Standards regulatory body signs agreement

A MEMORANDUM of agreement was signed in Windhoek yesterday on technical co-operation between the Namibian Standards Institution (NSI) and South Africa’s National Regulator for Compulsory Specification (NRCS).

• THORSTEN SCHIER

The NRCS is the newly established offshoot of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), which has been regulating especially the Namibian fishing sector since Independence.
The bureau makes sure the quality of Namibian products meets national and international quality standards, making it extremely important for Namibia’s exports.
When the Namibian Government was informed in 2005 that the SABS could no longer operate beyond South African borders, it was decided to establish the NSI.
This new institution would take over joint regulating responsibilities with the SABS until 2009, whereafter it would take sole responsibility.
The memorandum was ‘designed to mitigate the expected risks… regarding Namibia’s obligations to ensuring safe, wholesome and quality food products’, according to NSI CEO Riundja Kaakunga.
He said establishing a recognised Namibian regulatory authority would be key in ‘avoiding serious economic implications for the country’.
One of the key regulations in this is European Union directive 97/296/EC, which Namibia complies with.
It regulates which countries are allowed to export their products to the EU.
As the NRCS was established in South Africa in the years after the initial agreement, taking over key regulatory functions from the SABS, the NSI found it necessary to also enter into an agreement on technical co-operation with the new agency.
The agreement provides for the availability of qualified staff from the NRSC, assistance on establishing a costing system regarding the fishing and canned meat sectors and in-house training, among other things.
It will run for the next three years.