This Act may be cited as the Stock-remedies Act, 1934, and shall come into force on the first day of June, nineteen hundred and thirty-five.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

For the purposes of this Act there shall be appointed a Board to be called the Stock-remedies Registration Board.

The Board shall consist of—

The members of the Board other than the Registrar, who shall hold office during pleasure, shall be appointed by the Governor-General for a period of three years, save that any such member may be reappointed, or may be at any time removed from office by the Governor-General for disability, insolvency, neglect of duty, or misconduct, or may at anytime resign his office by writing addressed to the Registrar.

If any member of the Board other than the Registrar dies, resigns, or otherwise vacates his office, the vacancy so created shall, within two months after the occurrence thereof, be filled in the manner in which the appointment to the vacant office was originally made. Every person so appointed shall hold office for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.

The members of the Board, other than the Registrar, shall be paid such allowances as may be lawfully appointed and all travelling-expenses reasonably incurred by them in respect of attendance at meetings of the Board or in transacting the business of the Board.

In the absence of the Registrar from any meeting of the Board any officer of the Department of Agriculture may be appointed by the Registrar to act as his deputy, and while so acting shall for the purposes of this Act have all the powers of the Registrar.

The Registrar shall be the Chairman of the Board.

Meetings of the Board shall be held at such times and places as the Board or the Chairman may appoint.

The Board may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

There may from time to time be appointed, as officers of the Public Service, such Analysts and Inspectors as are required for the purposes of this Act, who shall have the powers and shall perform the duties hereinafter set out, and such further powers and duties as are prescribed.

Before any stock-remedy is sold, it must be registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act and of regulations thereunder.

A stock-remedy may be registered by the Board for a period of three years, and may from time to time be re-registered for a similar period in the same manner and with the same consequences in all respects as in the case of the original registration.

Application for the registration of a stock-remedy shall be made by the proprietor in writing in the prescribed form addressed to the Registrar, and containing or accompanied by the following particulars:—

Every such application shall be verified by the statutory declaration of the applicant, and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

The proportion of any ingredient required to be shown by paragraph (c) of subsection three hereof shah be the minimum proportion, except in the case of ingredients which are poisons within the meaning of the Poisons Act, 1908, when the maximum as well as the minimum proportion shall be shown. Every such proportion shall be stated as a percentage by weight in the case of a solid stock-remedy, and as a number of grams per hundred cubic centimetres in the case of a liquid stock-remedy. For the purposes of this subsection a semi-fluid stock-remedy shall be deemed to be solid if recommended for use by weight (whether or not it is also recommended for use by volume) and in all other cases shall be deemed to be liquid.

The applicant shall, furnish such certificates of analysis, and such experimental evidence or other evidence whatsoever, as the Board may require in support of any statement contained in the application or in any specimen copy of a label or advertisement deposited under paragraph (e) of subsection three hereof, and the Board may refuse to register the stock-remedy if it is of opinion that any such statement is inaccurate, inadequate, or misleading, or otherwise not in compliance with the provisions of this Act, and cannot be conveniently omitted, altered, or amplified so as to comply therewith, or it may refuse to approve any such label or advertisement which in the opinion of the Board contains any such inaccurate, inadequate, or misleading statement or is otherwise not in compliance with this Act.

The Board may refuse to register any stock-remedy which contains incompatible or volatile ingredients, or which is likely, in the opinion of the Board, to be injurious to stock.

Every person commits an offence who, in the ordinary course of his business, sells any stock-remedy—

Every person commits an offence who, in the ordinary course of his business, sells any stock-remedy during the period of any registration thereof otherwise than in a receptacle which bears or has attached thereto a label of which a specimen copy has been deposited with the Registrar and approved by the Board for such period of registration, and which shows clearly and distinctly (with such other matter as the Board may approve) the following particulars:—

Every proprietor or vendor of a stock-remedy commits an offence who during the period of any registration of the stock-remedy uses or publishes, or permits or causes to be used or published, in respect of the stock-remedy any label or advertisement of which a specimen copy has not been deposited with the Registrar and approved by the Board for such period of registration:

Provided that nothing in this subsection shall be so construed as to make it an offence to use or publish in respect of any stock-remedy during the period of any registration thereof any advertisement that does not differ in any material respect, with regard to the preventive or remedial properties claimed in respect of the stock-remedy, from a specimen copy deposited as aforesaid and approved by the Board for such period of registration.

