‘EU ban won’t hurt SA citrus exports’

File photo: Reuters

File photo: Reuters

Published Dec 1, 2013

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Johannesburg - Domestic citrus exports wouldn’t be affected by an EU ban because it only related to this season, which had already ended, a trade group said.

The European Commission said yesterday that it would prohibit imports from some citrus-producing areas in South Africa after EU member states this year intercepted 36 shipments of fruit carrying citrus black spot, a fungal disease.

“The 2013 export season is completed and, therefore, the ban does not directly implicate any fruit still to be exported,” the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) said on Friday in a statement on its website. Still, the restrictions were “surprising and disappointing”.

The EU takes 40 percent, or R3 billion in annual value, of South Africa’s citrus shipments. Any future ban could affect jobs in the industry, which number 60 000 permanent positions and as many as 100 000 temporary roles. The country was the largest citrus exporter to world markets last year after Spain and Turkey.

The EU said in February that it would restrict imports should it intercept five incidences a year of citrus black spot. The bloc in July gave South Africa a temporary reprieve from the measure for this year, CGA chairman Pieter Nortje said on July 26.

The CGA expects the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to release the findings of a study into the risk posed by the disease in December, it said on Friday. “An international panel of citrus black spot scientists has provided input to EFSA and advised that citrus fruit imports do not pose a risk,” it said. – Bloomberg

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