Victorian Current Acts Victorian Current Acts(1) If an authorised officer proposes to take a sample under section 45(1)(h) for use in any legal proceedings under this Act the following provisions apply—
(a) the authorised officer must pay or tender to the owner of the premises or the dairy food or where appropriate an agent or employee the current market value of the dairy food or other substance;
(b) if any dairy food is kept for retail sale in an unopened package, the authorised officer must not require any person to sell less than the whole of the package;
(c) the procuring of the sample and the payment or tender of the current market value are for the purposes of this Act a sale by the owner, agent or employee to the authorised officer of the dairy food contained in the sample.
(2) If an authorised officer obtains a sample of any dairy food with the intention that it be submitted for analysis for use in any legal proceedings under this Act the authorised officer must—
(a) before or as soon as practicable after obtaining the sample, inform the owner or other person from whom the sample was obtained of that intention; and
(b) subject to subsections (3) and (4), divide the sample into three approximately equal parts; and
(c) place each part in a separate package; and
(d) mark in accordance with a Code of Practice each part and seal or fasten each part in such manner as its nature permits; and
(e) leave one of the parts with the owner or other person from whom the sample was obtained; and
(f) submit one of the remaining parts for analysis; and
(g) retain the remaining part for future comparison.
(3) If the division of a sample into three separate parts in accordance with subsection (2)(b) would in the opinion of the authorised officer—
(a) so affect or impair the composition or quality of the sample as to render the separate parts unsuitable for accurate analysis; or
(b) furnish parts insufficient for accurate analysis; or
(c) render the sample in any other way unsuitable for analysis—
the authorised officer must deal with the sample in a manner appropriate in the circumstances having regard to this Act.
(4) If a sample is obtained by an authorised officer in the form of separate or severable objects it is not necessary to divide that sample into parts and it is sufficient compliance with this section if the authorised officer—
(a) obtains a number of those objects; and
(b) divides the number so obtained into the requisite number of parts so that each part consists of one or more such objects; and
(c) deals with the parts in accordance with subsection (2) or (3).
(5) An authorised officer has complied with this section even if the owner or other person from whom the sample was obtained fails or refuses to accept one part of the sample.
S. 50 amended by No. 24/2003 s. 90(2).