A label or advertisement relating to any registered stock-remedy may, in accordance with the provisions of this Act and of regulations thereunder, be approved by the Board for the period of the registration of the stock-remedy. An application for such approval may be combined with an application for the registration of the stock-remedy or may be made subsequently at any time during the period of registration. Every such application shall be made in writing in the prescribed form addressed to the Registrar, and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee. The provisions of subsection six of section six hereof shall, so far as applicable, apply to every such application.

No reference shall be made in any label or advertisement to the registration of a stock-remedy, except in the words “Registered pursuant to the Stock-remedies Act, 1934”. No reference shall be made in any label or advertisement to the approval of such label or advertisement or of any stock-remedy by the Board, the Registrar, or the Department of Agriculture.

Every person is liable on summary conviction to a fine of fifty pounds who, in the ordinary course of his business, sells any stock-remedy in a receptacle which bears or has attached thereto a label containing any false or misleading statement purporting to indicate the nature, quality, preventive or remedial properties, strength, purity, composition, weight, volume, origin, age, or proportion of the substance contained in the receptacle or of any ingredient thereof.

In every sale or contract for the sale of any stock-remedy by the proprietor or a vendor there shall be implied a warranty by the proprietor of the stock-remedy (whether or not he is otherwise a party to the sale or contract) to the purchaser that the stock-remedy is reasonably fit for any purpose for which its use is expressly or impliedly suggested in any label or advertisement used or published in respect of the stock-remedy by or with the concurrence of the proprietor.

The fact that a stock-remedy is registered in accordance with this Act or that a label or advertisement has been approved in accordance with this Act shall not be deemed to imply a warranty by the Government or by the Board that the stock-remedy is reasonably fit for any purpose for which it is sold or that the statements contained in such label or advertisement are correct.

An Inspector may at all reasonable times enter upon the premises of the proprietor or of any vendor of a stock-remedy, and may, without payment, take a sample of such stock-remedy.

Every person who obstructs an Inspector in the exercise of his powers under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine of ten pounds.

Every sample taken by an Inspector shall be taken in the presence of the proprietor or vendor if he is available, or if he is not available, then in the presence of some other witness.

The Inspector, in the presence of the proprietor or vendor or such other witness, as the case may be, shall then divide each sample into three parts, and shall seal each part separately with an official seal.

He shall leave with or deliver to the proprietor or vendor one part, and shall deliver a second part to an Analyst; the third part shall be retained by the Inspector, and shall be sealed by the proprietor or vendor if he is present and so desires.

Delivery of a sample to an Analyst or to a proprietor or vendor may be effected personally by the Inspector, or by posting it by registered post to the usual address of the Analyst, proprietor, or vendor, as the case may be.

The Analyst shall, on receiving the sample, divide it into two approximately equal portions, one of which he shall fasten up and seal in a suitable vessel for production, if required, in any proceedings that may thereafter be taken in the matter.

He shall analyse the remaining portion, and shall set out the result in a certificate of analysis in the prescribed form.

The result of the analysis shall be compared with the particulars in the application for the registration of the stock-remedy from which the sample is taken, and if there is a discrepancy in any respect between the result of the analysis and the aforesaid particulars the Analyst shall add to the certificate of analysis a statement as to whether or not in his opinion such discrepancy would be materially to the prejudice of a purchaser.

Where on analysis and comparison a discrepancy materially prejudicial to a purchaser is found in any sample, a copy of the Analyst’s certificate shall be forwarded to the proprietor and also to the vendor (if he is not the proprietor) of the stock-remedy from which the sample is taken. In any other case the proprietor or the vendor may obtain a copy of the Analyst’s certificate on paying the prescribed fee.

