We must fight protectionism in all its guises

THE REWE supermarket in Mitte, Berlin – along the banks of the Spree River – has a selection of Stellenbosch wine, chakalaka-flavoured chips and baskets of fresh South African oranges – none of which in this globalised world is surprising or out of place.

All of which makes it so difficult to accept the EU’s relentless 26-year campaign to keep those oranges off the shelves, citing citrus black spot (CBS).

CBS is the fungal disease that can be transmitted through the movement of infected plant material that has presented an ongoing dispute between South Africa and the EU since 1992. Despite science refuting this, the EU claims that the fruit is a “pathway” for CBS transmission. Besides the fact that the EU climate is unsuitable for CBS establishment, South Africa has borne the brunt of CBS interceptions for an interminable time.

Enter South Africa’s Citrus Research International (CRI). This formidable network of researchers have developed testing regimes and a comprehensive CBS risk management programme. The results have been nothing less than remarkable.

South Africa exported more than 800 000 tons of citrus to the EU during the 2018 season (up to 40 000 containers), yet only two consignments were intercepted with CBS symptoms. In neither of the two intercepted consignments were laboratory tests conducted to determine if the fungus was still viable.

That these consignments were intercepted at all is a case of bureaucracy propped up by bad science.

South Africa has shown enormous capacity to manage CBS over the past four years, even though it does not agree with the EU that CBS poses a threat. In fact, the country was aligned with the world scientific view that citrus fruit without leaves was not a pathway for the spread of CBS.

Despite one of the best seasons in terms of mitigating the risk of CBS symptoms on fruit arriving at EU borders, the community seems determined to meet South Africa’s best efforts with unflinching bureaucratic coldness.

At a meeting in Brussels last month, the EU’s directorate-general for Health and Food Safety showed no interest in reviewing its position on CBS as a quarantine pest, demanding full compliance and refusing to consider any reasonable requests for relaxation of protocols.

A recent independent study by the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy institute found that the South Africa’s citrus industry’s costs associated with the CBS protocols and proactive measures amounted to a staggering R1.86 billion, which was clearly not sustainable. The industry simply cannot afford to continue paying for these measures ad infinitum, especially when there is no good reason for them in the first place.

The CBS protocols also required intensive chemical spraying programmes, which was in conflict with a global move to environmental best practice.

To its credit, the government has valiantly defended the industry.

As Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said in 2014: “If decisions are taken that keep us out of an important market and have implications for jobs, we will not hesitate to use whatever tools are available in our tool box to defend our interests in this regard.”

South Africa is fast reaching a point where it is going to have to take a stronger stand against the increasingly bully-boy tactics of the EU.

We have tried talking, negotiating and convincing.

We need to get tougher this year. A total of 120 000 workers and their families need those oranges to stay on the shelves in Berlin.