Cold Link Africa VOL. 01 - No.01 | September / October 2015 | Page 17

EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN

Industry calls on government
enforcement of HCFC regulations

#RACmeeting

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A Cape Town meeting to update all role players on South Africa’s HCFC
phase out management plan (HPMP) drew attendance from across the
HVAC&R industry

hose in attendance included service
contractors, all the major importers
of refrigerants, suppliers of transport
refrigeration systems, air-conditioning
suppliers and consultants, the Department
of Environmental Affairs (DEA), training
providers, equipment manufacturers,
the South African Refrigeration and Air
Conditioning Association (SARACCA), and
the South African Vehicle And Body Builders’
Association (SAVABA). Sadly, although
the supermarket sector is a large user of
refrigeration in South Africa, it was only
Woolworths who attended.
The 24 June meeting sparked a lively
debate and was chaired by John
Ackermann in his various capacities as
chairman of the refrigerants working group
in the National Ozone Unit (NOU); president
of the South African Institute of Refrigeration
and Air Conditioning (SAIRAC); chairman of
the South African Refrigerated Distribution
Association (SARDA), and editor of the Cold
Link Africa newspaper.
The key elements in the HPMP, as
legislated in the Government Gazette of 8
May 2014, was briefly outlined. Unlike other
similar meetings, the ban on the importation
of equipment charged with R22 from 1 July
2014, generated very little debate, indicating
that perhaps most importers of such systems
are compliant. Similarly, there was little
debate about the import quotas issued by
the DEA. The only item raised under quotas
was confirmation by the DEA that exports of
HCFCs by importers would NOT be added
back to their quotas.
The ban on the commissioning of new
refrigeration systems built in South Africa e.g.
a supermarket system with compressors,
piping, evaporators, vending cabinets (all
sourced locally and put together by a local
contractor and charged with R22 from 1
January 2015) drew much debate.
Policing of the 1 January 2015 ban
forms part of the issuing of a certificate
of conformity (CoC) of new systems
as required by the Pressure Equipment
Regulations (PER) of 2009. The same PER
requires that all those that do handson tasks on the refrigerant circuit of any
refrigeration or air-conditioning system, be
registered by the South African Qualification
and Certification Committee (SAQCC) for
Gas in the categories of A or B.
The legal requirement for registration by
SAQCC Gas sparked a heated debate.
“Many contractors have complained that
registration is cos