South Africa has asked the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to consider what the country called “unscientific and discriminatory measures” placed on citrus imported from the African nation by the European Union (EU).
A joint statement by The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA) emphasized that the regulations are being challenged by the South African government to protect the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in the local citrus industry.
The statement further explained that South African citrus growers are spending billions of rands per year to comply with measures that the industry considers unscientific and unnecessarily restrictive, as South Africa already has an effective world-class risk management system that ensures safe citrus exports. Emerging citrus growers are especially hit hard by the EU measures.
South Africa has requested the establishment of two panels at a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to address the EU’s regulations on two separate plant health issues — Citrus Black Spot and False Codling Moth. This is the first time that South Africa has taken a dispute to the WTO because a request by it to the EU for consultations had not produced any results.