The National Regulator for
Compulsory Specifications (NRCS)
will again be called before Parliament’s
portfolio committee after missing the
March deadline to clear a massive
backlog of letters of
authority (LOAs).
Customs will not
release goods to
importers without an
LOA which provides
proof of compliance
with SA standards, but
the organisation has
been under pressure
resulting in a backlog of
thousands of LOAs.
There are growing
concerns over the
backlog – particularly
since this is the second
missed deadline.
According to
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP and
shadow minister for trade and
industry, Geordin Hill-Lewis, March
31, 2017 was already an extension of a
November 14, 2016 deadline set down
by Parliament.
He told FTW that there was no
indication of how long it was taking
the NRCS to clear an LOA or even how
big the backlog was.
“We do not have updated statistics
for this,” he said, indicating that it
would be on the agenda at another
parliamentary briefing.
Earlier this year FTW reported
that only 29% of new
applications were
being processed within
120 days, while it was
estimated that the
backlog of long-overdue
applications was more
than 1600.
“There has been a
near total meltdown in
service delivery related
to an original bad
decision to lengthen
the approval period
to 120 days,” said
Hill-Lewis. “This has
been exacerbated by
a disagreement with
organised labour, and a sudden change
in membership.”
In September last year NRCS
CEO Asogan Moodley resigned with
immediate effect amidst rumours
that the move was due to ongoing
frustration at the lack of cooperation in
the processing of LOAs.
There has been a
near total meltdown
in service delivery
related to an original
bad decision to
lengthen the approval
period to 120 days.
– Geordin Hill-Lewis
