(1) After receipt of a complaint under section 11, an authorized officer shall conduct an investigation.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the Department has reasonable grounds to believe that a supplier is in breach of this Act, an authorized officer shall conduct an investigation.
(3) Where an authorized officer conducts an investigation under subsection (1) or (2), he or she may enter, during business hours, the premises of a place of business to —
(a) make a test purchase;
(b) inspect goods and premises;
(c) request and take a sample of goods;
(d) inspect documents relating to the investigation and make copies of, or take extracts from, the documents;
(e) request information, documents and evidence;
(f) inspect equipment used in the manufacturing, processing or storing of goods.
(4) Where a sample of goods or a document is removed from the premises of the business place during an investigation, the owner, operator or person in charge of the business must sign a document to acknowledge removal of the sample of the goods or the document.
(5) In a case where the owner, operator or person in charge of a business denies an authorized officer entry into the premises of a business place under subsection (3), section 15 applies.
(6) Where the person making a complaint alleges a defect in the goods which cannot be determined without proper analysis or test of the goods, the Department shall, in the prescribed manner —
(a) obtain a sample of the goods from the complainant;
(b) seal the sample and authenticate it; and
(c) subject to subsection (7), submit the sealed sample to an appropriate laboratory along with a direction to the laboratory to —
(i) make an analysis or test of the goods, whichever may be necessary,
(ii) determine whether the goods have a defect alleged in the complaint,
(iii) determine whether the goods have a defect that is not alleged in the complaint,
(iv) determine whether the goods have a defect that poses a health risk.
(7) Before a sealed sample of the goods is submitted to an appropriate laboratory, the Department shall require the person making the complaint to pay the prescribed fee, to enable the laboratory to carry out the necessary analysis or tests.
(8) The Department shall remit the amount paid under subsection (7) to the laboratory for carrying out the necessary analysis or test in relation to the goods in question.
(9) On completion of the analysis or tests, the laboratory shall submit to the Department its findings in the prescribed form within a period of 45 days of receiving the sealed sample or within such extended period as may be granted by the Department.
(10) After completing an investigation under this section, an authorized officer shall prepare and submit an investigation report to the Director in accordance with section 17.
(Substituted by Act 14 of 2021)