The National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) confirmed on Tuesday that it would, from July, begin piloting a new system for the issuance of Letters of Authority (LoAs) to importers requiring proof that their products meet South Africa’s compulsory specifications.

CEO Asogan Moodley outlined the plan at a business briefing in Johannesburg hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce, where several attendees expressed deep frustration over the time it was currently taking to secure such authorisation.

Addressing the gathering in the presence of Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies, Moodley said the NRCS was aware that many companies were dissatisfied with the current process through which LoA’s were issued in 120 days. They noted that, in the past, LoAs were received within 21 days.

However, he stressed that the organisation’s mission was not the issuances of such letters, but rather the protection of the South African consumer and the environment in a context where the incidence of dangerous and noncompliant imports was rising.

“Since 2012, the amount of noncompliant products that we have taken away from the market has exceeded R1-billion, despite us only interrogating 0.6% of containers that have come into the country,” Moodley said, adding that these products posed serious risks to citizens and the environment.

These products were as diverse as noncompliant compact fluorescent light bulbs, paraffin stoves and part-worn tyres to imported prawns and Christmas decorations.

Through the pilot, the NRCS aimed to categorise products as low, medium or high risk so as to accelerate the issuance of LoAs, especially for products categorised as carrying a low risk of noncompliance. Such products could receive letters in as little a nine working days under an “expedited” approval process.

“We realise that not everybody has the same risk profile,” Moodley said, adding that the product specific risk categorisation would, in future, determine the treatment of imported products under the proposed system.

NRCS expected the new system to be finalised by the end of June and for the pilot to be rolled out between July and December.