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Pretoria - An early warning system to inform South African exporters of standards, regulations and technical specifications being developed by other countries was officially launched in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The system, jointly launched by the SA Bureau of Standards (Sabs) and the department of trade and industry (DTI), will allow exporters to subscribe to a weekly alert email that will notify them of changes.
They can also access the Sabs website to see the latest notifications.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) technical barriers to trade agreement requires that countries publish and inform the WTO of draft technical notifications at least 60 days before those regulations are adopted.
DTI deputy director general Nimrod Zalk said exporters faced an increasing number of regulations governing the products for export.
"The system provides a number of benefits for exporters. It alerts exporters rapidly to proposed changes. This makes it possible for them to submit comments on the proposed changes," he said.
He said that if exporters had concerns about other countries' proposed regulations, they should inform the DTI as soon as possible so that it could broach the matter with South Africa's trading concerns.
The DTI's director of technical infrastructure Elsabe Steyn said that about 45% of the regulations implemented by WTO member countries related to health and safety, but an increasing number of notifications were about environmental standards.
She said it was not unheard of for countries to impose standards on various goods in a bid to create a non-tariff barrier that would make it more difficult for exporters.
Zalk said early access to the newly-implemented system would allow exporters to comply with the standards in their respective export markets, and to ensure that they would not be caught unawares with products that they could no longer export.
The system, jointly launched by the SA Bureau of Standards (Sabs) and the department of trade and industry (DTI), will allow exporters to subscribe to a weekly alert email that will notify them of changes.
They can also access the Sabs website to see the latest notifications.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) technical barriers to trade agreement requires that countries publish and inform the WTO of draft technical notifications at least 60 days before those regulations are adopted.
DTI deputy director general Nimrod Zalk said exporters faced an increasing number of regulations governing the products for export.
"The system provides a number of benefits for exporters. It alerts exporters rapidly to proposed changes. This makes it possible for them to submit comments on the proposed changes," he said.
He said that if exporters had concerns about other countries' proposed regulations, they should inform the DTI as soon as possible so that it could broach the matter with South Africa's trading concerns.
The DTI's director of technical infrastructure Elsabe Steyn said that about 45% of the regulations implemented by WTO member countries related to health and safety, but an increasing number of notifications were about environmental standards.
She said it was not unheard of for countries to impose standards on various goods in a bid to create a non-tariff barrier that would make it more difficult for exporters.
Zalk said early access to the newly-implemented system would allow exporters to comply with the standards in their respective export markets, and to ensure that they would not be caught unawares with products that they could no longer export.
