Food Act 1984

102 Warranty pleaded as defence

(1) In any proceedings for an offence under this Act, or any regulations made under this Act, being an offence consisting of selling, or offering, exposing or advertising for sale, or having in possession for the purpose of sale, any article or substance, it is a defence for the defendant to prove—

(a) that he purchased it as being an article or substance which could lawfully be sold or otherwise dealt with as mentioned above, or, as the case may, be, could lawfully be so sold or dealt with under the name or description or for the purpose under or for which he sold or dealt with it, and with a written warranty to that effect; and

(b) that he had no reason to believe at the time of the commission of the alleged offence that it was otherwise; and

(c) that it was then in the same state as when he purchased it

(2) A warranty is only a defence in proceedings under this Act if—

(a) the defendant—

(i) has, not later than three clear days before the date of the hearing, sent to the prosecutor a copy of the warranty with a notice stating that he intends to rely on it and specifying the name and address of the person from whom he received it and

(ii) has also sent a like notice of his intention to that person, and

(b) in the case of a warranty given by a person resident out side the United Kingdom, the defendant proves that he had taken reasonable steps to ascertain, and did in fact believe in, the accuracy of the statement contained in it and

(c) in the case of a prosecution in respect of a sample of milk procured from him, the defendant either—

(i) has within 60 hours after the sample was procured served such a notice as is mentioned in paragraph 12 of Schedule 7, or

(ii) not having served such a notice, proves that he had reasonable cause to believe that such a notice would have been of no effect by reason of the fact that the milk in question was a mixture of milk produced on more than one dairy farm.

(3) Where the defendant is a servant of the person who purchased the article or substance under a warranty, he shall be entitled to rely on the provisions of this section in the same way as his employer would have been entitled to do if he had been the defendant

(4) The person by whom the warranty is alleged to have been given shall be entitled to appear at the hearing and to give evidence, and the court may, if it thinks fit adjourn the hearing to enable him to do so.

(5) For the purposes of this section and section 103, a name or description entered in an invoice shall be deemed to be a written warranty that the article or substance to which the entry refers can be sold or otherwise dealt with under that name or description by any person without contravening any of the provisions of this Act or of regulations made under this Act