Cape Town - The Citrus Growers' Association of South Africa (CGA) wants the government to “intervene politically” at the upcoming AU-EU agriculture ministerial conference to save South Africa’s citrus from devastating EU regulations introduced last year.
Citrus Growers Association chief executive Justin Chadwick said: “Minister (Thoko) Didiza must make the unfair and discriminatory pest regulations by the EU a priority at the upcoming conference in Rome this July.”
Last July, the EU shook the country’s farmers when it imposed new restrictions on South African citrus imports.
The new phytosanitary requirements were meant to address citrus black spot and false codling moth (FCM), a citrus pest that is native to South Africa and for which there is zero tolerance in the EU.
AU and EU Agriculture ministers will be attending the conference along with representatives of various international organisations.
“This makes it a crucial opportunity for the South African government to push for a resolution on these critical matters in order to safeguard the 140000 jobs our sector sustains.”
Chadwick said the local orange export season started towards the end of July and impact of the FCM regulations was expected to be devastating.
He said the introduction of the regulations in the middle of the 2022 export season had already resulted in R200 million in losses for growers, and this number was expected to spiral out of control during the current season.
The CGA’s current estimates are that about 20% of oranges produced for Europe will not be shipped this year because of the new regulations.
This means that approximately 80 000 tons of oranges might not make it to European supermarket shelves, resulting in a further R500m economic blow to the industry.
Didiza has previously suggested that if the EU does not budge, South Africa would have to start looking elsewhere for markets.
Speaking at the CGA Citrus Summit in Gqeberha, Didiza said the government would support the citrus sector through its multilateral relations with Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore to promote greater market access in the East.