South Africa 'negotiated reasonable AGOA deal' - DTI
South Africa negotiated a reasonable deal with regards to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on the poultry, pork and beef issue, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Thursday.
“We negotiated a reasonable deal, one that has some developmental content to it. At the end of the day, we’ve come out with a deal which is reasonable enough.
We delivered on it and we managed to secure continued participation of South Africa in AGOA,” said the Minister.
This comes as the Department of Trade and Industry announced that negotiations on the three meat issues had been concluded with the United States. This brought a close to months of discussions with the US on the terms required for South Africa to secure its position in the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
In November 2015, US President Barack Obama announced that the duty-free entry into the US of South Africa’s agricultural exports under AGOA would end if South Africa’s health restrictions on the import of US poultry, beef and pork were not lifted by January 4. However, the deadline was extended to 15 March 2016.
South Africa’s special envoy on AGOA, Faizel Ismail, said both the US and South Africa have built in a programme to support the development of small business.
“We’ve built into the agreement a programme to support the development of small and medium enterprises in South Africa, particularly the small emerging farmers and new emerging importers. Already on 1 March, there was a meeting at the US embassy where experts from US were available to provide advice to new black importers,” said Ismail.
Minister Davies said he received an e-mail from US trade representative Michael Froman saying that based on the actions taken, Froman would send a recommendation to President Obama to revoke the suspension of benefits for South Africa.
Minister Davies said negotiations had discussed several issues, including giving black owned businesses the opportunity to do the packaging as an ancillary to their own operations in the poultry production industry.
“There were a number of commitments made in terms of development and trade. We are attending to all of them with the DAFF [Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries] and the poultry industry,” he said.
In addition, the first consignment of US bone-in chicken arrived at the Port of Durban on Friday.
“There are about 16 tonnes of bone-in chicken that have arrived,” said Ismail. The total tonnage that South Africa has agreed on is 6 500 tonnes per annum.
South Africa will import bone-in chicken portions like wings and legs from the US. Minister Davies said the US is not the only place that South Africa imports chicken from, as it also imports from the European Union, among others.
Minister Davies said the imported meat will be repackaged.
“It comes in containers, it is frozen as well. It does not come in a format that is immediately accessible to consumers. The chicken will be labelled [as to] where it comes from, but that is if you buy it from the supermarket,” said the Minister.
Ismail said South African vets have been “scrupulous in ensuring that the products that come to South Africa meet all health requirements”.
“In the last few months, we also worked with the Department of Health. So all the meat that is going to be imported - poultry, beef and pork - will meet both our own standards and the OIE. The vets will be undertaking the mission of sampling each consignment that comes through,” said Ismail.
The OIE is the World Trade Organisation reference body for standards relating to animal health.
Read related news articles
South Africa plans US mission to lobby against US review of ties
South Africa’s newly formed government will use an upcoming forum on US preferential trade access to push back against a Senate review of ties between the two countries. The House of Representatives last month passed a law requiring a full assessment off bilateral relations and submitted it to the Senate for approval. South African business lobby groups have warned the legislation threatens to curb trade with the world’s biggest economy...
15 July 2024
How access to US market changed the fortunes of two South African sisters
Two entrepreneurs take traditional African designs and sustainable materials and turn them into international success What started as a pastime desire to sell crafts at local markets, deeply rooted in the South African culture, has since blossomed to become an international business entity for two local women.It took the Mokone sisters, Morongwe "Mo" (37) and Michelle (34), three years only to turn around their home decor business into an...
01 July 2024
South Africa walks a tightrope on US relations
South Africa has been conducting a high-wire act in its relations with the United States (US). It is maintaining friendships with Washington’s enemies like Russia, Iran and China while trying to avoid disrupting its economic relations with America. Tensions came closer than ever to breaking point this month as the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs passed the US-South Africa Bilateral Relations...
28 March 2024
Remarks by Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo on the US-South Africa economic relationship
As Prepared for Delivery in Johannesburg, South Africa Thank you for the warm welcome. I want to express my gratitude to Consul General Spera and the American Chamber of Commerce for hosting me. I am honored to be joined today by South African Entrepreneurs that are building companies to unlock the economic potential of their country. I owe my own presence here today to the inspiration I drew from South Africa. In the middle of the...
13 March 2024
South African president Ramaphosa meets with US congressional delegation
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa today, 21 February 2024, received for a visit from a bipartisan congressional delegation from the United States of America, in Tuynhuys, Cape Town. The delegation is visiting South Africa at the invitation of the Aspen Institute. The President and the US congressional delegation discussed the importance of the relationship between South Africa and the US, which manifests in strong economic,...
21 February 2024
US congress receives Bill to review South Africa relations
A bill has been submitted to the United States congress calling for a full review of the country’s bilateral relationship with South Africa following the International Court of Justice ruling that found it plausible that Israel has committed acts of genocide against Gaza. The bipartisan bill which was introduced by US Republican congressman John James and Democratic Party congressman Jared Moskowitz this week could threaten South...
09 February 2024
Fitch research unit expects better AGOA deal for South Africa
Fitch’s research arm, BMI, believes SA has done enough to get improved trade terms under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (Agoa), which it expects to be extended and modified before its expiry in September 2025. But it warns that the deal might be stillborn if Donald Trump is elected US president. The research think-tank said in a note it assigns a 65% probability that Agoa will not only be renewed but modified to the benefit of...
09 January 2024
South Africa: BLSA CEO calls for more companies to leverage AGOA opportunities
Many more South African companies could benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which gives eligible countries access to US markets free of tariff barriers, business organisation BusinessLeadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso writes in her weekly newsletter. Apart from mainstream formal sector businesses, there are opportunities to enable more entrepreneurs, including women-led...
20 November 2023
US ambassador: AGOA is an opportunity to deepen ties between the US and South Africa
President Joe Biden last December at the US-Africa Leaders Summit affirmed that the US will elevate its relationship with Africa. The future is Africa. One example is its youthful population: the median age on the continent is 19. By 2050, one in four people in the world will be in Africa. The US wants them to be healthy and wealthy. What happens in Africa will affect the rest of the globe — and we want to work together to ensure it is...
09 November 2023
US Senator Chris Coons proposes AGOA extension by 16 years, immediate review of SA’s AGOA eligibility
Powerful US Democratic Party Senator Chris Coons is circulating a discussion draft of a Bill to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) for 16 years that would also require an immediate “out-of-cycle” review of South Africa’s eligibility for Agoa. That could lead to South Africa being removed next year from the programme, which has provided considerable benefits to SA exporters to the US of cars, fruits and wine, in...
07 November 2023
AGOA benefits extend beyond trade [incl. VIDEO of Friday's opening session]
Economies in Sub-Saharan countries stand to benefit far more from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) than notable trade statistics, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. “AGOA enhances the diversification of African economies, enabling them to export value-added products. By enabling African countries to have preferential access to the US market, this opportunity incentivises African countries to develop and export value-added goods...
06 November 2023