Statement:
Chairperson of the Accounting Authority
BONGIWE NJOBE
Chairperson of the Board
PPECB
The Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) is constituted and mandated in terms of the Perishable Products Export Control Act 9 of 1983 (PPEC Act) to perform cold chain services. As a national public entity, the PPECB delivers mandatory inspection, cold chain, food safety, and analytical laboratory services for the perishable produce export industry aimed at enhancing export competitiveness. The PPECB is South Africa’s official perishable produce export certification agency and is thus deemed an essential service.
The PPECB is mandated by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) and has been delivering end-point inspection services on perishable products destined for export since 1991. The PPECB ensures that food business operators comply with the standards regarding food hygiene and food safety of regulated agricultural food products intended for export. The PPECB fulfils this role by conducting statutory food safety audits nationally.
The PPECB also delivers inspection and food safety services assigned by the DoA under the Agricultural Product Standards Act 119 of 1990 (APS Act). The presence of the PPECB in the export industry is furthermore enhanced by its recognition as an approved third country under the European Commission Regulation 543 of 2011. This agreement recognises the South African inspection systems as equivalent to those of the European Union (EU) inspection bodies and, therefore, ensures less frequent checks at the port of import into the EU. Furthermore, given the historical impact of race and gender disparities in the agricultural export industry, the PPECB works with other stakeholders to contribute to transformation that seeks to increase the level of participation of black agricultural producers in the export industry.
BONGIWE NJOBE
Chairperson of the Board
PPECB
Current Context
The forecasts for the 2024/2025 season remain optimistic from a production perspective. Notwithstanding the challenges of climate change and global and national economic and social risks, the major risks to South African exports are in the logistics value chain, specifically inefficiencies and delays at ports, exacerbated by the deteriorating quality of roads and rail. It is imperative that the PPECB works collaboratively with Government, industry, and logistics organisations to resolve these issues.
Within the PPECB, significant progress has been made in its digitalisation journey of moving the organisation and its services into an ICT-enabled environment. Commensurate resources are being allocated to introduce Microsoft D365 as an ERP system organisation-wide. Furthermore, the PPECB’s electronic inspection platform continues to increase the volumes inspected, with 96% of the main products now being inspected on TITAN 2.0®. Consistent with the rollout of the ERP, the organisation is planning the implementation of a new Human Capital Suite in 2024. These systems will be at the core of the organisation’s digitalisation strategy and seek to improve organisational efficiencies and stakeholder engagement. In support of the rollout of the strategy, the PPECB Board has received approval to enhance ICT governance and oversight by appointing suitably qualified and experienced individuals to the Board. Load shedding remains a challenge, as it impacts electronic systems and loading schedules. This creates inefficiencies during product inspection and cold chain management and requires more resources, resulting in higher costs.
With respect to its commitment to contribute to meaningful race and gender transformation, the PPECB has trained just over 650 black smallholder farmers, 57 of whom have been certified as export-ready. Recognising that the pathway to export readiness includes access to finance and infrastructure, the Board has encouraged the PPECB management to develop collaborative programmes to enable this. In addition, the PPECB has successfully trained 48 students through its Agri Export Technologist Programme (AETP). Many of these students have been employed by the PPECB.
The new Board was appointed in February 2023 and has reviewed the progress on the PPECB’s strategy for 2021 to 2026. The Board has confirmed that it continues to be driven and executed through four main programmes:
Corporate Services Programme – This programme operates cross-functionally with the primary aim of consistently delivering professional support services to the whole of the PPECB.
Operational Services Programme – This programme is responsible for delivering independent, integrated inspection and cold chain services for the export market.
Food Safety Services Programme – The main objective of the Food Safety Services Programme is to ensure compliance with the regulations that apply to the South African standards on food safety and quality.
Transformation and Development Services Programme – The Transformation and Development Services Programme is aimed at building capacity through the development of internal and external skills.
The PPECB Board has further highlighted the following objectives to be taken into consideration in the work of the organisation to ensure continuous improvement through a process of transformation, innovation, and digitalisation. Specifically, the Board identified the opportunity to further improve:
- the client experience through seamless integration with PPECB systems (externally);
- the provision of timeous and relevant inspection and shipping information;);
- business efficiencies to ensure effective service delivery and reduced cost; and);
- the number of black smallholder farmers and suppliers that the PPECB assists.);
The Board has further committed to enhancing the PPECB’s analytical laboratory capacity, which will see the procurement of a new building and the addition to the scope of new services provided.
As we move into the new 2024/2025 financial year, it is pleasing to note that the PPECB remains financially sound, received an unqualified audit report for the previous fiscal year and has a relatively low employee turnover rate. Levy increases have been kept relatively low and in touch with inflation for the past five years.
The stakeholder feedback on PPECB services is positive and was reported to be around 90% satisfaction when last measured in the 2023 survey. A testament to this could be seen in the positive response by stakeholders to the annual stakeholder event as well as the annual charity event, which saw R65 000 donated to the nominated charity.
It is important to acknowledge the support of the Ministry and the DoA in the work of the Board and the PPECB, the previous Board for ensuring a smooth handover of the transition and the current Board for the diligent way they execute their fiduciary, strategic and leadership responsibilities. Finally, on behalf of the Board, I wish to commend the CEO, the management team and the employees of the PPECB for the professional manner in which they fulfil their responsibilities.