R654 million worth of SA citrus could be destroyed, jobs lost

R654 million of SA citrus produce destroyed.Picture: Zanele Zulu/African News Agency (ANA)

R654 million of SA citrus produce destroyed.Picture: Zanele Zulu/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Jul 11, 2022

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Cape Town - The Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGA) says new “politically motivated” European Union regulations could see R654 million of South Africa’s citrus produce destroyed.

CGA Special Envoy for Market Access and EU Matters, Deon Joubert, said on Monday that the EU Standing Committee on Plant, Animal, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF) published drastic new regulations in June requiring the cold treatment for oranges heading to the region as a means to address False Coddling Moth (FCM) interceptions from Southern African orange exports.

Despite objections from a number of countries, the new regulations were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 21 this year, stating that these "shall apply from July 14, 2022”.

The regulations require that imports of citrus fruit must undergo specified mandatory cold treatment processes and pre-cooling steps for specific periods (up to 25 days of cold treatment) before consignments are shipped.

“These new requirements differ significantly from South Africa's existing rigorous FCM Risk Management System, which has been highly effective in protecting European production from the threat of pest or disease, including FCM, over several years and is supported by the results of scientific studies published in international peer reviewed scientific journals.

“The nature of the cold treatment prescribed in the new regulations is contrary to scientific evidence, making it an arbitrary, unjustified and unnecessarily trade-restrictive measure and accordingly contravenes international requirements for such phytosanitary trade regulations,” Joubert said.

Most critically, he added, local citrus growers currently export 800 000 tonnes of high-quality citrus fruit to the EU annually, yet FCM interceptions have been consistently low over the past three years – with 19 (2019), 14 (2020) and 15 (2021) interceptions respectively.

“This is in stark contrast to FCM interceptions from other third importing countries, which have been much higher – with 53, 129 and 58 interceptions over the same period. However, no measures have been proposed against these countries,” Joubert said.

A significant portion of South Africa’s commercial orange production will also not be able to withstand the new prescribed cold treatment. Organic and “chem-free” oranges are particularly prone to chilling injury and will be most severely impacted, even though no FCM interceptions have been reported in the EU on these environmentally friendly and sustainable orange types, Joubert said.

“South Africa is currently engaging with its counterparts in the EU to reconsider these regulations on the basis of the fact that they carry no technical weight and appear to be nothing more than a politically motivated move by Spanish producers to freeze out southern African citrus from the European market,” he said.

Of immediate concern is that there are currently numerous shipments of citrus fruit en route to the EU with phytosanitary certificates issued before July 14 based on South Africa’s existing systems approach. These shipments will reach the EU after July 14, by which time the EU's new phytosanitary requirements will apply.

As a result, an estimated 3.2 million cartons of citrus valued at R605 million (€38.4 million) currently en route to the region could potentially be destroyed by authorities, Joubert said.

“This will not only result in large gaps in the supply chain and higher prices for European consumers, at a time when the region faces the real risk of food insecurity due to the ongoing Ukraine-Russian conflict, but will also severely threaten the sustainability and profitability of the South African citrus industry. In particular, it will put 140 000 jobs that the local industry sustains, mostly in rural areas, at risk,” Joubert said.

The CGA said it would, in conjunction with the South African government, continue lobbying against the legislation, which they said effectively posed the equivalent of a trade block for southern African states.

Cape Times