Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Food Act 1984 - SECT 17E

Defence of due diligence

17E. Defence of due diligence



(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

   (b)  that-

   (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; and

   (e)  that the person did not know and had no reason to suspect at the time
        of commission of the alleged offence that the person's act or omission
        would constitute an offence under the relevant section.

(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, the person complied with a food safety
        program for the food business; 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 was based on Australian
        national or international standards, codes or guidelines designed for
        that purpose; and

   (ii) documented in some manner.