(Bloomberg) — South Africa is preparing to file a World Trade Organization complaint with the European Union over the handling of citrus purchases from the country.
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The country's Ministry of Trade and Agriculture said in a statement on Monday that African countries have requested talks with the EU at the WTO to resolve the dispute.
“It is our view that the measures taken by the EU are not justified, disproportionate or appropriate,” South African Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel said in a statement.
Two years ago, the European Union imposed requirements including additional refrigeration on fruit from South Africa, the world's largest agricultural exporter after Spain, to prevent outbreaks of citrus black spot, a fungal disease that leaves black spots on fruit. did. South African growers will also be required to prove they have used costly spraying of trees to contain the disease and have their orchards and packing plants inspected.
South Africa shipped $644 million of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, grapefruit and tangerines to the EU in 2023, according to the South African Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce.
The EU move has increased costs for South Africa, but South Africa maintains that black spot on citrus fruits causes lesions on the peel but does not affect quality and cannot be transferred to other plants at this stage. There is. It also said some shipments to Europe were incorrectly classified as contaminated with the disease.
The Southern African Citrus Growers Association said last year that the move would cost the industry more than 500 million rand ($26 million) in export losses because there would not be enough dedicated refrigerated containers to get citrus to European markets. Stated.
South Africa's agriculture minister, Thoko Didiza, said: “The industry cannot afford to pay the approximately R2 billion required to comply with EU trade restriction regulations.”
The EU's mission to South Africa acknowledged a request for comment but has not yet responded. The WTO said it had not yet been notified before South Africa issued this statement.
South Africa as a whole exported about $2.5 billion of agricultural products to the EU last year, and a total of $13.2 billion worldwide. A third of citrus exports go to the EU.
Citrus Growers Association CEO Justin Chadwick said in a statement that the industry has the potential to expand by an additional R20 billion a year in exports and create an additional 100,000 jobs. said. He said that would not happen if EU restrictions remained in place.
–With assistance from Jorge Valero.
(Updates with minister's comment in third paragraph)
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