South Africa’s Agoa heel dragging antagonises the US Congress

THE US is growing increasingly impatient with South Africa over its apparent foot-dragging allowing American meat products into the country.

South Africa’s continued participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) – which allows millions of dollars of South African exports into the lucrative US market duty-free – largely depends on it lifting health restrictions on US beef, pork and chicken imports.

The US Congress earlier this year extended Agoa – which was due to expire in September – for another ten years for the 38 other eligible African countries. But it specifically made South Africa’s continued participation dependent on lifting the restrictions on US meat imports and also dropping legislation that would force foreign owners of security companies to sell at least 51 percent of the companies to South Africans.

South Africa has until September 30 to effect these changes or risk losing some or all of its Agoa benefits, which have been highly beneficial to many South African exporters, especially car manufacturers.

Citing concerns about outbreaks of various diseases in US livestock, South Africa has banned all chicken imports for 15 years, all pork imports for 12 years and all beef imports for three years.

But the US claims these fears are exaggerated.

After long negotiations South Africa agreed, in Paris early in January, to accept an annual quota of 65 000 tons of American chicken.

Laird Treiber, an economic counsellor at the US embassy in Pretoria, said the US government expected South Africa to take a few months to implement this agreement. But almost eight months later it has still not done so, and was now citing new concerns about an outbreak of avian flu in some US states as a reason not to lift the ban.

On Friday, August 11, several US government agencies held a public hearing in Washington, as demanded by Congress, to determine whether South Africa had met the conditions of Congress for continuing participation in Agoa.

South Africa clearly did not satisfy the US government. US officials demanded concrete evidence and not just the assurances which South African officials gave.

Treiber explained in an interview later that the US wanted to see the meat imports actually entering South Africa before the administration reported to Congress on September 30 on whether South Africa should remain in Agoa.

He said the US wanted the South African ban on poultry imports to be “regionalised” – that is, restricted to the few areas where outbreaks of avian flu had occurred.

“South Africa’s position has been that if there is one sick bird anywhere in the country, it will refuse to accept birds from anywhere in the US.”

But there was no reason to suspect an outbreak of avian flu in California would affect poultry across the country in New Jersey, he said.

The international standard for quarantine areas was 51.79 square kilometres around an outbreak – not the whole state and certainly not the whole country.

US officials demanded concrete evidence and not just the assurances which SA officials gave.