The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa has been granted an interdict barring the Department of Land Reform, Agriculture and Rural Development’s Food Safety Authority (FSA) from seizing meat-free products from Monday. 

The Johannesburg High Court granted the interdict late on Friday, after the council took the FSA and the minister of land reform, agriculture and rural development to court over its threats to seize meat analogue products which were “illegally” labelled with names “prescribed for processed meat products in terms of section 8 of the Agricultural Product Standards Act 119 of 1990 (the Act) at all points of sale, i.e. facilities, premises (retail and wholesale), conveyances, etc”. 

Granted by Judge Motsamai Makume, the interdict bars the respondents from seizing foods on an interim basis pending the finalisation of the applicant’s appeal against the decision to seize products. 

The rule nisi, which becomes final unless cause is shown to the contrary, is returnable on 17 November 2022.

On Friday, the plant-based food sector celebrated the temporary win against the FSA, after it had issued a letter on 16 August threatening to “seize any meat analogue products presented for sale in SA, which are using the product names prescribed for processed meat products in terms… of the Agricultural Product Standards Act”. 

In response to the ruling, food awareness organisation ProVeg South Africa said that although it welcomes the court’s decision, it still believes the matter should be settled through discussion between the plant-based food industry, the department and the meat industry. Donovan Will, ProVeg SA country director, said the department had issued a directive in June to processors, importers and retailers of plant-based meat alternatives, giving them only 30 business days to remove their products from shelves for relabelling or face seizures. 

ProVeg SA and other businesses had sought industry-wide discussions with the department and the FSA to halt seizures and develop new and appropriate legislation for plant-based meat alternatives. “Unfortunately, industry-wide discussions have not been possible and all diplomatic efforts by the plant-based food industry have not led to amenable results.”

ProVeg said that when the Agricultural Product Standards Act’s regulations on the classification, packing and labelling of processed meat products were promulgated in 2019, plant-based meat alternatives (or meat analogues) were specifically excluded as they would be dealt with differently than processed meats. 

Regulation 1283 defines “meat analogue” (also known as meat substitute, mock meat, faux meat or imitation meat) as products that:

“(a) approximate the aesthetic qualities (primary texture, flavour and appearance) and/or chemical characteristics of specific type of meat; and (b) are made from non-meat ingredients, sometimes without dairy products and are available in different forms (coarse ground-meat analogues, emulsified meat analogues and loose fill, etc.)”

Section 2(2), concerning the scope of the regulations, specifically excludes:

canned meat products as defined in the compulsory specification for the manufacture, production, processing and treatment of canned meat products published under the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (ActNo. 5 of 2008); 

Raw (fresh) processed meat products; and

Meat analogue products or non-meat based products that in general appearance, presentation and intended use correspond to processed meat products (e.g. vegan or vegetarian type processed products).

The sector believes the department’s interpretation is not only flawed, but says any seizures will cause significant losses, cripple businesses and deprive consumers of choice. It contends that plant-based meat alternatives are not currently covered by legislation and are also excluded from the scope of the processed meat regulations. 

ProVeg said in April 2022 that things seemed to be heading in the right direction when the department issued a directive indicating that the executive officer would commence with “the development of new regulation for meat analogue products”. 

“This followed engagements with various stakeholders, of which 85% [the majority of the stakeholders] were in favour of new regulations being developed for meat analogue products. Sadly, after that last communication, no further information was shared. According to ProVeg’s knowledge, this process has not started despite the eagerness of businesses and organisations in the plant-based meat alternative sector to formulate new and appropriate regulations. 

“It has therefore been both frustrating and concerning that [the department] has chosen to direct the FSA to continue with the proposed seizure of products, clearly not included in Regulation 1283, instead of developing the necessary new regulations for meat analogue products. This after they acknowledged that the regulations do not encompass plant-based meat alternatives, that the new regulations are necessary for such products, and without indicating which food-related terms would be suitable to use or not.”

The organisation called the department’s lack of engagement with stakeholders, who will be devastated by this decision, “increasingly concerning”. 

Highlighting the economic impact on the sector, ProVeg said labels currently in the market and/or already paid-for production processes, would have to be changed, at significant cost to suppliers, which would ultimately affect consumers. It warned that companies would have to reduce their workforce to cope with the abrupt and unforeseen costs of having to change labels, and there would be significant reputational damage as consumers would lose faith in the products due to unexplained label changes. 

“ProVeg South Africa has and will continue to opt for non-legal routes to ensure that new and appropriate regulations are developed for plant-based meat alternatives that are approved and carry the interests of the plant-based food industry, [the department] and the meat and processed meat industries. ProVeg South Africa carries the interests of both plant-based manufacturers and consumers and will continue to be a public voice for both. We urge the government to fast-track the development of new regulations without any punitive measures on the plant-based sector in the interim.”

On Friday, Neil Taylor from Infinite Foods, the distributor of Beyond Meat in Africa, told Business Maverick that the sector had no choice but to fight. “The thing is, they [FSA] won’t be seizing from me, the distributor, they’ll be seizing it from retailers that I sell to. 

Taylor said his small business was already suffering due to the uncertainty. “I’ve been out of stock on burgers for a month and a half because investing in a container full of burgers, not knowing if it’s going to be able to be sold once it gets here, is a risk I can’t take. 

“It’s already had a big impact on us and on our retailers. There doesn’t need to be a massive seizure of product. They have already damaged us. They’ve already made it difficult for people to get their hands on the product. And we were hoping that we’d be able to engage them in a conversation, fix the issue and move on.” BM/DM