WHAT DO WE NEED TO WATCH OUT FOR?

1. All certificates issued before 30 June 2009 are Valid
   
         Only certifictaes issued after 1 July 2009 are affected
2. Know your Verification Agents accreditation status.
   
         Verification agents must inform you of their accreditation status, this is important for you!
3. Accreditation status is very important for certificates issued from 1 July 2009
   
         Certificates issued after 1 July will only be recognised if your agent has a pre-assesment letter
   
         from SANAS, or is already accredited.
4. When submitting a certificate to a client include the pre-assesment letter from you Agent
   
         When submitting a BEE certificate for procurement purposes you must also submit
   
         the pre-assesment letter from SANAS, this will be required by your clients agent

Click Here for a list of accredited BEE Verification agents

PHASING OUT NON-ACCREDITED BEE VERIFICATION AGENTS

Following the accreditation of the first eleven verification agencies, the presence of accredited verification agencies in the marketplace has left an unanswered question:

What is the status of certificates issued by verification agencies who have not yet been accredited?

Much consideration has been given to this issue since 9 February 2009, and a position has been reached by the DTI and will be communicated to the marketplace shortly.

ABVA, SANAS & DTI POSITION ON NON-ACCREDITED AGENCY CERTIFICATES

The following changes have been made to the position on non-accredited agency certificates, these will be enforces as of 1 July 2009:

• All new applicants applying to SANAS for accreditation will receive a pre-assessment letter, after they have completed the document review and pre-assessment.
• Findings from the pre-assessment visit will now be documented, and must be cleared before a pre-assessment letter is issued.
• From 1 July 2009, only certificates from VA's that have been accredited, or have received a pre-assessment letter, will be acceptable as proof of BEE status for calculation of the procurement element.
• Phase I and II assessments will be combined into a single assessment.
• New Applicants will have 4 months to obtain a pre-assessment letter.
• After obtaining a pre-assessment letter, all applicants (existing and new) will have 4 months in which to complete the accreditation process).
• New VA's who have not yet applied will be required to obtain a preassessment letter before they are able to issue any certificates.

These changes allow the DTI to phase out certificates from non-accredited agencies in a structured manner, and allow VA's seeking accreditation to participate in the market by issuing certificates, provided that they have obtained a pre-assessment letter.

The revised position, shared by ABVA, the DTI, and SANAS, is that certificates issued by accredited verification agencies and certificates issued by agencies who have received a pre-assessment letter are acceptable. Accredited agencies will issue certificates with SANAS logo's. Any other certificate used in procurement calculations must be accompanied by a pre-assessment letter, after 30 June 2009.