Another meeting has been scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) to address outstanding import issues – mostly related to chicken and pork out of the United States (US) – after South Africa missed the December 31 deadline set by US president Barack Obama in November last year.
Despite ongoing assurances issued by Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies that the matter was “in hand”, the agricultural industry is bracing itself for the impact of South Africa’s exclusion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa). In his letter to president Jacob Zuma, Obama threatened to exclude South Africa from the Agoa programme should the market not be opened to US pork and chicken imports by the end of 2015.
On Monday Davies told reporters that the US government had not yet "blown the whistle" on the deadline and that the talks, which were now in "extra time", would continue whether or not it was blown.
The minister reportedly said that if the US did suspend Agoa access on specific agricultural products — possibly citrus, macadamia nuts or wine — this could easily be lifted if agreement were reached later.
Faizel Ismail, SA’s special envoy on Agoa issues, was cited by daily business publication, BDLive, as saying that negotiations on Agoa were 95% complete and that he expected the outstanding issues to be finalised by the end of the week, following tomorrow’s meeting.
Agri SA CEO Omri van Zyl was quoted by Moneyweb.co.za as saying that while the organisation was frustrated by the lack of urgency up to November last year, a lot of progress had been made since. “A balance has to be found between consumer access to cheaper US products, protection of producers against dumping, and consumer safety,” he reportedly said.
Meanwhile, Geordin Hill-Lewis, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Trade and Industry, pointed out in a press statement that the looming threat of exclusion of South Africa’s agricultural exports from Agoa benefits was bleak news for the economy. “It is especially bleak for South African farmers and farm workers who are already suffering from the worst drought in decades,” he said.
Hill-Lewis commented that Davies’ argument that a deal was very close was no longer credible. “The fact is that the negotiations have been in ‘extra time’ for at least 4 months. He (Davies) should not have allowed it to go so far. If the original October timeline had been honoured, we would not be in this position today. Instead, through rank tardiness and lack of leadership, every single deadline has been missed, with grave consequences for our economy,” he said.
