Citrus export in black spot zones halted

THE South African citrus industry has called an early end to the exporting season for fruit from black-spot areas after the European Union (EU) intercepted 10 consignments of affected oranges.

SA was warned by the EU earlier this year that a total of five interceptions could result in the banning of citrus originating in the country.

Black spot is a fungal disease that affects the rind of citrus fruit and is found in certain areas in SA and others in the southern hemisphere.

But industry insiders who have protested that the fruit itself is unaffected now appear to have knuckled down to pressure from the EU, SA’s biggest export market. The citrus industry is one of SA’s biggest agricultural employers and SA is the world’s second-biggest citrus exporter after Spain.

Marketing director of the Sundays River Citrus Company — SA’s largest single exporter of citrus — Hannes de Waal, said yesterday the number of interceptions reached 10 two weeks ago.

“The halting of exports for the season is a gesture to the EU from our government to show that we are taking black spot seriously. The industry enjoys a good relationship with the government and they have been making it difficult for us to ship exports by applying the regulations very strictly.”

Mr de Waal stressed that exports from regions outside the black spot areas, such as the Western Cape and Northern Cape, would continue until the season’s normal closure in a few weeks. “The citrus exporting season would close countrywide in four to six weeks, and in our region, the Eastern Cape, in about three….”

Most of the fruit had already been shipped to the EU.

Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa CEO Justin Chadwick said SA had exported more than 570,000 tonnes of citrus to the EU this year since the opening of the season in mid-April, more than the 555,000 tonnes shipped there by the same point last year.

He confirmed that the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department and the industry had decided jointly to “stop packing oranges from areas outside the pest-free areas” from last week.

Phytosanitary certificates for the EU would only be issued for oranges packed from outside the pest-free areas and inspected before last Thursday. Mr de Waal said the “voluntary co-operation” with the government did not mean that citrus exports were banned.

“We still have an arrangement with the EU and there are continuous discussions between them and our government.” Mr de Waal said the closure of the export season was to give the industry “a chance to get its house in order”.

“News of the 10 interceptions was alarming because lots of steps were taken to avoid such a situation. But obviously we need to do more,” he said. “We are developing new markets for citrus but at this time we cannot afford to lose the EU.”

He said the industry was spending heavily on pest management systems, pruning and sprays but would invest more to combat black spot and other pests. “Despite the early closure of the season we are removing all the fruit from the trees and making every effort to treat (them) to avoid these and other pests.”

Mr Chadwick said the EU health and consumer authorities appreciated the amount of work done in SA to address the black spot issue but the breaching of the threshold of five interceptions required intensified risk-management measures.