Govt reach deal with EU to release tonnes of citrus fruit
The Department of Agriculture says it has reached a settlement with the European Union to allow the export of tonnes of oranges and grapefruits into the European market.
The fresh produce were denied entry after the EU imposed new regulations forcing South African exported citrus to be stuck in the European habours for weeks.
Over 2 000 containers, with an estimated value of R 500 million were affected by this blockage.
Ministry spokesperson Reggie Ngcobo says the regulations were published on 21 June and were set to come into force by 24 June, meaning that consignments arriving in Europe from 14 July onwards needed to comply with the new measures.
“To date, we have managed to clear more than 300 of the 509 containers and we are processing clearance of the remaining containers. The EU introduced new measures to regulate the risk associated with False Codling Moth on citrus fruit.
"The new measures include amended additional phytosanitary declarations for grapefruit and soft citrus and a revised cold treatment regime for oranges. At the time of the publication of the new measures, there were consignments that were certified and had already left for EU as well as some that were in the process of being exported."
Ngcobo says that changing the inspection and certification system within three days was unrealistic.
"The DALRRD segmented the cases into just documentation regarding grapefruit and soft citrus and cold treatment compliance on oranges. Based on this agreement an arrangement was stuck that replacement phytosanitary certificates will be issued for oranges with equivalent cold treatment declaration." said Ngcobo
The ports that were presented by the industry as those where South African oranges were rejected included ports in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.
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