Agricultural Produce Agents Act, 1992 (Act No. 12 of 1992)RulesRules in respect of Export Agents, 2025Part 3 - General Duties of Export Agents |
| 11. | Fiduciary Duties |
| (a) | Every export agent and every designated employee owe a fiduciary duty to his principal and must, therefore, at all times render his services— |
| (i) | honestly and in good faith; |
| (ii) | with due skill, care and diligence reasonably expected of a person— |
| (1) | carrying out the same functions in relation to the principal as those carried out by that export agent or that designated employee, whichever is the case; and |
| (2) | having the general knowledge, skill and experience of that export agent or that designated employee, whichever is the case; and |
| (3) | subject to the provisions of Rule 12 below, in the best interests of his principal or principals. |
| 12. | Conflict of Interests |
| (a) | Subject to the provisions of these Rules, an export agent and a designated employee must at all times avoid and where this is not possible, mitigate and disclose in writing a conflict of interest between his personal interests and the interests of their principal, and must comply with and adopt a conflict of interests and conflict of interest’s management policy substantially in the form prescribed by the Council from time to time. |
| 13. | Marketing Agreement |
| (a) | An export agent (subject to subrule (b)) shall within 10 (ten) business days of being mandated by his principal procure that he and his principal execute and sign a written marketing agreement with his principal which, as a minimum, deals with the criteria prescribed by the Council from time to time. |
| (b) | Where, in spite of an export agent’s reasonable commercial efforts, an export agent is unable to enter into a marketing agreement with the applicable principal, the export agent shall communicate the terms and conditions governing their relationship, which shall as a minimum include those matters specified in subrule (a). |
| 14. | Knowledge and Training |
| (a) | An export agent shall (and where the export agent is a legal entity, shall procure that its designated employees) ensure that it has the requisite knowledge, skills and expertise required to ensure that the conduct their business is undertaken in accordance with the applicable laws (inclusive of the Rules) and technical and professional standards common to the Export Agent’s industry. |
| 15. | Publicity and advertisements |
| (a) | An export agent may by means of publicity and advertisements bring his business and the nature of the services rendered by him to the notice of the public, provided— |
| (i) | a due sense of responsibility towards the fresh produce industry and the public is displayed therein; and |
| (ii) | the export agent concerned does not draw comparisons with or disparage the services of other export agents or markets. |
| (b) | An advertisement by any export agent must not contain any statement, promise or forecast which is fraudulent, untrue or misleading. |
| (c) | if it contains— |
| (i) | performance data (including awards and rankings), include references to their source and date; |
| (ii) | illustrations, forecasts or hypothetical data: |
| (1) | contain support in the form of clearly stated basic assumptions (including but not limited to any relevant assumptions in respect of performance, turnover, costs and charges) with a reasonable prospect of being met under current circumstances; and make it clear that they are not guaranteed and are provided for illustrative purposes only. |
| (d) | Information about past performances, also contain a warning that past performances are not necessarily indicative of future performances. |
| 16. | Canvassing and touting |
| (a) | An export agent may canvass for business on condition that he does not: |
| (i) | propagate any false or misleading or questionable information of any nature whatsoever; |
| (ii) | interfere directly or indirectly with the sale, handling or inspection of fresh produce entrusted for sale to another export agent; or |
| (iii) | directly or indirectly influence purchasers not to buy certain fresh products, or fresh produce of a certain class, standard or type, or not to buy fresh produce from a certain export agent, or from a certain principal, unless he can show justification therefore. |
| 17. | Confidentiality |
| (a) | An export agent and an employee may not disclose any confidential information acquired or obtained from a principal in regard to such principal, unless the prior written consent of the principal has been obtained or disclosure of the information is required in the public interest or under any law. |
| 18. | Risk Management |
| (a) | An export agent must at all times have, and effectively employ such resources, procedures and appropriate technological systems that can reasonably be expected to eliminate as far as reasonably possible, the risk that principals will suffer financial loss or damage through theft, fraud, other dishonest acts, negligence or other culpable omissions. |
| (b) | An export agent, must, without limiting the generality of subrule (a), structure his internal control procedures so as to provide reasonable assurance that: |
| (i) | the relevant business can be carried on in an orderly and efficient manner; |
| (ii) | financial and other information used or provided by the export agent will be reliable; |
| (iii) | all funds will be properly and timeously accounted for; and |
| (iv) | all applicable laws and rules will be complied with. |
| 19. | Display of Registration Certificate |
| (a) | An export agent must: |
| (i) | display a certified copy of each registration certificate issued to him/it in a prominent and durable manner within every business premises of the export agent; |
| (ii) | ensure that a reference to the fact that such a registration certificate is held by such export agent, is contained in all business documentation, advertisements and other promotional material; and |
| (iii) | ensure that all registration certificates are at all times immediately or within a reasonable time available for production to any person requesting proof of registration. |