EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
The plan is to link the proposed informal
RAC technician skills programme to a
QCTO part or full qualification so the
training programme has currency.
He also gave some feedback in
terms of what is needed for the module
structure for it to be a valid qualification
and looked at deliverables needed for
the skills programme.
To develop this skills programme and
its curriculum in accordance with this
framework, DEA is working with the South
African Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Contractors’ Association (SARACCA).
The aim is to put together a five-day
curriculum. But they will start small and do
a pilot study first to test it out.
There was still a concern about how
to identify these ‘informal’ technicians to
be trained. John Ackermann suggested
promoting the training by using personal
safety as a hook and communicating to
the market that training of such a nature
will ensure that the technician will work
safely, guaranteeing a future income.
A concern was raised that people in
the informal sector cannot afford being
away from work for five days to attend
training, as they will lose their income. DEA
confirmed that a stipend will be made
available.
For now, the focus is on compiling the
curriculum.
DRAFT ODS REGULATION
AMENDMENT
Currently, the draft amendment of the
ODS regulation is with the DEA minister
who will publish it for comment.
After much debate (and quite a
hold-up), it was decided to remove any
mention of the proposed disposa ban from
the draft regulation update, as this issue
could not be resolved quickly and was
holding up the publishing of the update.
The current draft of the updated
regulations (minus the disposa ban) was
shared in the meeting. It mainly deals with
the fact that HCFCs cannot be imported
without a quota and the inclusion of the
ASHRAE names for all listed HCFCs.
There was a query from the floor about
how to report illegal importation or selling
of HCFCs from companies without quotas.
Molefe asked that any illegal activity be
reported to the DEA or the Compliance
Monitoring division.
One of the suppliers noted that illegal
imports can be identified by the cheap
price thereof, because by following the
legal routes, there is no way to bring the
price down that much.
It was also noted that China was
getting stricter in terms of exporting
without quotas and that most likely, the
illegal imports were coming from across
our borders rather.
DISPOSAS — TO BAN
OR NOT TO BAN?
It was decided that the disposa ban
proposal will be dealt with as a separate
issue. DEA said they will keep updating the
stakeholders regularly as to progress. But
they first want to do independent studies
as to the social and economic impact of
banning these refrigerant canisters.
COLD LINK AFRICA • May 2019
The due date for a resolution will be 2021
and they requested any info or studies
to be shared with the department to aid
them in making their decision.
HFC MANAGEMENT
The DEA confirmed that the Kigali
Amendment ratification was supported in
parliament. But the portfolio committee
couldn’t set up a quorum, and as such, it
was postponed for now.
They will however be starting with the
reporting this year still, giving feedback
on HCFC consumption. South Africa is still
subject to reporting requirements under
the Kigali Amendment, which came
into effect as of 1 January this year even
though we haven’t ratified yet.
DEA presented a couple of slides on
the HFC consumption for 2015–2018.
However, these figures were based on
DEA’s recommendations and not the
actual import figures from the South
African Revenue Services (SARS). As
the tariff classification headings of HFCs
and HFC blends were only recently
promulgated by the minister of finance,
these official figures will only be available
at a later time.
The permitting system was also
discussed, and DEA gave feedback that
they have been requesting HFC figures
from exporters and importers but with
limited success (only 50% have complied
and submitted their figures).
The presentation looked at importing/
exporting trends of HFCs and HFC blends,
showing that in all three years (2015–2018),
R134a was by far the most popular import
(48% of imports), with R404a coming in
second (22%) and then R410a. In terms of
our exports, 85% is accounted for by R134a.
The way forward was also discussed,
and DEA noted that HFC consumption is
expected to decrease in the near future
once the Kigali Amendment comes into
effect. But the most important thing is to
finally see what exactly our consumption
is, now that we have new tariff headings.
This is crucial so we can assess just how big
the problem is (and how much work the
phase-down will require).
It was noted that low global warming
potential (GWP) refrigerants such as R600a
and R290 are being imported but these
need to be quantified.
Government reported that the
development of the HFC phase-out
management plan and HFC regulations
are currently on hold. Step one is the
ratification of the Kigali Amendment.
COMPLIANCE MONITORING
Government reported that no new CFC
complaints were received in this quarter
but requested once more to be informed
of any illegal/suspicious activity.
DO YOU WANT TO ATTEND?
The next meeting is scheduled to take
place on 26 June 2019. These meetings
are open to any industry stakeholders
and usually takes place at the DEA
offices in Pretoria. Do you have a
vested interest in any of these issues?
Stop by the next time then. CLA
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