Article
Your inputs are required on the draft DALRRD SOP: Risk Profiling of FBO
Published: 21/01/2022
In an email on 13 December 2021, DALRRD requested the inputs of affected stakeholders on the document Draft DALRRD SOP: Risk Profiling of FBO of regulated grains, oilseeds, and grain products for the purpose of inspection by the designated assignees. The due date for receiving inputs is 31 January 2022. Dr. Mutengwe is the Acting Deputy Director: Food Safety and Quality Assurance in the Directorate: Food Safety and Quality Assurance at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development who drafted the SOP. Affected stakeholders in the handling and storage sector are required to submit their comments on the draft SOP to Agbiz Grain at Annelien@agbizgrain.co.za by Tuesday 25 January 2022. The draft DALRRD Standard Operating Procedure can be accessed at https://www.agbizgrain.co.za/content/resources?page=ag-news
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
(SOP): RISK-PROFILING OF FOOD
BUSINESS OPERATORS OF REGULATED
GRAINS, OILSEEDS AND GRAIN
PRODUCTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
INSPECTION BY THE DESIGNATED
ASSIGNEE
Contents
6. PROFILING
OF DOMESTIC FOOD BUSINESS OPERATORS
10. APPLICATION
OF THE REGULATIONS
1.
OBJECTIVE
1.1
To ensure compliance of grains, oilseeds and
grain products intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa to applicable
local/import regulations in terms of the Agricultural Product Standards Act No.
119 of 1990 (APS Act).
1.2
To outline how the inspections of
grains, oilseeds and grain products shall be carried out by the assignee, Leaf
Services, in accordance with the risk profile of each Food Business Operator
(FBO) following the first (1st) year of risk profiling.
2.
SCOPE
The standard
operating procedure (SOP) is applicable to all premises or conveyance upon
which grains, oilseeds and grain products are produced, processed, treated,
prepared, classified, packed, marked, kept, exhibited for sale as well as all
importers of these products.
3.
ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS
3.1
APS ACT: Agricultural
Product Standards Act No. 119 of 1990.
3.2
DAFF
DALRRD: Department
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Land
Reform and Rural Development
3.3
FBO: Food
Business Operator
3.4
GAFTA: Grain
and Feed Trade Association
3.5
SOP: Standard
Operating Procedure
4.
DEFINITIONS
In this
SOP, unless the context otherwise indicates—
4.1
"assignee" means
a person, undertaking, body, institution, association or board designated as
such under section 2(3) of the APS Act;
4.2
"database" means
a written document which has records of the profiles of Food Business Operators
in accordance with, their trading or business name(s), location (physical
address), contact (person) details, number of regulated products handled and/or
processed, volumes, date of previous inspection visits, incidence of non-conformances,
and which is kept by the designated assignee in terms of section 9 of the APS
Act;
4.3
"dispensation" means
a temporary permission or waiver granted by the Executive Officer: Agricultural
Product Standards to the product owner, seller, importer or processor thereof
to deviate from the applicable prescribed grading, packing and marking
regulations;
4.4
"Executive Officer" means
the officer designated under section 2(1) of the Agricultural Product Standards
Act No. 119 of 1990;
4.5
"Food Business
Operator" or "Inspection
point" means all, premises or conveyance upon which
grains, oilseeds and grain products are produced, processed, treated, prepared,
classified, packed, marked, kept, exhibited for sale (Food Business Operator
shall have a corresponding meaning as Inspection point);
4.6
"grains and oilseeds" means
the following type of grains and oilseeds which are intended for sale in the
Republic of South Africa:
a)
Canola
b)
Groundnuts
c)
Maize
d)
Sorghum
e)
Soya beans
f)
Sunflower seeds
g)
Wheat
h)
Malting Barley
i)
Rice
j)
Dry Beans
k)
Other regulated grains;
4.7
"grain products" means
products derived from the processing of either wheat or maize as defined in
respective regulations namely –
a)
Wheat products; and
b)
Maize products.
4.8
"the product" means
raw grains, grain products and oilseeds for which the Minister has prescribed
local/import grading, packing and marking regulations in terms of section 15 of
the APS Act.
5.
REFERENCES
5.1
Agricultural Product Standards
Act No. 119 of 1990.
5.2
Regulations relating to the
grading, marking and packing of the Grains, Oilseeds and Grain products
intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa, with respect to –
a)
Canola, Dry Beans, Groundnuts,
Maize, Malting Barley, Rice, Sorghum, Soya Beans, Sunflower seeds, Wheat (Bread
wheat, Soft wheat, and Durum wheat) and other regulated grains;
b)
Wheat products and Maize
products.
5.3
Regulations regarding Inspections
and Appeals: Local, Notice No. 1260 of
27 September 2019.
5.4
Prohibition Regarding the Removal
of Imported Regulated Agricultural Products Intended for sale in the Republic
of South Africa from the Prescribed Ports of entry. Notice No. 1269 of 4 October 2019.
6.PROFILING OF DOMESTIC FOOD BUSINESS OPERATORS
6.1
Identification of all FBO's
including but not limited to handling and trading grains, oilseeds and grain
products to be inspected.
6.2
Develop and maintain a complete
database of the identified FBOs.
6.3
Identification of inspection
points within the identified FBOs.
6.4
Requisite inspection activities
shall be rolled out at all points of inspection during the first year of
commencement. The initial (base) frequency of inspection shall be recommended
by the assignee, and such frequency shall be consulted
agreed with the affected industry stakeholders
before the final confirmation of such.
6.5
The inspections shall be
undertaken in accordance with the applicable Regulations for grains, oilseeds
and grain products.
6.6
During the initial inspection
period (first year of commencement), a database of inspection findings shall be
compiled and maintained for each inspected FBO with view to profiling the risk
inherent in such an FBO.
