FOOD ACT 2001 - SECT 26
FOOD ACT 2001 - SECT 26
(1) In any proceedings
for an offence under this Part, it is a defence if it is proved that the
person took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to
prevent the commission of the offence by the person or by another person under
the person's control.
(2) Without limiting
the ways in which a person may satisfy the requirements of
subsection (1), a person satisfies those requirements if it is
proved—
(a) that
the commission of the offence was due to—
(i)
an act or default of another person; or
(ii)
reliance on information supplied by another person; and
(i)
the person carried out all such checks of the food
concerned as were reasonable in all the circumstances; or
(ii)
it was reasonable in all the circumstances to rely on
checks carried out by the person who supplied the food concerned to the
person; and
(c) that
the person did not import the food into the jurisdiction from another country;
and
(d) in
the case of an offence involving the sale of food, that—
(i)
the person sold the food in the same condition as when
the person purchased it; or
(ii)
the person sold the food in a different condition to that
in which the person purchased it, but that the difference did not result in
any contravention of this Act or the regulations.
(3) In
subsection (2)(a)—
"another person" does not include a person who was—
(a) an
employee or agent of the defendant; or
(b) in
the case of a defendant that is a body corporate, a director, employee or
agent of the defendant.
(4) Without limiting
the ways in which a person may satisfy the requirements of subsection (1)
or (2)(b)(i), a person may satisfy those requirements by proving that—
(a) in
the case of an offence relating to a food business for which a food safety
program is required to be prepared in accordance with the regulations, the
person complied with a food safety program for the food business that complies
with the requirements of the regulations; or
(b) in
any other case, the person complied with a scheme (for example, a quality
assurance program or an industry code of practice) that was—
(i)
designed to manage food safety hazards and based on
Australian national or international standards, codes or guidelines designed
for that purpose; and
(ii)
documented in some manner.