Agoa ‘extra time’ agreement reached

SOUTH Africa and the US have finally reached an agreement on the terms and conditions for the import of US beef‚ pork and poultry after months of prolonged and nail-biting negotiation. The deal‚ which was reached in “extra time”‚ will secure continued tariff-free access to the US market for South Africa’s agricultural exports under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). Citrus‚ wine and macadamia nuts have been the major agricultural beneficiaries of this free access. Veterinarians of both countries had a prolonged meeting on Wednesday to thrash out an agreement on outstanding matters, mainly regarding health issues. These mainly related to how South Africa would deal with possible salmonella in US chicken imports. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies made the announcement of the agreement at a media conference yesterday. It was also attended by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Agriculture‚ Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana.

Davies said that all the health issues had been concluded and agreements had been signed. This meant that 65 000 tons of bone-in chicken portions from the US could enter the South African market annually free of anti-dumping duties. Davies said he was awaiting a signal from the US that all was in order and that South Africa would henceforth have full status under Agoa. The agreement came six days after the December 31 deadline set by US President Barack Obama for South Africa to remove all obstacles to US exports of beef‚ pork and poultry. If agreement was not reached, Obama said, he would order the withdrawal of tariff-free access for specified agricultural products under Agoa. The obstacles mainly related to rules the US found to be too restrictive.