6.7
Risk profiling shall be
determined by considering, principally, the rate or level of non-compliance
with the applicable regulation, especially grading parameters.
6.8
The assignee shall utilize the
compliance data of each FBO site to establish a risk profile.
6.9
Each FBO site shall then be
profiled as either High, Medium or Low risk. The following constitute the
categorization of FBOs:
a)
The FBO that recorded incidence
of non-conformities (non-compliances) not exceeding one (1) per all inspections
conducted per the first year shall be categorized as Low risk (L).
b)
The FBO that recorded incidence
of non-conformities (non-compliances) not exceeding three (3) per all
inspections conducted per the first year shall be categorized as Medium risk
(M).
c)
The FBO that recorded incidence
of non-conformities (non-compliances) not exceeding
three (3) per all inspections conducted per the first year shall be categorized
as High risk (H).
6.10
The frequency of inspection for
each inspected and categorized FBO shall be determined and varied as follows:
a)
For Low risk FBO, the frequency
of inspection shall remain unchanged from the initially determined
frequency during the first year of commencement or after the profiling of an
FBO, whichever the case may be.
b)
For Medium risk FBO, the
frequency of inspection shall be increased
by 25% per year from the initially determined
frequency during the first year of commencement or after the profiling of an
FBO by the assignee, whichever the case may be.
c)
For High risk FBO, the frequency
of inspection shall be increased by 50%
from the initially determined frequency for the first year. In circumstances
where annual non-conformance is in a range of 6 to 10, the frequency of
inspection shall be increased by 75%
from the initially determined frequencies of inspection. Furthermore, in
circumstances where the noncompliance rate is exceeding 11, the frequency of
inspection shall be increased by 100 % from the initially determined
frequencies of inspection.
6.11
6.12
6.11 Once the profiling of an FBO is concluded
the information thereof shall be communicated to the concerned FBO and the Department
of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) DALRRD
6.13
6.12 This undertaking of
inspection as set out herein shall be carried-out with full consideration of
the consulted agreed upon service level
agreement also referred to as Directive in terms of section 2(3) (b) and (c) of
the APS Act.
7.
SANCTIONS
Notwithstanding
the above, an FBO that has already been categorized as low risk or
medium
risk may be re-categorized (switched) depending on the number of non-conformances
obtained during the year of inspection. In other words, should an FBO relapse
after having been profiled favourably as either low or medium risk, the
assignee shall have the right to switch the profile according to the number of non-conformances
obtained.
8.
DIRECTION
In all
circumstances, a direction as set out in section 3A (2) (b) of the APS Act
shall be issued by the assignee in the event that non-compliances with the
regulations are
found.
The direction will afford the owner an opportunity within which the identified non-conformances
are remediated, and accordingly a reasonable period of time as set out in the
direction shall be given to an FBO to effect corrective actions.
9.
APPEAL
In the
event that an FBO's interests are affected by any decision or direction of an assignee,
the FBO shall appeal to the Director-General of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries Land Reform and Rural Development in
terms of section 10 of the Agricultural Product Standards Act No. 119 of 1990.
In other words, where there is a dispute in terms of the application and
interpretation of the applicable Regulations, the Director-General shall constitute
an appeal Board in order to settle the dispute. It may happen that the Director-General
constitutes an appeal Board from a list of names of experts provided for by the
relevant industry body or association.
10. APPLICATION OF THE REGULATIONS
Notwithstanding
the above, the regulations shall be fully applied and the necessary
penalties
shall be administered during the inspection of grains, oilseeds and grain
products.
In other words, where circumstances dictate, the product inspected may be
downgraded
or prohibited from being sold.
11. IMPORTED RAW GRAINS
11.1
The risk profiling shall not
apply to imported raw grains, and the following conditions shall be applicable
to imported raw grains that shall have been brought into the country by the
same buyer or buyers.
11.2
Where raw grains are imported
under the provision of Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) contracts, the
importer shall remain the buyer of the product in the exporting country as well
as the processor of the product in the Republic of South Africa.
11.3
Such a product, once bought from
the exporting country, shall not be sold in its raw form in the Republic of
South Africa, except for processing purposes only.
11.4
The products so brought or
imported into the country shall be deemed to have complied with the definition
of "exchange" as it relates to the definition of "Sell"
as captured in the principal legislation, namely the APS Act.
11.5
Such product shall be inspected
against the provision of the local regulations upon arrival at the port of
entry. The accompanying importing documents shall be used to authenticate the
ownership of such consignment/s.
11.6
Such documentation shall indicate
the final destination or place where the product will be processed in the
Republic of South Africa.
11.7
The authentication of the
documentation shall be carried-out periodically, at least randomly, three (3)
times a year.
12. REVIEW
This SOP
is subject to review jointly by the DALRRD,
the Assignee of DALRRD, and
the members of the Grains, Oilseeds and Grain Products industries as well
as the respective relevant commodity Forums. In this context grains, oilseed
and grain products means all the raw grains, oilseeds and processed grain
products which are regulated in terms of the APS Act.
13. APPROVAL
___________________ ___________
EXECUTIVE
OFFICER: Date:
AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCT STANDARDS
Doc No /
Amendment Record:
|
Original
Document |
Entered
by |
Rev No. |
Date |
|
01 |
B.M.
Makhafola /M Mosome |
00 |
22
September 2017 |
|
02 |
M.T Mutengwe/V.T Mapfumari |
|
… / … / 2021 |
Distribution
Copies of
the Standard Operating Procedure will be distributed to all parties by the
office of the Executive Officer: Agricultural Product Standards upon request. Alternatively,
it will be available on the DAFF DALRRD
intranet and website Page www.daff.gov.za. www.Dalrrd.gov.za.