EU set to sort Karoo lamb from the fake
Pact holds SADC to reciprocal protection of iconic names
AT last it’s official — Karoo lamb is South African. Fake it at your peril.
Bogus branding of South Africa’s iconic agricultural products such as Karoo lamb, rooibos tea and honeybush tea, as well as many well-known wine labels, will now carry stiff penalties thanks to a new SADC-EU trade deal that took effect this week.
In return, southern African countries will police more than 250 EU “geographic indicators”, including several household items such as gorgonzola and roquefort cheese. From now on only the genuine article will be allowed.
The economic partnership agreement, which includes Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Angola, took more than a decade to conclude and aims to provide trading benefits to all parties, particularly in relation to market access.
A bilateral agreement regarding geographic indicators between South Africa and the EU forms part of the broader trade deal. It provides guaranteed protection for all listed geographic indicators, which have been a contentious issue for years — notably about 20 years ago when European farmers moved to protect the terms port and sherry.
Ironically, formal recognition of Karoo lamb coincides with a red meat export standoff between South Africa and the EU, which is costing South Africa about R200-million in export revenue. However, once this is resolved, local farmers will be better placed to profit from the internationally renowned Karoo brand.
“As of Monday, the EU will now protect Karoo lamb in all 25 countries once they allow South African farmers and exporters to export red meat to the EU,” said Professor Johann Kirsten, director of the Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University. Kirsten was instrumental in establishing a South African Karoo lamb certification system, one of the conditions of EU protection.
“At the moment, a disagreement between the EU animal health officials and our DAFF [Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries] veterinary people is preventing exports taking place,” he said.
Red Meat Producers Association CEO Gerhard Schutte said the export problem had to do with the traceability of meat products, with local producers battling to adhere to stringent EU standards. “On paper it is possible to export, but in practice it is difficult,” he said. “The industry is talking about it.”
Rooibos and honeybush have enjoyed de facto geographic indicator protection since last year, but were incorporated into the broader deal that was apHout proved in June and ratified by the EU and South African parliaments. Officially, it came into effect on Monday. Other wellknown geographic indicators are Western Cape, Wellington, Stellenbosch, Plettenberg Bay, Paarl, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Bay and Cape Point.
In return, South Africa will protect an even longer list of European geographic indicators, most of relatively unknown products, such as the Greek cheese graviera kritis and a kind of Greek feta. European wine geographic indicators on the list include Bordeaux and Bourgogne.
Wine connoisseurs will still be able to buy the genuine imported items, at a slight exchange rate premium.
In a statement issued this week, the Department of Trade and Industry described the bilateral deal on geographic indicators as “of significant benefit to both parties”. It said: “South Africa’s favourite herbal teas would be the beneficiaries of this new trade agreement with the EU. Rooibos, honeybush and Karoo lamb are notable beneficiaries which are protected, along with 102 wine names of areas like Paarl and Stellenbosch. In contrast, the EU will receive protection on 251 product names. About 120 names are for wines; 106 are agricultural product names such as special meats, cheeses, olives and others; 20 names are for spirits and five are beer names.”
Ernest du Toit, a director of the South African Rooibos Council, said geographic indicator protection would put an end to European so-called rooibos teas not from South Africa. However, similar protection was needed in other tea-drinking markets such as China, the US and Japan. “The truth is with rooibos that it grows nowhere else in the world,” Du Toit said.
The EU welcomed the deal, noting that it gave SADC members more access to the EU than vice versa.
In return, SA will protect European geographic indicators