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
