TSHEKO RATSHEKO

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• PRESENTED BY
• TSHEKO RATSHEKO
• SOUTH AFRICAN BUREAU OF STANDARDS

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FOCUS AREAS

• Standards and Standardization
• SABS structure and mandates
• International links Standards
• Relation of Standards Legislation
• Discussion

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SABS VISION

• TO BE A LEADING STANDARDISATION AND REGULATORY
  BODY

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SABS MISSION

• To improve SA competitiveness open markets for
  SA products and improve quality of SA products
• protect the consumer

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Historical Development
• Gold Mining Industry, 1909
• South African Standards Institution, 1934
• South African Bureau of Standards, 1945
• Enabling Legislation
• Standards Act, Act No.24 of 1945
• Standards Act revised in
• 1962
• 1982 and
• 1993
• Current - Standards Act, Act No. 29 of 1993

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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

• Peer Review and System Review 1997
• Clearly identified three core competencies
• Recommended separation of state funded and
  commercial operations
• Restructured SABS during August 1998 into three
  Strategic Business Units (SBUs)

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COUNCIL
SABS CEO
NON-COMMERCIAL
CORPORATE
COMMERCIAL
HOLDINGS PTY LTD
JOINT VENTURES
STANDARDS
DESIGN INSTITUTE
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT
REGULATORY
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STANDARDIZATION Business Arguments

• Leveraging World Markets
• A business imperative
• Confirmation of quality
• Diffusion of innovation
• Economic benefits

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STANDARDIZATION Consumer Arguments

• Standards define safety, quality
• Consumers wish to be involved in defining their
  own choices
• Problems for consumer organizations
• Standardization technical in nature
• Funding major stumbling block
• Availability of Information
• Consumer Organizations, i.e. NGOs, governmental,
  etc.

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SABS ISO 9000 series

• Quality Assurance System adopted from ISO 9000
  series
• Comprises of following standards SABS ISO
  9001/2/3/4

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SABS ISO 14001

• Environmental Management System
• The SABS14001 standards assist organizations in
  managing their activities v/s the environment

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INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

• The SABS is a respected member of the
  international standards community e.g
• ISO
• IEC and
• ETSI, etc.
• The SABS is involved in the governance of ISO and
  IEC at the highest level, e.g
• ISO Council/ IEC Committee of Action

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COMPULSORY STANDARDS

• WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement
• Code of Practice for development of Standards
• Time for comment
• Transparency
• Notification of National Programs for
• Technical Regulations
• Standards

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CURRENT SITUATION

• Very fragmented system with four basic
  approaches, namely
• Compulsory Standards under the Standards Act
• SABS Standards referenced in legislation
• SABS Mark and other product certification marks
  required in terms of legislation
• Technical Regulation text contained directly in
  legislation
• Society is not optimally served by the variety of
  approaches

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SOME IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

• Standards(Voluntary)
• Technical Regulations(Compulsory by law)
• Conformity Assessment(Testing, certification,
  Inspection, Accreditation

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TECHNICAL REGULATIONS (WTO/TBT MODEL)
LEGISLATION
Product Characteristic
Administrative Procedure
Standard
Regulator
Conformity Assessment
Sanction
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REGULATOR

• Statutory powers
• Functions
• Approvals
• Market Surveillance
• Sanctions

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STANDARDS

• Provides product characteristics
• Based on International Standards
• Options
• Reference to Standards
• Text in Legislation

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CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT

• Service Providers
• Public
• Private
• Regulator approval
• Accreditation
• Accountability/good governance

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AREAS OF COMPULSORY STANDARDS

• Electrotechnical Gaming
• Automotive(for components)
• Foods
• Legal Metrology
• Human Health and Environment

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STANDARDS REFERENCE IN

• National Road Traffic Act
• National Gambling Board Act
• OSH Act
• Trade Metrology Act
• Health Act
• Fire Arms Act
• Environmental Conservation Act
• Foodstuffs, Cosmetics Disinfectants Act
• Water Services Act
• Agricultural Products Act, etc

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INTERNATIONAL ALIGNMENT (1)

• SABS Standards are increasingly being harmonized
  with (? 23 and growing)
• ISO
• IEC
• ETSI
• Codex Alimentarius
• UN ECE etc.
• SABS Standards development is totally aligned
  with ISO/IEC Directives and WTO/TBT requirements

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INTERNATIONAL ALIGNMENT (2)

• SABS Information Centre currently keeps more than
  500 000 standards
• The SABS facilitates South African representation
  in a vast number of International Committees,
  e.g
• 77 ISO
• 52 IEC and
• more than 600 sub-committees working groups,
  etc.
• SABS Standards are to a large extent the de
  facto SADC Standards

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REGIONAL ALIGNMENT SADC

• SADC
• Southern African Development Community
• Declaration and Treaty, Windhoek, 1992
• 14 Member States
• Angola, Botswana, Congo, Lesotho, Malawi,
  Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South
  Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

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SADCSTANSADC Cooperation in Standards

• National Standards Organizations (NSBs) of
  Member States
• Main Objectives (in support of SADC Protocol on
  Trade)
• Promote regional cooperation in development of
  harmonized regional standards
• Facilitate exchange of information on standards
• Facilitate adoption of regional standards
• Mutual support amongst NSBs

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SADC REGIONAL STANDARDSCurrent drafts for voting

• Common Cements
• Masonry Cement
• Tyres
• Motor Vehicles Trailers
• Tyres
• Commercial Vehicles Trailers
• Electrical Plugs Sockets
• Electrical Installations

• Canned Fish / Products / Molluscs
• Canned Crustaceans
• Frozen Fish / Products/Molluscs
• Frozen Lobster / Products
• Frozen Shrimps / Langoustines / Crabs

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END

• THANKS