The South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction announced on Thursday that its new Online Registration and Permit System is now live. The council is a statutory body, which falls under the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition.
From now on, applications for import and export permits for products and technologies which fall under the ambit of the council should preferably be done online. Until now, all such applications had to be manually submitted by companies to the council. The new system is intended to reduce the administrative load on the council and accelerate service delivery.
The council was created under the 1993 Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act. It regulates the import, export, re-export or transit through South Africa of dual-use products and technologies that could be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.
Companies possessing or handling such products and technologies must register with the council. And international trade in such products and technologies can only be undertaken under permits issued by the council.
Companies already registered with the council will be able to update their details on the new online system. Companies newly applying for registration can now do it entirely online. Regarding applications for permits, the applying companies will also be able to access “additional functionalities” online.