Ramaphosa speaks out against EU trade practices

President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the recent South Africa-Finland roundtable attended by Finnish President Sauli Niinistö that he was disappointed at the acts of EU protectionism and unfair decisions against South African products, most recently citrus.

He said he was looking to Finland to make a case in the EU against rising protectionism in European trade, and to promote free trade.

The Citrus Marketing Forum in March reported that the 2023 season had come after an extremely tough year for growers, which resulted in 5,7 million fewer cartons being packed for export (at 164,8 million) than predicted at the start of the season. Only one in five growers was making a positive return.

The forum blamed a surge in farming input prices and transport costs, along with “unjustified and discriminatory” new false codling moth regulations passed by the EU in the middle of the season, ongoing decay of public infrastructure, and erratic electricity supply.

The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa in February called on government to establish a panel to adjudicate the new false codling moth regime. Justin Chadwick, CEO of the association, said at the time that the introduction of false codling moth regulations had added over R200 million in costs to citrus.

The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy estimated that it would add R500 million in 2023 and require an investment of nearly R1,4 billion in cold storage technology to enable full compliance.

Chadwick said the new regulations “were contrary to scientific evidence”, and that government had presented clear evidence during the consultation process that South Africa’s existing and stringent false coddling moth risk management system ensured that 99,9% of oranges entering the EU were pest free.

At the roundtable discussion, Ramaphosa said bilateral trade between South Africa and Finland had increased since 2018, but South Africa currently had a negative trade balance with Finland. To address this, he said that Finland should import more South African products and more of those should be high-value additions.

“Food production and the expanding fruit and meat industry in South Africa can be a source of food security in Finland,” he added.

FINLAND WAS CALLED UPON TO MAKE A CASE IN THE EU AGAINST PROTECTIONISM