Business Day reported on 7 May 2026 that the National Consumer Commission (NCC) is to implement South Africa’s first track-and-trace system as part of a co-ordinated campaign to crackdown on illicit goods, particularly counterfeit medication and pharmaceuticals, tobacco, alcohol, food and consumer appliances.
What is a Track and Trace System?:
Advanced Technology Services definition: “A track and trace system is a technology-driven process used to monitor the real-time location (tracking) and historical journey (tracing) of products, components, or shipments throughout the entire supply chain, from manufacturing to final delivery. It utilizes unique identifiers like barcodes, QR codes, or RFID tags to provide visibility, improve efficiency, and ensure regulatory compliance” .
The NCC’s move has far-reaching implications for the cannabis industry as ‘track-and-trace’ is likely to be a key feature of a new compliance framework. The system is in largely in place with SAHPRA-licensed medical cannabis exporters and the more responsible private clubs. Under a new retail licensing system, cannabis outlets will have to account for where their stock comes from and under what conditions it was grown.
The new cannabis edibles framework being developed by the South African Medical Research Council for the Department of Health will also require sourcing verification in addition to dosage compliance and consumer safety warnings.
NCC spokesperson Phetho Ntaba told Business Day that ‘track and trace regulations will be issued under the Consumer Protection Act, particularly to enforce product labelling, trade descriptions and product recalls.
“The focus of the tracking tracing system will mainly be those products with the highest incidents of illicit trade, particularly tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals, food and consumer appliances, which pose a serious risk to South African consumers and the economy” she said.
The NCC says counterfeit medicines and unregulated foodstuffs are ‘track-and-trace’ priorities.
Although she did not mention cannabis products by name, stakeholders can join the dots. The DTIC has already said that the NCC will be responsible for consumer safety in the cannabis sector.
The NCC’s 2026/7 performance plan said track and trace was a vital missing piece of the consumer protection framework. The DTIC is expected to gazette track-and-trace regulations in the next few months.
Traceability has become a buzzword since President Ramaphosa earlier this year established an illicit economy disruption programme, aimed at bringing state agencies and the private sector together in enforcing compliance in informal markets which are often completely illicit.
Business Day reports that a National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications established to ensure that businesses produce, import and sell products or services that are not harmful to consumers and the environment. It is also ramping up its efforts to ‘lock out’ noncompliant products and encourage local manufacturing.
The NRCS estimates that R382 billion worth of illicit and/or noncompliant products are traded annually.
In one of his last outgoing engagements, SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter told a legal webinar that state agencies needed to push back against syndicates that were controlling large swathes of the unregulated economy.
“The illicit economy may be illicit, but it’s highly organized” said Kieswetter. “It acts and behaves and performs like a business”.
By comparison, he said, the state responded in a transactional and functional way and not in a systematic way.
The illegal economy disruption programme is designed to bring together SARS, the Border Control Authority, the Hawks and the NPA in a co-ordinated way to disrupt smugglers and counterfeiters.
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