The Committee held at least 24 meetings. Much of the Committee's work was in the form of formal parliamentary meetings, either arranged at the specific request of stakeholders, or on the Committee's initiative. Over the course of the year meetings were held with the Minister, Director-General, departmental officials, statutory bodies (Nedlac, Estate Agents Board) and interest groups (eg. Foundation for Global Dialogue).
Dates and Agenda's of meetings:
14/02 Bill [81-95]
8/02 Briefing by dept on small business promotion
6/3 Briefing by dept on RIDP
13/3 Workplan for 96/97 budget
20/3 Briefing by dept on property transaction policy
27/3 Adoption of Report on accession to the Budapest Treaty
04/06 Hearings on Budget Vote No. 34
18/6 Briefing by Competition Board on SABS & CSIR dispute and alleged collusion between banks over rise in interest rates
12/08 Briefing by Chief Director of Foreign Trade Relations on SA/EU negotiations
14/08 Briefing by Nedlac on its activities
21/8 Bill [37-96]
Adoption of Report on alleged collusion on between banks over rise in interest rates
29/8 Discussion with the Taiwanese delegation led by its Premier on SA/Taiwanese trade relations.
2/9 Joint Hearings with Portfolio Committees on Foreign Affairs and Agriculture on the SA/EU race relations
4/9 Bill [57-96]
18/9 Deliberation on request to accede to bilateral agreements with France, Denmark, Germany, South Korea and Switzerland
9/10 Bill [56-96]
16/10 Bill [79-96]
18/10 Bill [96-96]
23/10 Bill [96-95]
24/10 Briefing by Economic Commission & African Multi-Regional Advisory Group on lessons to be learnt from the European Convention
28/10 Adoption of Bill [96-96] with amendments
06/11 Briefing by Minister on SACU/EU negotiations
22/11 Briefing on SA mandate to EU joint meeting with Foreign Affairs and Agriculture committees, held in Pretoria
2. VISITS
In April a delegation of five members represented the Committee at the South African International Development Forum held in Pretoria
In August the Committee hosted the Taiwanese Premier and visiting professors from the Foundation for Global Dialogue. who briefed the Committee on their impressions on South Africa's economic relations with her trading partners and the rest of the world.
In November the Committee embarked on a study tour of the provinces of which the purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of the promotion of small business strategy. All provinces were visited except the Northern Cape whose trip was cancelled at the last minutes due to the unavailability of members .
- In December one member represented the Committee at the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation held in Singapore.
3. PUBLIC HEARINGS
The Committee acknowledged that hearings should not take place solely in Cape Town, but also that on certain matters of national importance it is crucial for open and accessible public hearings to be held elsewhere.
4. BILLS REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE
(A) [B 81-95] Estate Agents amendment Bill
To amend the Estate Agents Act, 1976, so as to amend the constitution of the Board and to provide that the said Act shall also apply in the territories of the former Republics of Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei and the areas which comprised the territories declared under section 26 of the Self-governing Territories Constitution Act, 1971, to be self-governing territories; and to provide for matters connected therewith
Agreed to with amendments.
(B) [B 37-96] Rationalisation of Corporate Laws Bill
To provide that certain corporate laws shall apply throughout the Republic; to repeal certain other corporate laws; to provide for the retrospective incorporation cf certain putative close corporations; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
Agreed to with amendments.
(C) [B 56-96] Trade Metroloqv Amendment Bill
To amend the Trade Metrology Act, 1973, so as to authorise the Minister cf Trade and Industry to assign to provincial governments the carrying out of certain functions specified in that act; to authorise the president of the SABS to disclose certain information in order to prevent the consumer from being misled or to inform the public of the names of persons who do not comply wit the provision of _hat Act; and to provide f^r matters connected therewith.
Agreed to without amendments.
(D) [B 57-96] Integration of Usury Laws Bill,
To extend the application of the Usury Act, 1968, 'o areas which constituted the national territories and territories cr certain former states and self-governing territories; to repeal certain laws relating Usury which apply in some of the said territories; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
Agreed to with an amendment.
(E) [B 78-96] Intellectual Property Laws Rationalisation Bill,
To provide for the integration of intellectual property rights subsisting in Bophuthatswana, Transkei, Venda and Ciskei into the national system; to extend the South African intellectual property rights legislation throughout the Republic; to repeal certain other intellectual property laws; and provide for matters connected therewith.
Agreed to with amendments.
(F) [B 79-96] Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Amendment Bill
To amend the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass destructions Act, 1993, so as to make provision for the representation of the Department of Trade and Industry in the South African council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction; and to render punishable any contravention of, or any failure to comply with, the provisions of a certain notice or the conditions of a certain permit; and to make provision for matters connected therewith.
Aqreed to without amendments.
(G) [B 96-96] National Small Business Bill
To provide for the establishment of the National small business council and the Ntsika Enterprise Promotion; and to provide for guidelines to be followed by organs of state ln order to promote small business in the Republic; and to provide for matters incidental thereto.
Agreed to with amendments.
(H) [B 106-96] Board on Tariffs and Trade Amendment Bill, still to be considered.
5. MATTERS REFERRED
ORDERED: That the request to agree, in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution, to the accession of the Republic of South Africa to the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro organism for the Purpose of Patent Procedures, 1977, by depositing an instrument of accession in terms of Article 15(1)(ii) of the Treaty, be referred to the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Select Committee on Trade and Industry, Public Enterprises and Foreign Affairs.
Accession agreed to.
REQUESTED: Ratification of Bilateral Agreements on the promotion and protection of investments with South Korea, France, Cuba, and Denmark.
The Committee did not recommend that the relevant agreements become part of South African law as the Committee was not sufficiently briefed from a policy perspective of the need therefor.
6. CONCLUSION
The fact that Members also serve in various committee has meant that there is a problem with attendance of meetings regularly. However it is appreciated that most members made an effort to be there not only for meetings in Cape Town, but also public hearings that were held elsewhere.
The year also saw the introduction of more administrative support for the Committee. In October, Dr R H Davies was also elected Chairperson of the Committee. It has been a learning year for the Office of the Chairperson, Committees Section and the researchers who put in a tremendous effort in making the Committee function as smoothly as possible. The Committee would also like to thank all sections of Parliament for their support and the media for the interest they showed in the Committee.
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