SABMiller sees S.Africa liquor charter by early 2005

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s liquor industry hopes to complete a charter improving black empowerment in the sector by early 2005, brewing giant SABMiller said yesterday.

To redress the imbalances of decades of apartheid rule, South Africa is working on charters for its main industries, setting guidelines and targets to ensure greater black participation in ownership, management positions, supply contracts and other benefits. “I hope that we will finish discussions on the liquor sector charter by the first couple of months of next year,” Tony van Kralingen, head of SABMiller’s South African operations, told reporters in Johannesburg.He said the main players in the liquor industry were discussing the terms of the charter amongst themselves.”We’ve been working on it for some time,” he said.Under new legislation governing the country’s liquor industry, companies must apply by early November to convert existing licences into new liquor manufacturers’ and distributors’ licences.That conversion process is automatic, but a year after that they must apply for renewal of those licences from the department of trade and industry, which will take into account their progress on black empowerment targets, meaning the fledgling sector charter should be finished by then.Van Kralingen said the charter would provide a standard against which the trade and industry department could assess applications for licences in future.SABMiller produces over 98 per cent of the beer drunk in South Africa.It campaigned vigorously against proposals to break up the manufacturing and distribution tiers of the industry, which were eventually dropped from the Liquor Bill.The charter will also govern South Africa’s significant wine and spirits industries, as well as companies importing and distributing liquor in South Africa, such as Namibia Breweries, which with partners Heineken and Diageo is challenging SABMiller in the premium beer sector.-Nampa-Reuters”I hope that we will finish discussions on the liquor sector charter by the first couple of months of next year,” Tony van Kralingen, head of SABMiller’s South African operations, told reporters in Johannesburg.He said the main players in the liquor industry were discussing the terms of the charter amongst themselves.”We’ve been working on it for some time,” he said.Under new legislation governing the country’s liquor industry, companies must apply by early November to convert existing licences into new liquor manufacturers’ and distributors’ licences.That conversion process is automatic, but a year after that they must apply for renewal of those licences from the department of trade and industry, which will take into account their progress on black empowerment targets, meaning the fledgling sector charter should be finished by then.Van Kralingen said the charter would provide a standard against which the trade and industry department could assess applications for licences in future.SABMiller produces over 98 per cent of the beer drunk in South Africa.It campaigned vigorously against proposals to break up the manufacturing and distribution tiers of the industry, which were eventually dropped from the Liquor Bill.The charter will also govern South Africa’s significant wine and spirits industries, as well as companies importing and distributing liquor in South Africa, such as Namibia Breweries, which with partners Heineken and Diageo is challenging SABMiller in the premium beer sector.-Nampa-Reuters