SOUTH AFRICA – South African agricultural body AgriSA has called on the Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Ministry to urgently intervene in the unilateral action taken by Botswana and Namibia to block a number of South African agricultural commodities from entering their borders.

The countries are reported to have banned the importation of tomatoes, potatoes, beetroot, cabbage and coloured peppers, amongst other commodities, in a move which Agri SA believes is in violation of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) agreement.

The SACU agreement stipulates that the member countries are supposed to have a common external trade border with free flow of goods within the union.

However, according to AgriSA, the actions by Botswana and Namibia are particularly egregious as they do not stem from any wrongdoing by South African farmers.

Rather, these countries have cited the need to protect their own local production even as they continue to export their produce to South Africa.

And the move is feared not to be a short-term measure as the government of Botswana has indicated it will only review the ban in two years’ time, and will likely expand it to include more products.

“We have noted that, while Botswana and Namibia close their borders to vegetables from SA, they remain happy to send their like products back into SA, and at predatory prices to boot,” said Agri SA executive director Christo van der Rheede.

Van Rheede explains that the vegetable sector in SA has a minimum wage of RR23.19 per hour, while the comparative rate in Botswana is 3.8 pula (equivalent to R5.04) per hour and that of Namibia is R12.23 per hour.

No minimum wages exist in those two countries for the vegetable sector. BELN countries, for example, have a 13% cost advantage over SA in the case of tomatoes.

“Our first choice would be that compliance [with the SACU agreement] is ensured, and failing this, we would like to see SA reciprocate the gesture and close its borders to vegetable products emanating from the BELN states,” said Van Rheede.

The reciprocal measures aimed to protect local farmers include halting of payments to these countries from the Common Revenue Pool, until the borders are reopened to South African commodities.

This fund comprises all customs, excise and additional duties collected in the common customs area.

“South Africa has been slow to act in demand that SACU member states comply with the agreement and our accommodating approach to the agreement has been met with harmful bans,” the organisation adds.

Agri SA hopes that the department will meet with Agricultural Trade Forum (ATF) soon and take appropriate action before the agricultural sector suffers irreparable damage.

The export ban comes at a time South Africa’s horticulture sector is experiencing a boom, registering 5% rise in production in the first quarter of the year.

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