The on-going increase in inflation has resulted in the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) increasing its inspection fee by 10.5% from end- September, according to CEO, Luvuyo Mabombo. This was approved by the board, which added that all PPECB’s other fees and levies were set for review on April 1, 2009. It also maintained that this increase was below the CPIX inflation rate – government’s financial measuring tool – and was justified because high inflation had placed PPECB’s fees “under severe pressure”. According to Mike Walwyn, who heads up Morgan Seafreight, and is director of Saaff national and chairman of the Cape Town port liaison committee, whether justified or not, it has to be paid. “The PPECB is a monopoly,” he told FTW, “and there’s nothing the industry can do. “You have to have your product inspected, or you can’t export.”
