In terms of the Consumer Protection Act No 68 of 2008, the National Consumer Commission (NCC) was established on April 1, 2011 and is responsible for the enforcement of the CPA.
Subsection 24(4) of the CPA provides for the minister of trade and industry to prescribe by regulation categories of goods to which trade description, country of origin, and information to be included in any trade description must be applied.
The authority for the South African Revenue Service (Sars) to detain products and to verify compliance with labelling requirements prescribed in Regulation 6 is at the request of the NCC, and the NCC is responsible for the administration of the mentioned legislation.
Sars, in partnership with other government agencies, is engaged in ongoing efforts to combat the illicit trading in clothing, textiles, footwear and leather goods and, as a direct consequence of legislation requirements, detains and refers goods within the specified classification to the NCC.
It is within these circumstances that serious service delivery issues have been encountered by importers, exporters and their appointed clearing agents.
While it is not in contention that consumers must be protected, this should not be achieved by the creation of a non-tariff trade barrier which hinders, rather than facilitates, trade.
It is therefore important to highlight the following from the NCC’s official website: Three of the NCC’s value statements include: “Promote efficient, effective and economic use of resources”; “Accept responsibility for its own actions”; and “Promote coherent and effective teams within the NCC”.
It has become increasingly apparent that the NCC is unable to fulfil either its own mission statement or any of its value statements, this at considerable additional cost to traders.
Concerns to be addressed include having no physical presence at any port of entry, the complete failure to communicate, not being accountable to trade, the restrictive compliance requirements, and the negative impact the NCC has on the economy.
Documented case studies show that a consignment may take 180 days to be finalised, and most concerning, these include cases where the goods were found to be compliant and released.
The results of an intervention by the NCC may often expose illicit goods but it must be taken into account that not every importer/exporter is guilty of an offence. However, the impact on the trader is the same and includes delays in delivery resulting in lost or cancelled orders, excessive storage costs, additional administrative costs, loss of income, tarnished relationship with international trading partners and local trading partners, and emotional and mental stress when dealing with the NCC.
Industry understands that all other government agencies have an important role to play in the logistics supply chain to ensure compliance with regulations and to protect consumers.
It is imperative, however, that any intervention which disrupts the free flow of goods be addressed.
Electronic and digital systems are readily available, and government has the responsibility to ensure the ease of doing business to facilitate trade and boost the economy while ensuring compliance.
