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- The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa has managed to interdict the seizure of plant-based products, pending review.
- The state had wanted to seize the products on the basis that the use of terms associated with meat could confuse consumers.
- The high court victory is expected to be widely welcomed in the plant-based food segment.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
The Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA) has managed to stave off – indefinitely – the planned seizure of certain plant-based products from its members' supermarket shelves, pending a review of government's decision to do so in the first place.
Government had wanted to ban the use of certain product names for plant-based meat alternatives on the basis that they were too similar to the names of processed meat products, which could potentially confuse consumers.
This meant plant-based products with names such as "nugget" and "sausage" would have prohibited.
Is it meat you're looking for?
But the victory in the High Court in Gauteng on Tuesday saw the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and its agency, the Food Safety Agency (FSA), interdicted from seizing any goods, pending the outcome of the CGCSA's application to review the decision to seize the products.
The judgment on Tuesday stated that if perishable goods were seized from all intended points, there was a "risk of real and irreparable financial harm".
If the seizures were not interdicted, it added, the pending review application would be moot.
The CGCSA already received a temporary interdict last year after it became aware of the state's plan, through the FSA, to seize these plant-based goods on 22 August.
It argued in court at the time, among other things, that there were no regulations in SA for meat analogue products, and no product names prescribed or reserved for processed meat products in terms of the Agricultural Products Standards Act 119 of 1990.
It argued, therefore, that there was no basis in law for the FSA's actions.
In a statement released after the latest judgment was handed down on Tuesday, the CGCSA, which represents more than 9 000 businesses including top manufacturers, retailers and wholesalers, said its main argument was that the planned seizure of these vegetarian and vegan products constituted "significant overreach".
CGCSA CEO Zinhle Tyikwe said in a statement the victory gave certainty to the growing plant-based based industry, which was not only providing healthy alternatives, but also contributing to employment and economic growth.
Tyikwe further called for the DALRRD to work together to find "common ground" and draft new regulations for plant-based products.
"We have always argued that there is need for the department to work with the CGCSA and other industry stakeholders to formulate/draft new regulations for these products which the department actually acknowledged during engagements with industry in April last year. We therefore look forward to working with the department so that we can find common ground for the good of the analogue meat products industry and consumers in particular and the wider economy in general," she said.
P(l)ants on fire: are the terms misleading?
Lawtons Africa attorney Sarah Goldman, who represents plant-based advocacy group ProVeg, said it was the "biggest victory" the plant-based food segment in SA could hope for at present, adding that the court was effectively saying the state could not touch these products because there was a "valid fight being fought" and the legal process had to run its course.
She said ProVeg and producers in the meat analogue industry were looking forward to the outcome of the review application, which would hopefully provide clarity for future regulation.
Goldman said ProVeg agreed with the CGCSA that since there were no regulations currently covering plant-based meat alternatives, it was "indeed an overreach" to try to extend processed meat regulations to analogue products.
The ultimate goal, she said, was to create regulations specifically for the meat analogue industry that were geared towards its specific needs – and the fact that it represents numerous SMEs in SA. The meat analogue segment is here to stay and good for economic growth, she added.
In light of this, Goldman argued that now was really a time to regulate the plant-based industry instead of taking punitive actions that could negatively affect the industry's contribution.
