Nompumelelo Magwaza
SOUTH African citrus growers could get some temporary relief from criticism over citrus black spot after one of the world’s top food health bodies, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), called for independent experts to scrutinise the issue.
The IPPC, which is part of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation based in Rome, called on Friday for the nomination of experts to be part of a panel on the citrus black spot dispute between South Africa and the EU.
Even though the IPPC does not have binding powers, the findings of the panel could bring some finality to the dispute, which has been going on since 2010. Citrus black spot is a fungal disease that can cause black marks on the leaves and skin of fruit.
The IPPC will convene the expert panel, comprising three independent professionals and one representative from each of the parties involved in the dispute. This means South Africa must choose a representative who will be able to table its case with the panel.
The EU believes that citrus black spot poses a threat in Europe’s citrus-producing areas. Local citrus growers have argued that South Africa complied with stringent sanitary measures to guard against the fungal disease, even though there was no scientific evidence that it could pose a risk to Europe’s orchards.
SA Citrus Growers’ Association chief executive Justin Chadwick said on Friday that all World Trade Organisation (WTO) members had signed with the IPPC not to send pests or diseases with their products to other countries.
The IPPC was formed to guard against transmission of plant diseases and to enhance trade by ensuring that there were not unjustified barriers between trade partners.
In 2010 the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries asked the IPPC to intervene in the citrus black spot dispute. Chadwick said a number of dispute resolution mechanisms had been put in place since then.
“The last attempt resulted in the EU introducing stricter controls, including pre- and post-harvest chemical treatment and other measures. These measures have not worked; instead they have widened the gap between the two countries,” he said.
He said the latest step was good news for local growers because there was a strong belief that the scientific work done by another international expert panel was sound and that the EU’s measures were disproportionate to the risk involved.
“We believe that an independent expert panel will look at it and will conclude the facts. Our wish was to get some independent review of both the views so that we can settle the dispute,” Chadwick said.
In a summary report released last month, an expert panel of professionals in the plant health field from South Africa, Brazil, the US, Argentina and Australia found the fungal disease had a wide global distribution but was known to occur only in summer rainfall citrus-producing areas and not in areas with a Mediterranean climate.
Chadwick was not sure if the IPPC could bar these experts from the panel seeing that they had already expressed their views on the issue.
The call for experts has specified that qualifying individuals should have a scientific background in citrus black spot and should be independent of the dispute. The deadline for submission of nominations is October 31.
Local citrus growers would have to hold discussions with the department about who would represent the country in Rome, Chadwick said.
He said this expert panel would look more at the technical side of the dispute and was not binding on the two parties but would send a strong signal on the matter.
“In parallel to this we have been preparing to state our case with the WTO dispute resolution committee where we could use the IPPC outcome in this resolution body.”
South Africa, the largest citrus exporter to the world’s markets after Spain and Turkey, halted the shipment of this fruit to the EU this month after a number of consignments were found to have black spot.
The local citrus industry has 1 600 growers and exports about 1.5 million tons a year. It employs about 120 000 people in rural areas. Citrus growers earn between R6 billion and R8bn a year.