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S. Africa warns U.S. against suspending duty-free treatment on farm exports

Xinhua, November 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

The South African government on Friday warned the U.S. against suspending the application of duty-free treatment to AGOA-eligible agricultural products from South Africa.

The U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), is a trade act enacted in 2000 aimed at boosting trade between the U.S. and qualifying sub-Saharan countries.

South African Trade Minister Rob Davies told a press briefing in Cape Town that "removing South Africa from AGOA would substantially diminish the significance of AGOA for sub-Saharan Africa and the United States."

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday informed Congress of the intention to suspend duty-free access for all AGOA-eligible agricultural products from South Africa.

The U.S. accuses South Africa of blocking U.S. meat products including poultry, beef and pork.

The minister said South Africa had made continued progress in the past few months in implementing an agreement with the U.S. reached in Paris in June.

At the Paris meeting, South Africa agreed to open its market to the U.S. for 65,000 tonnes of bone-in chicken pieces.

Davies said the South African authorities had issued a draft on the quota on Oct. 30, and it was expected to be adopted before the end of this year.

The prolonged process is a result of the continuing negotiations on necessary animal health protocols for meat exports between the two sides in the past months.

According to Obama's letter to Congress, the new higher tariffs on South Africa's agricultural exports would take effect from January 5, 2016, leaving the two countries time for negotiations.

The suspension, if taking effect, would affect annual agricultural exports from South Africa worth some 2.4 billion rand (about 174 million US dollars), including products such as wine, fruit juice, citrus fruit, and pulp.

It could lead to thousands of job losses in the country's agricultural sector.

Although the U.S. renewed the AGOA for another decade in July, Washington has been conducting an out-of-cycle review of South Africa's participation in the trade deal.

"South Africa meets all the eligibility criteria to remain a beneficiary of AGOA for the next 10 years," Davies said. Endit