News Search

Statement by Ambassador Michael Froman in Geneva, 4 November 2015 Thank you, Chair. The United States would like to welcome the delegation from the SACU countries, as well as the Executive Secretary of SACU, to this fourth review of the trade policies and practices of the Southern African Customs Union. We would also like to thank the governments of the five SACU member countries and the WTO Secretariat for the comprehensive reports that they prepared for this review. We note that our delegation submitted written questions in advance...

The talks with the US over the sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) requirements for the importation of US poultry, beef and pork were substantially concluded, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies assured MPs on Tuesday. However, as has happened on several occasions in the past, the minister’s version of developments differs starkly from that of US stakeholders. Mr Davies told members of Parliament’s trade and industry portfolio committee that SA had sent all its proposals on the outstanding issues to the US last week and was awaiting a...

US president Barack Obama announced Friday that Burundi will be ejected from a pact offering African nations much-desired US market access, after the country’s president grabbed a third term in office. In a notification to Congress, Obama said he had taken the step in response to a “continuing crackdown on opposition members, which has included assassinations, extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture.” The measure will take effect in January. Burundi has been convulsed by violence since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s...

In accordance with section 506A(a)(3)(B) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, as amended (AGOA) (19 U.S.C. 2466a(a)(3)(B)), I am providing notification of my intent to terminate the designation of the Republic of Burundi (Burundi) as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under AGOA. Message to the Congress -- Notification to the Congress on AGOA Program Change TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES: In accordance with section 506A(a)(3)(B) of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, as amended (AGOA) (19...

The festering inter-governmental trade squabble between the US and South Africa is threatening to seriously dent the automotive industry’s lucrative trade with the US. This follows a report last week that the US had vowed to press ahead with a review that could cut South Africa’s access to the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) trade benefits after South Africa missed a key deadline for resuming US poultry imports. The South African government later denied it had missed a deadline for resuming imports, claiming instead that the...

U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Patricia M. Haslach with President Mulatu Teshome at the Origin Africa presents: Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week trade expo Wednsday October 21, 2015, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia The Ambassador of United States to Ethiopia Patricia M. Haslach joined President Mulatu Teshome at the Origin Africa presents: Africa Sourcing and Fashion Week trade expo to promote East African countries as sourcing and investment destinations for international buyers of apparel, textile, leather, and home decor. The  United States...

The South African government denied yesterday it had missed a key deadline for resuming US poultry imports. Instead, Sidwell Medupe, a spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry, said that the deadline that had been missed by both countries on Friday related to an agreement on new animal health and safety rules. A Reuters report from Washington yesterday said the US vowed on Monday to press ahead with a review that could cut South Africa’s access to trade benefits after the country missed a key deadline for resuming US poultry...

The United States vowed on Monday to press ahead with a review that could cut South Africa's access to trade benefits after the country missed a key deadline for resuming US poultry imports. South Africa has banned US poultry imports since last December after an outbreak of bird flu. The measure came on top of 15 years of punitive import duties on some US chicken products. The two countries had set an October 15 deadline to agree on new animal health and food safety rules, which also affect US beef and pork exports and are estimated to...

The United States vowed on Monday to press ahead with a review that could cut South Africa's access to trade benefits after the country missed a key deadline for resuming U.S. poultry imports. South Africa has banned U.S. poultry imports since last December after an outbreak of bird flu. The measure came on top of 15 years of punitive import duties on some U.S. chicken products. The two countries had set an Oct. 15 deadline to agree on new animal health and food safety rules, which also affect U.S. beef and pork exports and are estimated...

A bipartisan trio of senators on Monday called on the Obama administration to hold South Africa accountable for missing a deadline aimed at opening up that market for U.S. poultry. Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Delaware Democrats Tom Carper and Chris Coons expressed concern that South Africa missed an Oct. 15 deadline that would remove a 100-percent tariff on U.S. chicken implemented in 2000. "South Africa failed to finalize both the trade protocol and health certificate for U.S. poultry despite the administration’s intense engagement...

A United States public policy expert says business relations between the U.S and Zimbabwe can be redefined in the context of the extended Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) but local business should speak with a collective voice that can help government think through the tough challenges of economic development to attract American business investment into the country. In a statement, the U.S Embassy in Harare quoted Dr. Witney Schneidman, a fellow with the highly influential American think-tank, the Brookings Institution, working on...

