New standards body on cards

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 28 Jan 2008

Parliament has started to consider the future of the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS), which sets many of the safety benchmarks used in the ICT industry and the rest of the economy.

The National Assembly is considering the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) Bill and the Standards Bill that will strip the SABS of its regulatory and enforcement functions and vest it a new agency, the NRCS. The Standards Bill will redefine the SABS as the developer of standards, be it the correct weight of a loaf of bread, or safety features on a laptop.

Department of Trade and Industry acting deputy director-general for enterprise and industry development Sipho Zikode last week told the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry the separation of standard setting and standard enforcement is in line with World Trade Organisation requirements. Other reasons given to MPs for changing the current system included globalisation, industrial policy and "effectiveness and efficiency".

Geoff Visser, SABS standards executive, said another negative of the current system is the perception that the authority has abused its position by introducing standards that "may not have been strictly necessary" in order to generate income. "The separation of the bodies means that there would be a standards base and a conformity assessment base that would act independently of the regulatory base," he said.

To achieve its mandate, the NRCS will have the power to sample, inspect and test products, audit manufacturing and other processes, and the right to examine documentary evidence. Zikode said SA has 80 compulsory standards and many more voluntary benchmarks. The SABS has a turnover of R400 million from standards and conformity assessment.

Visser said the Bills will enable the more efficient application of those standards and regulations and would not pose an unfair barrier to trade.

Zikode added that the separation of the bodies would allow others to enter the market. According to him, there are not enough companies that do testing and certification.