The SABS was established in 1945 and was governed by the Standards Act, No 8 of 2008. Responsibility for regulatory functions was transferred to the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) in 2008. The Standards Division comprised 400 Standards Committees and deals with international (e.g. International Standards Organisation (ISO) standards and the food safety certification HACCP) and local standards (e.g. the South African National Standards SANS). National standards are developed by technical experts. The SABS conducts conformity assessments and testing for system and product certification as well as training programmes. Certification of a product provided the assurance that the product complied with the specified standard. The SABS Mark was a highly recognizable symbol of credibility and was synonymous with quality, reliability and dependability. The certification processes for products and for systems were explained.