Cape Town - Agriculture Land Affairs and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza has signed a R325 million trade deal with China for the export of lemons from South Africa.
The landmark agreement will create 800 jobs in the industry, according to the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGASA).
The agreement, known as the revised protocol, was six years in the making. Until now South Africa has been exporting citrus to China under a protocol that was bilaterally agreed and signed in 2006.
Didiza said that under the old deal, the potential risk of false codling moth (FCM), a pest of quarantine concern to China, was addressed through a cold treatment regime of 24 days at 0.6°C in transit.
“One can consider this as a process of disinfestation. However, this temperature is not ideal for shipment of lemons as it affects their quality on arrival and thus low volumes of lemons are currently exported to China.
“Under this protocol, cold treatment for lemons will be 3°C or below for not less than 18 consecutive days,” said Didiza.
Following the deal, it is expected that South Africa will export 25 000 tons of lemons to China by 2024.
The local industry has already enjoyed phenomenal growth in exports to China in recent years with shipments of grapefruit, orange and soft citrus reaching 130 000 metric tons in 2020.
CGAS Chief executive Justin Chadwick said until now, Argentina and Chile have dominated lemon exports to China, but once the deal, which is a revised protocol, is in place, South Africa is expected to surpass both countries’ exports.
“With local lemon production expected to grow by 175,000 metric tons by 2024, the finalisation of the revised protocol means China will now become a critical new market for this growth.
“This milestone also follows the recent first shipment of South African citrus to the Philippines, which will also result in new export earnings of close to R205 million annually,” said Chadwick.