According to the Citrus Growers Association, the New European Union pest control rules will reduce South Africa’s orange exports to Europe by 20 per cent in 2023, a move that will threaten thousands of jobs.
The recent measures imposed by the EU in June 2023 entailed enhanced cold treatment for citrus exports owing to concerns over the ‘False Codling Moth’ and ‘Citrus Black Spot’ a pest frequently found in sub-Saharan Africa.
South Africa, –the world’s second-largest citrus exporter after Spain– had sold 32% of its oranges in the European market last year, according to the country’s Perishable Products Export Control Board, PPECB.
This new EU rules will require all South African oranges bound for Europe to be pre-cooled to below 2 degrees Celsius (35.6°F) for about 20 days before shipment.
These requirements have been deemed unfair and discriminatory by the South African association as they revealed that about $75 million investment in new cold storage technology and capacity would have to be made.
According to the CGA, the new regulations had no basis in science and so the cold treatment was an un-warranted stipulation.
Regardless, the CGA has urged the nation to discuss the new pest regulations at the joint meeting of the African Union and EU agriculture ministers that will take place in Rome on June 30.
A diminished orange exports into the EU market would result in a 500 million rand (apprx. $26.83 million) loss to farmers who had initially lost 200 million rand when the regulations had been established in the middle of the 2022 export season.