South Africa is close to signing an agreement to allow 65,000 tonnes of poultry imports from the United States, a special envoy for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) said on Wednesday, sealing a deal agreed in June. South Africa imposes "anti-dumping" duties of above 100 percent on certain chicken products and industry groups said removing those import barriers opened a market which had been closed for the last 15 years. Although both sides agreed on a pact in Paris in June for South Africa to end the ban, Pretoria has raised...

The U.S and Kenya governments are speeding up the development of cold chain facilities in the country as demand for perishable exports-imports between the two countries increase. Coming hot in the heels of a 10-year African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) extension, the Ministry of Industrialisation and US Department of Commerce have launched the Cold Chain Assessment Initiative. The initiative will assess Kenya’s needs in cold chain infrastructure to ensure it complies with US standards and regulatory requirements in perishable...

South Africa will probably retain duty-free access for exports to the US worth as much as $1.7 billion a year under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies said in an interview, citing a letter he received from the US trade representative. “I am confident that we are on track to keep us in AGOA,” Davies said on Saturday. “The issues that are going to be central to their decisions on the outer-cycle review are related to the three meats. These were about the importation of 65 000 tons of poultry,...

South Africa can expect challenges to legislation that would limit foreign ownership of private security companies, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said, days after the U.S. warned the bill may affect the country’s inclusion in a preferential trade agreement. “The law is sitting with the president,” Davies said in Johannesburg on Friday. “We do think that we must expect there will be a challenge if the bill goes through in its current form.” Section 20 of the Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill would...

South Africa is in danger of being sidelined for project funding by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as the US lobbies to scrap the controversial Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill. Yesterday, the US trade mission threatened to withdraw its support for South Africa’s funding applications for infrastructure development projects if certain clauses in the bill were not reviewed, and once more placed the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) on the back foot. Costa Diavastos, an executive director...

South Africa 'should not be excluded from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) as it has done everything it can to address the concerns of US businesses about the openness of the local economy for their goods', says Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies. "We have addressed their concerns, including on chicken import quotas. The ball is now in the US’s court," Mr Davies said while acknowledging that the US could "in whole or in part exclude SA from Agoa benefits, but we think we should continue to be part of the arrangement and...

South Africa and the United States are painstakingly inching towards a resolution of their protracted trade dispute over US meat imports which is threatening South Africa’s access to the US market. But the government’s draft legislation to force foreigners to sell off their majority shares in private security companies is now posing a bigger threat to South Africa’s continued participation in the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) and even to potential loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. On Monday...

D-Day looms for South Africa’s level of access to the US African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa) and the benefits it provides as US authorities are due to make a decision in about two weeks. Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies told Business Report on Friday that negotiations between the country and its US counterparts were continuing to ensure that the country’s conditional access to Agoa was lifted and full benefits were restored. Rob Davies   The US government has been complaining that South Africa continually offers...

As the office of the US Trade Representative wraps up a review of SA’s eligibility for preferential access to the US market, key members of Congress, including a long-time ally, have called for the inquiry to be broadened, citing "serious questions about SA’s openness to foreign investment" and its "commitment to an open, rules-based trading system". Issues they want addressed include local content requirements imposed by recent changes in black empowerment codes; perceived threats to US agricultural exports from the EU-SADC Economic...

It seems like there’s a change of heart as reality starts to sink in that cutting ties with the United States could cost the country $1.7 billion in export earnings annually, which has more than doubled since 2000. The recent rhetoric out of the ANC has been construed as Anti-West, while a lot of government’s activity has also pointed to Russia and China, but the US trade agreement cannot be scoffed at. The job and revenue losses will be too great. South Africa says it has done all it can to retain access to AGOA, while the U.S....

In September 2015, president Obama renewed the African Growth and Opportunity Act (“AGOA 5”) for an additional 10-year bringing its closure to 2025. AGOA has drawn mixed results and a successful 2025 closure will need a change of recipe both from the US and African countries. How can African countries therefore change their game, decode and achieve a successful 2025 closure? AGOA extends the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and allow them to export around 7,000 products to the US with no...

Sub-­Saharan Africa is one of the fastest ­growing regions for U.S. agricultural exports and a high-ranking U.S. official plans to visit the area to make sure the growth stays on course, but a lingering disagreement with South Africa is causing complications, GlobalMeatNews reports. 2014 was a record year for U.S. poultry meat and prepared food exports to sub-Sahara, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Surging demand, a growing middle class and a strong economic outlook is helping drive...