EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
refrigerants sooner to prevent people
switching to them as alternatives to HCFCs
and actually doing more harm than good.
He suggested that these get capped
before the phasedown even starts to
ensure it does not get out of hand.
Baloyi advised that he wants DEA to
track the figures every six months to see
the trends.
TRAINING OF INFORMAL HVAC&R
TECHNICIANS
DEA wants to train 2 000 ‘informal’
HVAC&R technicians by 2023, with a
target of 400 to be trained next year.
John Ackermann of the South African
Refrigerated Distributors Association
(SARDA) asked what is meant by ‘informal’
and there seemed to be a general
disconnect regarding the interpretation
thereof. If it only refers to technicians who
are not registered, it does not necessarily
mean they are disadvantaged; they
could just not be registered for some or
other personal reason.
The idea is to train these informal
technicians and get them registered
with the South African Qualifications and
Certifications Committee for Gas (SAQCC
Gas), to uplift the entire industry and the skills.
That is why DEA is currently enlisting
the help from distributors to compile
a database of informal technicians,
but even this has been slow and
problematic, as for obvious reasons,
some of these technicians do not want
to be identified. have a shipment on the water under the
old codes that arrive at customs after
the new codes have come into effect.
There was a request for a transition period
The selection criteria are still being fine-
tuned, as well as the curriculum for the
proposed five-day training. There is still a
lot of work to be done to iron out the finer
details of this programme.
UNIDO suggested incentives in the form
of equipment for the companies that
participate. The process is ongoing. to the new codes. DEA said they would
assist to ensure a smooth transition.
TARIFF CLASSIFICATIONS
Ron Buissinne of A-Gas has been closely
involved in terms of working with SARS
to get the correct tariff classifications for
refrigerants to report on import and export
figures accurately.
There has been an issue with duplicated
classifications and it seems SARS was
confused as to refrigerant blends and did
not realise that blends should be seen as
single components. SARS has amended
the tariff codes and these have been
sent out to stakeholders to comment. The
final submission date was 1 October and
stakeholders were encouraged to have
one last look at these codes to ensure they
are satisfied.
Concern was raised by Metraclark
regarding when these new codes come
into effect and what happens when they
COMPLIANCE MONITORING ON
ODS REGULATIONS
DEA compliance has visited three
sites already to inspect that they are
compliant, and they have been hard
at work to train SARS officials on how to
use the instruments for detecting illegal
substances. DEA officials did walkabouts
at the various border posts and reported
that they had learnt a lot about the
process and how difficult inspections are
in real life.
It was found that SARS only does
random inspections and relies heavily on
the documentation to see what is coming
into the country. They only do physical
inspections if suspicion is raised.
DEA will look at a way to get presence
on these sites and ways to get involved in
the process too.
There was a plea to industry to report
suspicious activities to the hotline. “We
would appreciate the reporting and it can
be done anonymously,” said Baloyi. “It helps
all of us. It’s unfair that people are doing
things wrong and getting away with it.”
MEETING FEEDBACK
The Chemical Summit will not be held this
year. There was brief feedback on the Open-
ended Working Group (OEWG) meeting,
where South Africa disputed the massive
reduction in our quota for methyl bromide.
They also discussed the unexpected rise in
R11 omissions again and it was concluded
that more information is required.
The scientific assessment panel had
a meeting about this a week after the
OEWG and it was found that there is illegal
production of R11 in China. It is important
to note that this came as a surprise to the
Chinese government as well, and they are
not condoning this behaviour and acting
in breach of the Montreal Protocol. This
was done against the government’s wish.
Further investigations are pending.
Brief feedback was also given on other
meetings like the one with the Department
of Energy that looked at energy efficiency
and reducing departments working in silos,
and the South African Refrigeration and
Air Conditioning Contractors Association
(SARACCA) roadshow. FRIGAIR was also
mentioned and the fact that more customs
training was planned for October.
The stakeholders concluded the meeting
and enjoyed some lunch at the DEA before
going their separate ways again.
The next meeting, as mentioned, takes
place on 6 December. CLA
COLD LINK AFRICA • November/December 2018
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
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