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Commonwealth legislation
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
These Regulations make certain imports conditional on having a specified trade description (label or brand) that states a true description, origin and, where relevant, weight or net/gross quantity. They target imported food and drink, medicines, manures, apparel (including boots/shoes), jewellery, agricultural seeds and plants, and set technical labelling, composition and presentation rules and import prohibitions for non‑compliance (regs 5–16, 7, 9–14). Importers pay the compliance costs (labelling, testing, possible analyst fees) and face Customs enforcement, certificates and penalties (regs 17–20, 19).
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Direct links to the current provisions in Commerce (Imports) Regulations 1923.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
STATUTORY RULES.
1923. No. 37.
REGULATIONS UNDER THE COMMERCE (TRADE DESCRIPTIONS) ACT 1905.
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, do hereby make the following Regulations under the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905 to come into operation forthwith.
Dated this thirtieth day of March, 1923.
FORSTER,
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command.
AUSTIN CHAPMAN,
Minister of State for Trade and Customs.
COMMERCE (IMPORTS) REGULATIONS 1923.
PART I.—INTRODUCTORY.
Short Title.
Parts.
Part I.—Introductory.
Part II.—Trade Descriptions.
Part III.—Miscellaneous.
Definitions.
“Clean” (in relation to agricultural seeds and maize) means free from seeds other than those named in the trade description, and from other foreign substances such as chaff, stalks, soil, &c.
“Clean” (in relation to cereals, fruit, nuts, plants partially treated, and vegetables) means free from stalks, dirt, sand, &c.
“Coverings” means all the principal coverings in which goods are contained, and in which such goods are usually sold wholesale or retail.
“Disease” (in relation to fruit, plants, seeds, maize or vegetables, including onions and potatoes) means any abnormal condition of or in those goods, whether consisting of the presence of, or caused by or due to the operations, development, growth or decay of, any insect or fungus, and also (in relation to fruit) includes the condition known as “Bitter Pit.”
C.18017.—Price 5d.
“Food” and “drink” include every article used as food or drink by man, other than drugs and water.
“Gold-plated” and “gilt” mean coated with gold by the electric process, or by any other process which results in a covering of gold of a quality and thickness other than that defined for rolled gold or gold-cased goods.
“Infants’ food” means any food described or sold as an article of food suitable for infants.
“Leather” means leather intended for or usually employed in the manufacture of boots, shoes, and other apparel.
“Manures” includes all substances intended for or commonly used as fertilizers of the soil, except farm-yard or stable manures and crude materials for the manufacture of manures.
“New” and “Newness” (in relation to agricultural seeds and maize) mean that the seed has been gathered during the immediately preceding harvest time in the country or place named in the trade description.
“Plants” includes every part of any plant (except the seed) intended for planting or purposes of propagation.
“Preservative” means boric acid, nitrous acid, fluoric acid, hydrogen peroxide, salicylic acid, sulphurous acid, formic aldehyde, and any preparation of any of those substances or chemical compounds thereof, used as a preservative agent, and any substance declared by proclamation to be a preservative.
“Rolled gold” and “gold-cased” mean material consisting of a base metal covered by mechanical means with a shell or covering of gold of such quality and thickness as will effectively protect the underlying base metal from the action of pure nitric acid, sp. gr. 1.42 at 60 deg. F.
“Sole” (in relation to boots and shoes) means all that part of the boot or shoe which in use is under the foot of the wearer, except only the thin slip of leather, paper, or the like, which is affixed to the upper surface of the inner sole.
“Sound” and “Soundness” have relation to freedom from disease, as defined in these Regulations, and from damage, or decay.
“The Act” means the Commerce (Trade Descriptions) Act 1905.
Ships’ Stores.
4. These Regulations shall not apply to ships’ stores brought to Australia.
PART II.—TRADE DESCRIPTIONS.
Conditional Prohibition of Certain Imports.
5. The importation of the goods enumerated in the next succeeding regulation is prohibited unless there is applied to such goods a trade description in accordance with these Regulations.
Imports to which a Trade Description must be applied.
