Swaziland eyes lucrative US citrus market

MBABANE – At a time when the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) is lobbying for an extension of the US trade initiative the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), CGA’s Swaziland members stand to lose out due to President Obama’s removal of the country from the list of Agoa beneficiaries. “Expulsion (for Swaziland) is a setback,” Justin Chadwick, CEO of the CGA, said in response to a query from FTW. “Swaziland does not have access to the USA and so no fruit is sent there at the moment. South Africa only has access from the Northern and Western Cape,” said Chadwick. The operations of the Durban-based CGA are financed from dues paid by growers. One current project is to help convince the US to extend Agoa beyond 2015. Swaziland growers are CGA members and their dues have contributed to this effort with an eye on future access to the lucrative US citrus market. “Both Swaziland and the rest of South Africa have sent in market access applications,” said Chadwick. Agoa largely benefited Swaziland’s textile industry. However, citrus is an example of another Swazi product that would benefit from duty-free access to the US market offered by the trade scheme. Swaziland was removed from Agoa eligibility in May, with the official announcement coming in June, because government would not adjust its domestic labour and human rights laws and policies to conform with international accords on these topics to which Swaziland is a signatory. Swaziland’s citrus growers may yet receive market access for their product, and shipments may still be made there in future if approval is received. However, regular duties will have to be paid on the fruit.