Citrus farmers battle EU import regulation

NEW regulations imposed by the EU on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) governing the import of citrus from South Africa has already affected 3.2 million cartons of citrus fruit.

This week, the chief executive of the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa, Justin Chadwick, said the move was drastic and impacted the export of oranges from South African shores to other countries.

“These transgressions have already impacted on an estimated 3.2 million cartons of citrus valued at R605 million, with reports of hundreds of containers of South African citrus being detained by authorities on arrival in the EU,” he said.

The development has been met with concern by the DA’s spokesperson on agriculture, Andricus van der Westhuizen, who is calling on the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to communicate with the EU regarding its new regulations, as they were negatively affecting local farmers.

“Recent changes to phytosanitary standards made by the EU regarding the import of citrus from South Africa have had an immensely negative effect on our citrus farmers in the Western Cape,” he said. “While it is understandable that the EU wants to protect its own eco-systems against the false codling moth (FCM), the manner in which these new regulations were implemented was unreasonable and unfair. Exporters were expected to put measures in place to comply with the new standards within three weeks, which is completely unrealistic, and has led to tons of our citrus being stuck in ports in Europe, before the South African government belatedly managed to salvage the situation to some extent,” Van der Westhuizen said.

According to the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA), this has caused more than R200m in losses to the South African citrus industry. “The world does not need more protectionism in trade. What is needed is freer markets that allow developing economies fair access to lucrative, developed markets.”

Chadwick told Weekend Argus the new regulations were premature and posed a threat. “The long-term enforcement of the new FCM regulations is a serious threat to the industry, which is why the WTO consultation process remains critically important.

“The CGA’s position is that the cold treatment prescribed in the new regulations is contrary to scientific evidence, making it arbitrary and unnecessarily restrictive, and accordingly contravenes international requirements for such phytosanitary trade regulations.”

Chadwick added that an understanding had been reached with the WTO which would not exclude imports from various origins, but that the new standards by the EU had backfired.

The Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform has since made provisions to allow South African citrus growers to export their harvests to the EU markets.