The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) has released a circular on fraudulent or irregular CIPC certificates. It once again reminds businesses to apply the definitions of essential goods and services strictly, as they are laid out in the regulations and requires companies to check with their Industry associations whether their products/services comply with those definitions. Please share this within FSA’s structures and with other businesses who may be wittingly or unwittingly operating outside of the regulations. Once again for clarity, timber farming operations can continue subject to the risk precautions stipulated in the general regulations and the transport regulations, as this supplies the feedstock for the essential products made in certain mills and processing plants. Those products in turn include, container board for the food packaging and agricultural exports industry, dissolving pulp for the medical and hygiene industry, tissue for the medical and hygiene industry, sawn timber for pallets and food bins, wood shavings for the poultry industry and poles for the agricultural sector. There may be other products and services which are being provided, which we have not captured and which are ancillary to the provision of food, medical, hygiene, energy or other essential services or products. In such cases, please contact FSA or the association dealing with that value chain to determine whether they meet the provisions of the regulations and if we are not certain, we will obtain clarity from the DTIC/PPGI team on this for you.

Due to the national lockdown, FSA staff can only be reached on their cell phones. The contact numbers are available on the Members page of our website. Please join the FSA Telegram Channel for any new developments to assist our members.