EU citrus inspection costs raise concern

A decision by the Department
of Forestry and Fisheries
(Daff) to appoint the
Perishable Products Export
Control Board (PPECB)
to undertake all orchard
inspections for EU exports has
raised concern among citrus
growers around cost and
quality control.
“Discussions are however
under way between Daff,
the PPECB and the Citrus
Growers’ Association (CGA)
to reach a workable solution,”
CGA CEO Justin Chadwick
told FTW.
According to Daff, limited
resources prompted its
decision. “Our resources have
been severely stretched by
the additional phytosanitary
measures for fruit originating
outside the citrus black spot
(CBS) pest-free areas – and
it was an issue of concern
raised by the European
Commission last year,” a
spokesman said. “It’s the
reason why the PPECB has
been designated to take over
orchard inspections, pack
house inspection and issuance
of phytosanitary certificates
for the 2017 export season.
We see it as a practicable
service delivery option, thus
preventing the risk of losing
the EU citrus market and
thereby rendering the citrus
industry uncompetitive.”
The PPECB has proposed
a charge of R685 per orchard
– and the withdrawal of
the R189 charge for EU
phytosanitary certificates.
But Chadwick believes that
a major problem with the
new tariff is the ‘per orchard’
rate. “Daff used to charge a
rate per half hour. We have no
indication of how many hours
it took them to do an orchard
and orchard sizes differ
enormously – from one hectare
to 20 or 30 – so it’s difficult to
make a direct comparison.
“We’ve asked PPECB to
relook at the rate – and they’ve
agreed to work on three
different strata of orchard
sizes.”
The decision by the PPECB
and Daff to drop the charge
for phytosanitary certificates
for the EU
has also been
a point of
contention
because this
does not
benefit the
grower. “It
was the buyer
or export
agent who
paid for the
certificate
and recouped it in the cost
of the product – so although
it’s a saving for the industry it
would be felt by parties other
than the grower, and there’s
no guarantee that the parties
that benefit would pass on that
benefit.”
PPECB chief operations
manager Cyril Julius told
FTW that the concerns
had been noted and the
organisation was currently
re-examining its pricing
model.
Also at issue said
Chadwick, was the expertise
of the PPECB to conduct the
inspections.
“We understand that
they are employing 20-30
inspectors and will use
the new inspectors for
quality inspections while
the more experienced staff
will be assigned to orchard
inspections. They have also
agreed to do training and job
shadowing. But it is a concern
– we’ve got interceptions
down to such low levels with
Daff’s experience. They
have a trained eye and an
understanding of the fungus
and we want to ensure that
the PPECB can do the job
properly.”
Julius however told FTW
that he was
confident
that the
PPECB had
the necessary
resources and
expertise to
undertake the
inspections.
“We started
preparations
in October
last year
and PPECB inspectors are
receiving extensive training on
the new mandate. Training is
being conducted by specialists
from the PPECB as well as
Daff.”
Chadwick believes that
a service level agreement
between CGA and PPECB
would help to ensure that the
level of service is acceptable.
According to Julius, the
organisation has an SLA
with Daff with very specific
service levels. “If there are
requirements from the CGA
we are willing to consider
them,” he said.
Many growers have provided
input into the process. Further
feedback can be emailed to
justchad@iafrica.com.
INSERT AND CAPTION
A major problem with
the new tariff is the
‘per orchard’ rate.
– Justin Chadwick