Any person in possession of any stock-remedy that has been sold by the proprietor or by any vendor thereof may at any time notify an Inspector in writing that he desires him to take a sample of such stock-remedy.

On payment of the prescribed fee the Inspector or some person authorized by him in writing shall attend at the place mentioned in the notice and take a sample of the stock-remedy and deal with the sample in the manner provided by subsections two and three of section twelve hereof.

Not less than four clear days’ notice shall be given to the vendor of the stock-remedy, and also to the proprietor thereof if he is not the vendor, by the Inspector of the time and place at which he intends to take such sample.

The vendor and the proprietor or their respective agents shall be at liberty to attend at the time and place specified in such notice.

The Inspector shall satisfy himself as far as possible that the receptacles containing the stock-remedy are in a sound condition, that they have been properly stored, and that they have not been opened or tampered with in any way.

The Analyst shall analyse the sample and give a certificate as mentioned in section thirteen hereof to the Inspector. A copy of the Analyst’s certificate shall be forwarded to the applicant for the analysis; and copies thereof shall also be forwarded to or be obtainable by the proprietor and the vendor as provided in subsection four of the said section thirteen.

If the result of the analysis shows that the stock-remedy is not materially at variance with the particulars in the application for the registration of the stock-remedy from which the sample is taken, the vendor and the proprietor shall be entitled to any reasonable expenses to which they may respectively have been put in attending at the place at which the sample is taken, and may recover such expenses as a debt from the applicant for the analysis.

In any proceedings under this Act the production by the prosecutor of a certificate of analysis purporting to be signed by an Analyst shall, without proof of the signature of the Analyst, be sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein, unless the defendant requires that the Analyst be called as a witness, in which case he shall give notice thereof to the prosecutor not less than three clear days before the date of the hearing.

In like manner the production by the defendant of a certificate of analysis purporting to be signed by an Analyst shall, without proof of the signature of the Analyst, be sufficient evidence of the facts stated therein, unless the prosecutor requires that the Analyst be called as a witness.

A copy of such last-mentioned certificate shall be sent to the prosecutor at least three clear days before the date of the hearing, and if it is not so sent the Court may adjourn the hearing on such terms as it thinks proper.

In any proceedings under this Act the Court may order that the part of the sample retained by the Inspector under section twelve hereof be divided into two parts in the presence of the defendant or his agent and that each of such parts be submitted for report to an independent analyst, whether or not such person is an Analyst appointed under this Act.

Every person is liable on summary conviction to a fine of fifty pounds who—

Every person who commits an offence against this Act for which no penalty is elsewhere prescribed is liable on summary conviction for the first offence to a fine of ten pounds, and for every subsequent offence to a fine of fifty pounds.

The Board may from time to time, in such manner as it thinks fit, publish the results of any experiments made with any stock-remedy or, with the approval of the Minister, may publish with respect to any stock-remedy the results of any analysis thereof made under this Act or any particulars relating to such stock-remedy, if, in its opinion, based on the results of such analysis, the publication of such results or particulars is necessary for the protection of purchasers or otherwise in the public interest.

No action shall lie against the Minister or any member of the Board or any other person in respect of the publication of any matter pursuant to this section.

All fees and other moneys paid under this Act shall be paid into the Public Account, and shall form part of the Consolidated Fund, and all expenses incurred in respect of the administration of this Act shall be paid out of moneys to be from time to time appropriated by Parliament for the purpose.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, make regulations—

All such regulations shall be published in the Gazette, and shall be laid before Parliament within ten days after publication or, if Parliament is not then sitting, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the provisions of the Poisons Act, 1908, or of the Dangerous Drugs Act, 1927, or of the Patents, Designs, and Trademarks Act, 1908, or of the Patents, Designs, and Trademarks Act, 1921–22, or of any other Act.