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National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act, 2008 (Act No. 5 of 2008)

Compulsory Specifications

13. Compulsory specifications

 

(1) The Minister may, on the recommendation of the National Regulator, in respect of any commodity, product or service which may affect public safety, health or the environment, by notice in the Gazette
(a) declare a SANS or a provision of a SANS to be a compulsory specification
(i) by referring to the title and the number of that standard only, without indicating the year or edition number, and if that SANS is amended, the amended SANS is deemed to have been incorporated: or
(ii) by referring to the title, number and year or edition number of that SANS,
(b) declare an amended SANS or an amended provision of a SANS to be a compulsory specification if the original declaration was made in terms of subsection (1)(a)(ii);
(c) declare or amend a compulsory specification if a SANS or a provision of a SANS is not available in terms of paragraphs (a) and (b); or
(d) withdraw a compulsory specification.

[Section 13(1) substituted by amendment No. 5 of Schedule 2 of Act No. 9 of 2014 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2014]

 

(2) A notice under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c)—
(a) must contain full particulars of the specification, provision or amendment;
(b) comes into operation on a date fixed in the notice, which date may not be less than two months after the date of publication of the notice;
(c) may fix different dates on which different provisions of a compulsory specification come into operation.

 

(3) The Minister may alter a date referred to in subsection 2(b) or (c) by notice in the Gazette.

 

(4) The Minister may not publish a notice under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (c), unless a preliminary notice has been published in the Gazette
(a) setting out full particulars of the proposed compulsory specification or amendment; and
(b) in which interested persons are invited to comment on the proposed compulsory specification in writing by not less than two months after the date of the publication of the preliminary notice.

 

(5) The Minister must consult with the Minister responsible for administering any Act or regulations that regulate the import, sale or supply of any commodity, product or service, or any process, that is the subject of a preliminary notice in terms of subsection (4)(a).

 

(6) A notice under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (e) may—
(a) require that a commodity or product to which a compulsory specification applies be marked in the prescribed manner with a distinctive mark, which constitutes a declaration of conformity to the requirements of a compulsory specification:
(b) require that importers and manufacturers label a commodity or product to which a compulsory specification applies in accordance with its origin, hatch, date of manufacture, characteristics or other particulars of the article;
(c) require that importers and manufacturers be in possession of a letter of authority certificate issued by the National Regulator, in terms of section 5(2)(f);
(d) amend a requirement referred to in paragraph (b); and
(e) withdraw a requirement referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d).

 

(7) The Minister may give effect to subsections (1) and (6) in the same notice.

 

(8) The Minister may make regulations in terms of section 36 that set out the consultation process which must precede the declaration or amendment contemplated in subsection (1)(c).