The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) has placed the implementation of the Pre-Export Verification of Conformity (PVoC) programme on hold.
In a statement issued on Friday, the organisation said the decision would take effect immediately and would remain in force pending the conclusion of an ongoing consultation process.
"The SABS, in collaboration with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), has placed on hold all activities associated with the operationalisation of the proposed PVoC programme, including implementation readiness activities, while further consultations are undertaken," the statement said.
"During this period, no implementation actions will be progressed until the consultation process has been concluded and a further decision has been made."
The decision follows comments submitted through the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) process, as well as feedback received from industry stakeholders.
The PVoC programme was due to become mandatory on September 20 and would have required a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) to be issued in China before goods could be shipped to South Africa. The certificate would confirm that products complied with South African safety and quality standards before leaving the country of origin.
The SABS has previously said the programme was intended to prevent unsafe and non-compliant products from entering the South African market.
Industry stakeholders, however, raised concerns about the proposed implementation. One of the key issues was that neither the prohibited and restricted list nor the customs tariff book differentiated between goods originating in China and those from any other country. Stakeholders argued that unless this was resolved before implementation, all products falling under the affected HS codes, regardless of their country of origin, could potentially be detained by customs pending the presentation of a Certificate of Conformity.
They also noted that the China Certification and Inspection Group (CCIC), the third-party body expected to carry out inspections and issue the certificates in China, had not yet received approval from the Chinese government to proceed with the programme. Unless these issues were resolved, implementation could bring imports to a standstill, industry warned.
