In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—

"animal"

means any animal declared by the Minister in terms of section 2;

"authorised person"

means any person, other than an officer, who has been authorised by the registrar under section 3(3) to carry out a specific function in terms of this Act;

"cancel"

in relation to an identification mark, means any interference whereby that identification mark is rendered illegible or less legible;

"document of identification"

means a document of identification referred to in section 6(1) of the Stock Theft Act, 1959 (Act No. 57 of 1959);

"group"

in relation to animals, means a species, breed or kind of animal;

"identification mark"

means any registered mark registered in terms of section 5(2) and placed on any animal for any purpose, and includes any representation of a mark intended to be placed on any animals, as the circumstances may require, but does not include any—

"mark"

means to place an identification mark on any animal;

"marking instrument"

means any instrument used or intended to be used for marking animals;

"marking operator"

means a person registered in terms of section 11 to mark animals;

"Minister"

means the Minister of Agriculture;

"officer"

means an officer as defined in section 1(1) of the Public Service Act, 1994 (Proclamation No. 103 of 1994), read with section 1 of the Public Service Amendment Act, 1996 (Act No. 13 of 1996);

"owner"

in relation to any registered identification mark, means the person or, in the case of the State, the Department in whose name such identification mark is registered;

"police official"

means any member of the service as defined in section 1 of the South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act No. 68 of 1995), and "police" has a corresponding meaning;

"prescribed"

means prescribed by regulation;

"registered"

means registered in terms of this Act, and "registration" has a corresponding meaning;

"registrar"

means the officer designated as Registrar of Animal Identification in terms of section 3;

"sale"

includes an agreement to sell, and any offer, advertisement, exposure, transfer of ownership, conveyance or delivery for sale, exchange or disposal in any manner, whether for any consideration or otherwise, and "sell" has a corresponding meaning;

"this Act"

includes any regulations made under section 18.