or diluted with any substance which diminishes in any manner its nutritive or other beneficial properties as compared with the food or drug in a pure and normal state and in an undeteriorated and sound condition, or which in any other manner operates or may operate to the prejudice or disadvantage of the purchaser or consumer; or
(b) If it contains or is mixed or diluted with any substance of a commercial value lower than that of the food or drug in a pure and normal state and in an undeteriorated and sound condition; or
(c) If any substance or ingredient has been extracted or omitted therefrom, and by reason of such extraction or omission the nutritive or other beneficial properties of the food or drug as sold are less than those of the food or drug in its pure and normal state, or the purchaser or consumer is or may be in any other manner prejudiced.
6. Appointment of analysts and officers - (1) There may from time to time be appointed, by the Public Service Commission, such analysts and officers as are required for the purposes of this Act. Every officer of the Ministry appointed under the Health Ordinance 1959 shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be an officer appointed under this subsection. (2) The Minister may from time to time when needed in his opinion for the purposes of this Act appoint any person not being an officer of the Public Service as an analyst or employee in a part time capacity and to be remunerated by way of fees or commission only. No person appointed under this subsection shall by virtue of such appointment become an officer of the Public Service, and nothing in the legislation relating to the Public Service shall apply with respect to any appointment made under this subsection. (3) Analysts and officers under this Act shall have the powers and shall perform the duties set out in this Act, and shall have such other powers and shall perform such other duties as may be necessary to carry into effect the provisions of this Act or as may be prescribed. 7. Administration of Act - This Act shall be administered by the Chief Executive Officer and the Ministry under the control of the Minister.
SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS
8. Offences in relation to sales - (1) Subject to such exceptions as may be prescribed, every person commits an offence who sells any adulterated food or adulterated drug without fully informing the purchaser, at the time of the sale, of the nature of the adulteration, unless the package in which it is sold has conspicuously printed thereon a true description of the composition of the food or drug so sold. (2) Every person commits an offence who sells any food or drug:
(a) Containing any substance of which the addition is prohibited by any regulation; or
(b) Which does not comply with any standard prescribed therefor by any regulation; or
(c) Containing a greater proportion of any substance than is permitted by any regulation.
(3) Every person commits an offence who sells any food or drug in any package which bears or has attached thereto any false or misleading statement, word, brand, label, or mark purporting to indicate the nature, quality, strength, purity, composition, weight, origin, age, effects, or proportion of the article contained in the package or of any ingredient thereof. (4) Every person commits an offence who sells any food containing methyl alcohol. (5) Every person commits an offence who sells any food or drug containing more than 3 parts of proof spirit percent, unless the person is licensed so to do pursuant to any regulations. (6) Every person commits an offence who sells any food which is unsound or unfit for human consumption. (7) Every person commits an offence who sells any food or drug containing any extraneous thing which is harmful or dangerous, or which is offensive. (8) Subject to the provisions of subsection (9), every person who commits any offence against this section shall be liable, in the case of the first offence, to a fine not exceeding 1 penalty unit, or, in the case of any subsequent offence (whether of the same or a different nature), to a fine not exceeding 4 penalty units. (9) If any such offence as aforesaid, whether it is the first or any subsequent offence, is wilfully committed, the person so committing it shall be liable:
(a) In the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding 4 penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months.
(b) In the case of a body corporate, to a fine not exceeding 10 penalty units.