Simpler protocols provide easier access for citrus exporters to China

RAY SMUTS SOUTH AFRICAN citrus is slowly but surely winning the hearts and minds of consumers in the People’s Republic of China, a country that not too long ago remained impenetrable to Western marketing endeavours. Encouraging news from the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa is that the Chinese Plant Health (AQSIQ) officials have informed SA's department of agriculture they have accepted the list of production units, orchards and storage facilities submitted to them in June this year. In terms of Article 10 of the new protocol, signed in June 2006, citrus may be now exported to the People’s Republic of China (a country with more than one billion people) under less stringent conditions than the original protocol signed in June 2004. It must be emphasised, though, that not just any citrus will fit the bill. Only that harvested from specific production units – currently standing at 393 – is registered for export to China. Justin Chadwick, CEO of the CGA, urges exporters planning to send fruit to China to study the protocol thoroughly (available on the CGA website) to ensure they comply with all requirements. These include the Production Unit Code (PUC), orchard numbers, packhouse code and storage facility code (Fresh Produce Terminal, Cape Town, for example) to be shown on each carton, all of which must correspond with those on the approved list. In addition, all cartons must display a sticker with 'for the People’s Republic of China’, printed in both English and Mandarin. Chadwick emphasises that cartons arriving in China without all the relevant information will not be permitted entry into the country. As is applicable to citrus exports to the US, exports to the People’s Republic of China are first pre-cooled in terms of the protocol and then subjected to in-transit cold sterilisation treatment at -0.6C for 24 days. Experience in the US and South Korean markets is that oranges and mandarins can be shipped under these conditions with no adverse effects on quality. Work is still being conducted on lemons and grapefruit to determine their sensitivity to this cold treatment. Several ports of entry, Dalian, Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Nanjing, are open to registered exporters. It is anticipated that exports will grow from 2 to 3 million cartons in the initial years, up to ten to fifteen million over the next ten years. This could mean on-farm earnings of some R600 million. Responding to criticism by several key fruit industry players that the South African government has not moved rapidly enough to access new markets, he says: “The Plant Health Directorate, with its small staff, has a mammoth task addressing all plant health issues. As a result they tend to respond to crisis rather than proactively addressing all market access applications, and new market access is critical for all the fruit industries.” Established by growers in the wake of deregulation of the fruit industry in the late 1990s, the CGA represents the interests of some 1 200 producers of export citrus in South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. A further development that holds more promise for citrus exporters is a protocol for Thailand that is currently up to draft level.