South Africa uses talks with US officials to open dialogue about beef, ostrich exports
South Africa has used discussions with US veterinary officials to open up dialogue about its ostrich and beef exports to America.
The country has been trying to obtain health certification for its beef exports to the US for five years, African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) special envoy Faizel Ismail told BDlive during a telephonic interview on Wednesday.
The two sides met on Monday in Pretoria to thrash out key sticking points on US meat imports to SA, as well as exports to the US.
Representatives from the departments of Trade and Industry, and Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, as well as vets Eric Coleman and Mark Davidson, of the US agriculture department, formed part of the talks in Pretoria.
Although the US renewed Agoa for another decade in July, Washington is currently conducting an out-of-cycle review of SA’s participation in the programme.
International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane is scheduled to meet her US counterpart John Kerry for bilateral discussions, at which the Agoa review is likely to come up.
Some of the sticking points that sparked the review include South African restrictions on US beef, poultry and pork exports. America has been hit by an avian flu outbreak, which initially started in three states and spread to another 20.
"It has been 90 days since another case of avian flu has been documented in the US," said Mr Ismail.
At Monday’s meeting, which was facilitated by the US ambassador to the country, SA went in with a long wishlist of agricultural products for which it is seeking access to the American market, Mr Ismail told BDlive.
For the local delegation, the items that ultimately came up for discussion were SA’s ostrich and beef exports to the US, he said.
"The South African delegation wanted to know how best to facilitate and expedite the health certificate for beef," said Mr Ismail.
However, health certification is a complicated process as each product line has its own intricacies and complexities, he said.
This partly explained why SA had not resumed US chicken imports as the two sides were considering ways in which to accommodate products coming from states not impacted by the avian flu outbreak, he said.
Every product had a different type of process, while animal diseases required specific protocols be devised to mitigate risk, he explained.
Vets developed the risk and mitigation strategies, as well as the technical systems designed to test and monitor a specific product in line with World Organisation for Animal Health protocols.
The American delegation, meanwhile, also won concessions during the Pretoria discussions.
An October 15 deadline has been set on the protocol to be followed for US chicken imports to SA.
Also, SA will now follow through on its June Paris meeting commitment to allow 65,000-tonnes of bone-in chicken to be imported into the country duty free, as per the agreed upon tariff quota rate.
"There is no more deadlock on these issues," declared an optimistic Mr Ismail to BDlive.
Also see: Media release from Monday's meeting.
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