South Africa responded swiftly to President Barack Obama’s threat this week to partially revoke market access benefits for South Africa under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act unless Pretoria opens its market to U.S. beef, pork and poultry by early January 2016.
As reported by AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com on Thursday, President Obama’s November 5 ultimatum caught South Africa by surprise. Local officials, including Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Senzeni Zokwana (above), insist that South Africa all along has been negotiating in good faith with Washington over health and sanitary concerns about the import of the U.S. meats in question, and will continue to do so.
“All those issues are issues that we are still in negotiation. I don’t know why they issued this statement because in my view there may be an agreement. There’s no way we can say we can’t agree, but like in any other country you want to defend the safety of your own food,” Zokwana is quoted as saying in local news reports.
Below is South Africa’s formal response to President Obama’s action, as relayed to AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com by Brand South Africa’s top official in the United States, Mudunwazi Baloyi. The response is dated Nov. 6, 2015.
South Africa’s Statement On The African Growth And Opportunity Act (AGOA).
“In a letter dated 5th of November 2015, President Obama, warned South Africa that if the negotiations on the outstanding issues related to the poultry SPS issues are not resolved by the 31st December then the US would suspend South Africa’s Duty Free Treatment of SA’s Agricultural goods into the US.
“South Africa’s negotiators have been well aware of this authority to suspend a country’s trade benefits in terms of the AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act where the US believes that a beneficiary of AGOA is ‘not making continual progress toward the elimination of barriers to United States trade and investment.’
“However, South Africa wishes to submit that it has been making continual progress during the past few months to implement the agreement reached in Paris on the 6th and 7th of June this year. The main issues to be resolved are the opening of the South African market to US exports of the three meats: poultry, beef and pork.
“At the Paris meeting South Africa agreed to open the South African market to the US for 65 000 tons of bone-in chicken pieces through a rebate facility. In this regard the International Trade and Administration Commission has already issued a draft regulation on the 30th of October, 2015. The process of creating this quota is envisaged to be concluded well before the 31st of December 2015.
“In addition, as Minister Davies did indicate to the Parliamentary Committee on Trade and Industry on the 3rd of November, South Africa’s Vets have been continuously engaged with the US Vets during the past few months on the drafting of the necessary trade and animal Health protocols for poultry, beef and pork.
“Significant progress has been made in this regard and the work is almost complete. The reason the work has not been completed is due to the fact that both sides have had to engage on the documentation and negotiate the texts. Both sides have had to consider and evaluate these texts carefully before making submissions and proposals.
“These issues are about animal health and are very complex – a balance has to be found between trade opening and animal health. In the case of the poultry issue the negotiation has been more complex because the US is seeking an agreement on the health standards/regulations that would obtain if/when there is another outbreak of Avian Influenza in the United States. The US requires South Africa to keep the market open to US poultry from those US States that are not affected during such an outbreak.
“Notwithstanding this complexity South Africa’s Vets have been fully engaged on the detailed drafting of a trade protocol and animal health protocol for poultry. A draft trade protocol and animal health protocol is almost complete with some t’s to cross and some i’s to dot. A meeting of the Vets from the US and South Africa is taking place today – the 6th of November to attempt to close all the remaining technical issues. South Africa believes that it is “on track” to meet the December 31st deadline to resume imports of US poultry into South Africa.
“On beef, the Cabinet approved the lifting of a ban on boned beef from several countries which had Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) including the United States on the 24th of June, 2015. South Africa has submitted a draft health certificate to facilitate trade from the US and is open to discussing these issues on an expedited basis.
“On pork, the Animal Health Authorities of both governments have been undertaking the necessary technical work to ensure safe trade from at least three diseases, namely, Trichinella, Porcine Reproductive & Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) and Aujesky. South African Vets have made significant progress and have been able to approve a list of pork cuts. South Africa has submitted a draft pork health certificate to the US. South Africa remains ready to address any other concerns of the US.
“At the bilateral meeting today – the 6th of November – between the US and South African Vets the outstanding issues will be discussed with a view to finalizing the technical issues. It remains to be said that these are matters of animal health and have to be dealt with accordingly in a scientific and objective manner by the Vets.
“South Africa’s Message to the US on AGOA remains:
· AGOA has contributed significantly towards building a mutually beneficial partnership between the USA and South Africa.
· South Africa is a vital part of the regional integration and development process underway in Africa and removing South Africa from AGOA would substantially diminish the significance of AGOA for sub-Saharan Africa and the United States.
· The breakthrough made at the June 6-7th meeting in Paris on the poultry issue and the progress made on the SPS issues related to poultry, beef and pork offer significant opportunities for the US and South Africa to increase their trade in Agriculture.
· South Africa is a relatively open economy and trade and investment relations between South Africa and the United States have continued to grow and deepen during the period under AGOA.
· Bilateral mechanisms, such as TIFA, have provided an excellent forum for the resolution of trade and investment concerns.
· South Africa meets all the eligibility criteria to remain a beneficiary of AGOA for the next 10 years.”
