Conditions under which a warranty may be pleaded as defence

(1) Subject to this section, in the case of any prosecution under Part II, Part III, or Part IV in respect of selling, exposing or offering for sale, or having in possession for sale, an article which was not of a nature, substance or quality entitling a person to sell or otherwise deal with it under the description or in the manner under, or in, which the defendant dealt with it, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove– (a) that he purchased it as being an article of such a nature, substance and quality as would have so entitled him and with a written warranty to that effect; (b) that he had no reason to believe at the time of the com-mission of the alleged offence that it was otherwise; and (c) that it was then in the same state as when he purchased it. (2) A warranty shall only be a defence to proceedings under this Act if– (a) the defendant has within seven days of the service of the summons sent to the prosecutor a copy of the warranty with a notice stating that he intends to rely on it and specifying the name and address of the person from whom he received it, and has also sent a like notice of his intention to that person; (b) in the case of a warranty given by a person resident outside Belize, the defendant proves that he had taken reasonable steps to ascertain, and did in fact believe in, the accuracy of the statement contained therein; and Schedule II. (c) in the case of a prosecution in respect of a sample of milk, the defendant has within seventy-two hours after the sample was procured served such a notice as is mentioned in paragraph (2) of Schedule II. (3) Where the defendant is a servant of the person who purchased the article under a warranty, he shall be entitled to rely on the provisions of this section in the same way as his employer would have been entitled to do if he had been the (4) The person by whom the warranty is alleged to have been given shall be entitled to appear at the hearing and to give evidence, and the court may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the hearing to enable him to do so. (5) For the purposes of this section and section 46, a name or description entered in an invoice shall be deemed to be a written warranty that the food or drug to which the entry refers is of such a nature, substance and quality that a person can sell, or otherwise deal with it, under the name or description without contravening any of the provisions of this Act or of regulations made thereunder. 62