South Africa – new dairy regulations come into effect

On 27 March 2015, the Regulations relating to the Classification, Packing and Marking of Dairy Products and Imitation Dairy Products Intended for Sale in the Republic of South Africa (“R260”) were finalised and published by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

The regulations state that they shall come into operation 12 months after the date of publication, which means that as from 27 March 2016, the new regulations have come into effect.

One of the main implications of the new dairy legislation is that dairy products will now be categorised according to five different designations, namely: high-fat, full-fat, medium-fat, low-fat and fat-free (skimmed). A summary of the difference between the previous and the new legislation is provided in the table below.