(a) Articles used for food or drink by man, or used in the manufacture or preparation of articles used for food or drink by man;
(b) Medicines or medicinal preparations for internal or external use;
(c) Manures;
(d) Apparel (including boots and shoes), and the materials from which apparel is manufactured;
(e) Jewellery;
(f) Agricultural seeds; and Plants.
Trade Description—General Requirements.
(a) It shall be in the form of a principal label or brand affixed in a prominent position and in as permanent a manner as practicable to the goods, or, where affixture to the goods is impracticable, to the coverings containing the goods and
(b) It shall contain in prominent and legible characters a true description of the goods, and the name of the country or place in which the goods were made or produced; and
(c) In cases where any weight or quantity is set out, it shall specify whether the weight or quantity so set out is gross or net.
Trade Description—Additional Requirements in Certain Cases.
Articles used for Food or Drink by Man.
(2) In the case of—
(a) cereals, pulse and other seeds used for food by man, or used in the manufacture or preparation of articles used for food by man;
(b) fruit, dried, such, as raisins, currants, prunes, figs, dates and apples (other than in air-tight bottles, tins, or similar retail packages);
(c) fruit, fresh;
(d) nuts, whole, ground or shelled;
(e) parts of plants partially treated in preparation for foodstuffs used by man, such as nutmegs, coffee beans, cocoa beans, pepper, pimento, hops; or
(f) vegetables, including onions, potatoes, corms, rhizomes, bulbs and tubers generally, used for food by man, or used in the manufacture or preparation of articles used for food by man;
the trade description shall set out their condition as to soundness and cleanness.
(3) In the case of infants’ food, which, when prepared as directed by any statement or statements in the trade description applied thereto—
(a) does not conform approximately in proportional composition to human milk, in regard to fat, proteids and sugars, or contains starch in excess of 1 per cent., there shall be written the words “This food should not be given to infants under the age of six months, except under medical direction,” in bold sans-serif capital letters of not less than six points face measurement. The said words shall be the first words on the label and no other words shall be written on the same line or lines;
(b) contains starch in a proportion not exceeding 1 per cent., but otherwise conforms approximately in proportional composition to human milk in regard to fat, proteids, and sugars, there shall be written the words “This food should not be given to infants under the age of one month except under medical direction,” in bold sans-serif capital letters of not less than six points face measurement. The said words shall be the first words on the label, and no other words shall be written on the same line or lines. [See also clause (4) (b) of this regulation and schedule on page 9.]
(4) (a) In the case of milk, the trade description shall describe the milk as Condensed Milk, Concentrated Milk, or Dried Milk, as the case requires.
(b) In the case of condensed skimmed milk, or condensed separated milk, the trade description shall include the words “Condensed Skimmed Milk, unfit for Infants,” or “Condensed Separated Milk, unfit for Infants,”
printed in bold-faced sans-serif type of not less than twelve points face measurement; the said words shall form the first words on the label, and no other words shall be written on the same line or lines.
Additionally, there shall be printed across the face of the whole of the label, in a diagonal line and in a transparent red colour, the words “Skimmed Milk” in bold-faced sans-serif capital type of not less than forty-eight points face measurement.
(5) In the case of pepper berries (Piper nigrum, L.), the trade description shall specify whether they are white or black. [See also schedule on page 10.]
Medicines or Medicinal Preparations.
(a) The name of the institution, corporation, firm, or person by which or by whom the preparation was manufactured;
(b) The exact name of the preparation;
(c) The exact volume or weight of the content;
(d) The date of manufacture;
(e) The date from which the preparation should no longer be used;
(f) If any antiseptic has been added, the nature and percentage of such antiseptic;
(g) In the case of diphtheria and tetanus antitoxic sera—
(i) the number of immunizing units contained in any stated volume expressed in terms of the units adopted by the Hygienic Laboratory of Washington, U.S.A.;
(ii) a statement as to whether the serum has been concentrated;
(h) In the case of bacterial vaccines the identity and number of organisms per cubic centimeter and the maximal doses for administration;
(i) Whether or not the content is free from organisms other than those peculiar to the preparation;
(j) In the case of antitoxin whether or not the content is sterile or contains any free toxin.
