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South Africa will fight against the importation of illegal goods and the economy is not open to be invaded by sub-standard products. This was said by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies during the destruction of non-complying goods function hosted by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) in Durban today.
 
Minister Davies warned those in the value chain of importing and dealing in non-complying products and selling them in the country that government and its agencies are going to double their efforts in making sure that sub-standard, unsafe and harmful products are locked out of the market.
 
“The majority of South African companies and industry associations do comply with the standards set by the NRCS. We need to up our game in making sure that those who do not comply do so and encourage collaborations with various stakeholders, including the private sector, that will lead to fair competition while protecting consumers and manufacturers,’’ added Davies.
 
According to Minister Davies, there is only one direction to take from here, which is the direction of strengthening partnerships with other government departments and the private sector. Davies added that, this will tighten the regulation activities, sustain and encourage fair competition while protecting consumers against unethical and exploitative trade practices.
 
The Chief Executive Officer of the NRCS, Mr Asogan Moodley said the NRCS to date has confiscated approximately 15 million non-compliant products to the value of R10.2 million.
 
 “We are more determined to locate and destroy non-compliant products for the benefit of our consumers, manufacturers and the economy,” added Moodley.
 
Moodley encouraged the country to be more vigilant to the damage that unchecked goods can do to the sustainability of the businesses and the health of South Africans.
 
The non-complying products were confiscated by the NRCS inspectors while conducting market surveillance aimed at ensuring compliance with compulsory specifications and ridding the country of unsafe products. A significant percentage of the products were intercepted at the ports of entry including sea ports and inland ports.