[ Home ]
[ Speeches & statements ]
The Department of Trade and Industry hosts the first Biennial Liquor Regulatory Conference
18 March 2009
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa will deliver a keynote at the first Biennial Liquor Regulatory Conference that will be hosted by Department of Trade and Industry at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni on 26 March 2009.
More than two hundred delegates representing liquor authorities, policy makers, municipalities, research institutes, liquor traders, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community based organisations (CBOs), labour movements, universities, enforcement agencies, liquor associations and other national state departments are expected to attend the conference.
The purpose of the conference, which will be held under the theme: Towards a Harmonised and Integrated Liquor Regulation, is to share information and ideas about various challenges facing the liquor industry. These include the best strategies and approaches designed to combat alcohol abuse, modern strategies in the area of enforcement, policy and legislative framework and transformation within the South African liquor industry.
According to the Deputy Director-General of the Consumer and Corporate Regulation Division (CCRD) at the dti Zodwa Ntuli, the conference will provide an opportunity to gather information and identify the weaknesses and strengths in the coordination efforts relating to supply and demand, attributable to excessive consumption of alcohol
"The conference will provide a platform for liquor regulators, policy makers, industry associations, enforcement agencies, civil society and labour organisations, research and higher learning institutions to share research and non- research based information, ideas, lessons and experiences in the area of liquor policy, regulation, trade and consumption," says Ntuli.
Over the past four years the South African liquor industry has seen unprecedented liquor regulatory reforms. The introduction of the Liquor Act 59 of 2003 (the Act) entrenched a tier-based regulatory framework that conferred exclusive competences to the national and provincial spheres of government. This has called for the need for co-operation and harmonisation of the different pieces of liquor legislations.
The Act also gave birth to the National Liquor Authority (NLA) and the National Liquor Policy Council (NLPC). The mandate of the NLPC is to look at the harmonisation of liquor policy and legislations and to consult matters of co-operative governance.
The mandate of the dti cuts across all tiers of the industry as espoused in the objects of the Act, which is to reduce the socio-economic and other costs of alcohol abuse and promote the development of a responsible and sustainable liquor industry.
For more information, contact:
Sidwell Medupe
Tel: 012 394 1650
Cell: 073 522 6801
E-mail: msmedupe@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
18 March 2009