South Africa LOA/COC Certification
Certification Overview
National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act (Act 5 of 2008) is on Government Gazette 31216 on Sep 1st, 2008, controlled by NRCS. NRCS is short for National Regulator for Compulsory Specification, who formerly known as supervision department of SABS certification, then becomes a independent department.
All electrical and electronic products that meet the requirements, both for export and sales in the South African market, must apply with NRCS for LOA as customs clearance and sales permits.
Related electronic product certification includes safety and electromagnetic compatibility two aspects. For safety, you must obtain LOA (letter of Authority) certificate. For electromagnetic compatibility, you must obtain COC (certificate of Compliance) certificate. Here is an important interpretation of the terms:
1. NRCS: certification body for LOA certificate
2. SABS: certification body for COC and SABS Mark certificate. SABS is short for South African Bureau of Standards, which is responsible for issuing standards, works for certification and testing as well.
3. LOA certification: Letter of Authority, for safety aspect.
4. COC certification: Certificate of Compliance, for EMC aspect.
5. SABS certification: it’s voluntary, but has strict requirement; SABS need to arrange factory inspection and testing; twice annual verification will be done after obtain the certification.
Product Scope
Electronic and electrical products under compulsory specifications have 5 classifications below.
1. Household and similar products;
2. IT products
3. Electronic entertainment equipment;
4. The hand-held power tools;
5. Wire and cable
Application Flow
1. Clients prepare samples and reference and submit to Waltek
2. Waltek conducts the test
3. After finish the test, Waltek submit relevant reference to NRCS or SABS for certificate
Certification Mark
LOA cert and COC cert have no certification mark
SABS mark certification (voluntary) has mark as below:
Other Information
Technical information: voltage-AC 220V; frequency-50HZ; plug- SABS 164-1
Mandatory or not: LOA & COC are mandatory, SABS mark certification is voluntary
Validity of Certificate: valid for 3 years
Requirement for factory inspection: LOA & COC has no requirement for FI, SABS mark certification requires initial FI and annul verification.
Requirement for certificate holder: Cert holder of LOA must be the local trader or representative.
Energy Label
Certification Overview
Department of Trade and Industry officially announced compulsory specifications VC9008 and began to implement mandatory energy labeling scheme for electronic and electrical products. Electronic and electrical products covered by the compulsory specifications, would be implemented in three stages gradually. Since the date of enforcement, when applying for LOA certificate, the above mandatory products are not only required submit safety test report to NRCS, but also energy efficiency test report. Products only with LOA certificate and energy label can enter into South Africa market.
Details as below:
Stage
Mandatory Product
Implementation Schedule
First Stage
Audio and video equipment
(Including television sets, video recorders, set-top boxes, audio equipment and multifunction devices for consumer use,
Including television sets, but not limited to those with a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), or equipment with projection technology)
Be implemented 6 months after the release date, that is on May 28, 2015. Products appeared in the market or obtained NRCS safety certification can have one year’s buffer period, so will be implemented on Nov 28, 2015.
Second Stage
Electric oven, refrigerator and freezer, dishwasher
Tumble dryer, dry cleaning machine, washing machine
Be implemented 9 months after the release date, that is on Aug 28, 2015. Products appeared in the market or obtained NRCS safety certification can have one year’s buffer period, so will be implemented on Nov 28, 2015.
Third Stage
Air conditioning and heat pumps
(Cooling capacity not exceeding 7.1kW (24,000 btu / h) )
Be implemented 18 months after the release date, that is on May 28, 2016.
Product Scope
Refer to above sheet.
Application Flow
1. Clients prepare samples and reference and submit to Waltek
2. Waltek delivers the samples to testing lab
3. After finish the test, then submit relevant reference to NRCS for certificate
Label Requirement
Other Information
Technical information: voltage-AC 220V; frequency-50HZ; plug- SABS 164-1
Mandatory or not: mandatory
Validity of Certificate: valid for 3 years
Requirement for factory inspection: no
Requirement for certificate holder: Cert holder of LOA must be the local trader or representative.
ICASA Wireless Certificate
Certification Overview
Telecommunication equipment, if be exported to South Africa, need to apply for type certification with Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). ICASA is South Africa government’s communications authority. All broadcasting and communications equipment are under ICASA’s control. ICASA accepts RF, EMC & safety test report based on ETSI standard, and can issue approval certificate with these certificates.
Product Scope
All wireless and telecommunication products
Application Flow
1. Clients prepare samples and reference and submit to Waltek
2. Waltek conducts the test and issues test report
3. ICASA checks all the docs and releases certificate
Label Requirement
Other Information
Technical information: voltage-AC 220V; frequency-50HZ; plug- SABS 164-1
Mandatory or not: mandatory
Validity of Certificate: no
Requirement for factory inspection: no
Requirement for certificate holder: Cert holder of LOA must be the local trader or representative.
