Standards Quarterly Newsletter – March 2021

SABS has made its mark in the International arena of standardisation by being elected by the members of the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) to serve on its Council, the highest decision-making body of ISO.

Dr Sadhvir Bissoon, Executive of Standards, will represent SABS on the ISO Council from January 2021 to December 2023.

In a recently published article in IMIESA, the official magazine of the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa, Dr Sadhvir Bissoon describes some of the SABS developments in the electrotechnical arena.

Dr Bissoon is a member of the ISO Council (representing SABS) and President of the South African National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).  

The United Nations declared 2021 the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. The African Union has highlighted that one of the major challenges that Africa must first confront is that of production. This is where standardisation is an essential component as the primary role of standards is to ensure Quality and Safety of products and increase their market access and acceptance by consumers. 

8th Continental Essay Competition for the year 2021 – Registration Now Open!

Theme for 2021: The Role of Standardisation in promoting Arts, Culture and Heritage – The Creative Economy in Africa.

This competition is open to all South African students currently registered at any institution of higher learning in South Africa, as recognised by the National Department of Higher Education. 

The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), in collaboration with the World Trade Organization (WTO), hosted a virtual seminar today, on the WTO Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement’s Transparency Framework that discussed the National Regulatory Organisations’ responsibilities in the drafting of policies, regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures.

SANS 16001 is a South African National Standard, prepared by SABS TC 301: Health and Wellness.  It specifies requirements for Wellness, Health and Disease Management Systems, related to non-occupationally induced health conditions, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, psychological ill-health, anxiety disorders and addictive behaviours.

SANS 862:2020 Set-top-box decoder for free-to-air digital terrestrial television, sets out the minimum technical requirements for a set-top box decoder for free-to-air digital terrestrial television in South Africa. It applies to broadcasters, broadcasting signal distributors, decoder manufacturers and users. It does not cover integrated digital television (IDTV).

The latest edition of SANS 695:2020 that was published impacts the NRCS’s regulatory regime for plastic bags and flat bags.

The current VC 8087 provides that the new SANS must be implemented after six months of publication. “For the purposes of this compulsory specification, a new edition of a referenced standard shall become effective six months from the date of publication as a South African National Standard.”