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Section 6 of the Margarine Act, 1887, having been repealed); it also requires that
the words "margarine" or "margarine-cheese," as the case may be, shall be
printed on the wrapper in capital block letters not less than half-an-inch long,
and distinctly legible, and that no other printed matter shall appear on the
wrapper.
Section 7 of the new Act requires every occupier of a manufactory of margarine
or margarine-cheese, and every wholesale dealer in such substances, to keep a
register of consignments sent out therefrom, and empowers officers of the Board
to inspect the register, and to enter manufacturers of margarine and margarinecheese,
and inspect the process of manufacture, and take samples for analysis.
It also extends the provisions of Section 9 of the Margarine Act of 1887, relating
to registration of manufactories of margarine to any premises wherein the
business of a wholesale dealer in margarine or margarine-cheese is carried on, and
the registration of a manufactory or other premises must be forthwith notified by
the local authority to the Board.
Section 8 of the Act provides that it shall be unlawful to manufacture, sell,
expose for sale, or import, any margarine, the fat of which contains more than ten
per cent. of butter fat; that every person who manufactures, sells, exposes for sale,
or imports any margarine which contains more than that percentage, shall be
guilty of an offence under the Margarine Act, 1887, and that any defence which would
be a defence under section 7 of that Act, shall be a defence under section 8 of the
new Act, and the provisions of the former section shall apply accordingly.
Section 8, however, is not to apply to any margarine manufactured or imported
in fulfilment of any contract made before the '20th day of July, 1899.
Section 9 of the new Act requires every person who, himself or by his servant, in
any highway or place of public resort, sells milk or cream from a vehicle, or from
a can or other recepticle, to have his name and address conspicuously inscribed on
the vehicle or receptacle under a penalty not exceeding two pounds.
By Section 11 of the new Act all Condensed, Separated, or Skimmed Milk must be
so labelled in words clearly visible to the purchaser. The fine for infringing this
provision is a sum not exceeding ten pounds.
By section 12 of the new Act, it is provided that with regard to notice of mixtures,
that the label referred to in section 8 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, shall
not be deemed to be distinctly and legibly written or printed within the meaning of
that section, unless it is so written and printed that the notice of mixture given by
the label is not obscured by other matter on the label; but this provision does not
apply to the use of any registered trade mark, or of any label which has been
continuously in use for at least seven years before the commencement of the new
Act.
Section 18 of the new Act empowers the vendor of any article which is in an
unopened tin or packet duly labelled, to decline to sell less than the whole tin or
packet.
The arrangements for dividing any article purchased for analysis have been
modified: it is compulsory for the purchaser to divide the article into three parts
as heretofore, but he need only hand one of them to the vendor upon demand.
Several other provisions are enacted, chiefly referring to the official
collection of samples for analysis, and then follows certain new matter
concerning penalties. This portion of the new Act cannot be too
widely known: it should be published by the press, or better still, it
should be printed and circulated throughout the District.
Section 17.—(1) "Where under any provision of the Sale of Food and Drugs
Act, 1875, a person guilty of an offence is liable to a fine which may extend to
twenty pounds as a maximum, he shall be liable for a second offence under the
same provision to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds, and for any subsequent
offence to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds." (2) "Where, under any
provision of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, a person guilty of an offence is liable
to a fine exceeding fifty pounds, and the offence in the opinion of the court, was
committed by the personal Act, default, or palpable negligence of the person accused,
that person shall be liable (if the court is of opinion that a fine will not meet the
circumstances of the case) to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for a
period not exceeding three months.