A new inspection team under
the flag of the Department
of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries (Daff) has been
tasked with conducting
investigations of local
and imported animal and
processed products.
It’s effectively quality
control, Billy Makhafola,
the department’s acting
director for food safety and
quality assurance, told FTW.
“Do they comply with the
standards?” he said.
This new operation, he
added, had been created to
enforce the regulations of
the Agricultural Product
Standards Act (APSA), 1990.
To accomplish this, the
department’s government
gazette notice designated
three assignees in January
to inspect various locally
produced/manufactured
as well as imported animal
and processed plant
products.
They were designated
in terms of section 2(3)
of the APSA and “will
be responsible for the
implementation of section
3 and its associated
supporting sections”.
But this relatively
bland-sounding body has
teeth. Any one of the three
assignees can stick its
investigative snout into any
of its designated products
at any point
along the supply
chain – including
factories,
processing
facilities,
distribution
centres, retail
outlets, and
ports of entry.
It can
demand
inspection rights at any of
these points, and the cost
will be for the owner/seller/
importer of the products.
“The cost of inspection
will be based on
gazetted tariffs,” said the
government notice. “Cost
recovery. That’s what
we’re looking for,” said
Makhafola.
Queried on the
motivation for an
inspection and penalties
for non-compliance,
Makhafola was unclear on
the department’s stance.
But, he told FTW, they
were being guided by the
practices of the Perishable
Products Export Control
Board (PPECB).
Also, he noted
that the designated
assignees “are busy
setting up and talking
to the stakeholders.”
And FTW was led
to believe that these
consultations may
revolve around such
things as motivation
and penalties.
Queried about the
timeline for start-off,
Makhafola said that it
would only be after these
talks had been concluded.
“The first assignee (Agency
for Food Safety) will
start mid-March and the
other two (Nejahmogul
Technologies and Agric
Services, and Impumelelo
Agribusiness Solutions) in
April/May.”
The department’s
promotional release
offers quality control
heaven. “The importance
of implementing these
regulations will result
in the promotion of fair
trade practices, consistent
quality products and
consumer protection,” it
said. “The enforcement of
the regulations will further
result in the prevention
of poor quality products
being imported into SA.”
But it says nothing about
the lack of manpower
and skill sets that seem
to bedevil most of these
recent government control
bodies. Nor
about the usual result of
this – delays, delays, delays
and costs. Nor finally
corruption potential,
where “speed me up” bucks
could cross hands.