(2) In the case of medicines and medicinal preparations prepared ready for internal use, and containing more than 17.5 per cent. by volume of proof spirit (equivalent to 10 per cent. by volume of ethyl alcohol), the trade description shall include a statement setting out the percentage, by volume, of proof spirit contained in the goods.
(3) In the case of medicines and medicinal preparations for internal or external use, if the goods contain any of the following drugs or poisonous chemical derivatives thereof, viz.:—
Free iodine or chemical compounds containing iodine or bromine excepting iodoform and its substitutes; or
Poisonous compounds of antimony, arsenic, barium, bismuth, copper, lead, and mercury; or
Yellow phosphorus, hydrocyanic acid, and poisonous cyanides; or
Chloral, dormiol, isopral, acetone-chloroform (chloretone), dionin, heroin, paraldehyde, sulphonal, trional, tetronal, veronal, proponal, bromural, neuronal, or any other natural or synthetic hypnotic substance; or
Anilides, phenetidines, or pyrazolones, such as acetanilide, phenacetin, phenazone, or other derivatives of anilines, aminophenols, or quinolines, or other preparations possessing analgesic or antipyretic properties; or
Any drugs of vegetable origin being or containing poisonous alkaloids, poisonous glucosides, or other poisonous principles; or
Adrenaline, or its substitutes; chloroform, nitroglycerin; or
Carbolic acid, cresols, guaiacol, creosol, naphthols, resorcin, hydroquinone, pyrogallic acid; or
Cantharides, cotton root, ergot, oil of pennyroyal, oil of rue, oil of savin, oil of tansy, oil of parsley, or any emmenagogue or reputed abortifacient substance; or
Para-phenylenediamine, or similar irritant organic bases;
the trade description shall include an explicit statement to such effect, setting out, in regard to any substance specifically named in this list, such specified name of the substance, or in the case of any substance included but not specifically named in this list, the name most commonly applied to the substance in the English language in the Pharmacopœias’ of Great Britain and the United States of America, or in the British Pharmaceutical Codex, or other recognised authority, and also the quantity or proportion of the drug present in the goods.
(4) In the case of veterinary medicines or liniments, if the goods contain methylated spirits the trade description shall include a statement setting out in clear and prominent characters, and in the following form, the percentage of such substance contained in the goods, viz.: “This preparation contains† per cent. of alcohol by volume in the form of methylated spirit.”‡
Manures.
Apparel (including Boots and Shoes).
† Quantity to be stated.
‡ Under the provisions of the Spirits Act 1906-1918, it is an offence to sell or have in one’s possession any medicines containing methylated spirits other than certain liniments and veterinary medicines.
(2) Where articles of apparel are manufactured of fibrous material containing not more than 10 per cent. of fibre other than the preponderating fibre, the name of the preponderating fibre (e.g., “Wool”) may be used to indicate the nature of the material. In other cases the trade description shall set out the names of the principal fibres present in the material, or alternatively, describe the material as being made of the preponderating fibre “and Other Fibres” (e.g., “Wool and Other Fibres”).
(3) (a) In the case of piece goods, intended for or commonly used in the manufacture of articles of apparel, the trade description shall specify the names of the principal fibres of which the material is composed.
(b) Where the material does not contain more than 10 per cent. of fibre other than the preponderating fibre, the name of the preponderating fibre may be used in the trade description to indicate the nature of the material. In other cases the trade description shall set out the names of the principal fibres present in the material, or, alternatively, describe the material as being made of the prepondering fibre “and Other Fibres” (e.g., “Wool and Other Fibres”).
(c) Where any substance (other than ordinary dressing) has been used in the preparation or manufacture, which has the effect of loading or weighting the material, the word “Loaded” or “Weighted” shall also be included in the trade description.
(d) When paper is contained in such goods, in any proportion whatsoever, the trade description shall include the word “paper”, and shall be applied by means of indelible stamping and in conspicuous characters to the material at least once every yard.
(4) In the case of boots and shoes manufactured wholly or partly from, leather or any imitation thereof, the trade description shall set out the principal material from which they are made, and, unless the soles are solid leather, withou
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.