trade
8 February 2007
Four agreements on trade in plant commodities were signed on 6 February 2007
during the State visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to South Africa. This
significant achievement is the product of much hard work done since 2002, and
it provides major opportunities to farmers in both countries. For South African
producers it means that table grapes and tobacco leaf could soon be exported to
the People's Republic of China.
The technical details of these agreements were successfully negotiated
during Minister Lulu Xingwana's visit to Beijing in December 2006, when senior
officials concluded their bilateral discussions by initialising the agreed
draft documents. This allowed an early start to preparations for setting the
export programmes in motion. As a result, even prior to the State visit and
official signing, China accepted an invitation from the Department of
Agriculture (DoA) to send their experts to do the required inspections of South
African table grape production systems.
In China the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine (AQSIQ) is responsible for regulating imports of agricultural
commodities, supported by its provincial Customs, Inspection, and Quarantine
branches (CIQ). Mr Du Qi, Director of Animal and Plant Health, Shandong CIQ,
and Mr Pu Min, Director of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Research
Centre, AQSIQ, began a 10-day visit on 29 January 2007, with Ms Cathy Liu of
the DoA's Beijing office as their interpreter. After they report their findings
to their principals in Beijing, AQSIQ will inform the DoA when exports can
begin.
The existing bilateral agreement for citrus exports from SA also benefited
from the negotiations in December. AQSIQ subsequently undertook to consider
additional farms and pack houses for participation in the programme, and tasked
their experts who are assisting in initiating the table grape programme with
the required inspections. They also agreed to forgo the biennial pre-inspection
visits to SA, and to include Guangzhou and Shenzhen as ports of entry into
China. This reduces industry costs and could significantly expand the
programme.
As for citrus and table grape exports from SA, China also requires an
on-site pre-inspection visit to initiate trade in tobacco. The aim is mainly to
verify our pest management systems and SA's pest free status regarding the
Tobacco Blue Mould fungus (Peronospora tabacina). Two experts from China will
be doing this early in March.
The other two newly signed agreements will allow imports of Chinese apples
and pears into SA. After receiving AQSIQ's pest information package in
September 2004, shortly before the first session of the China-SA ministerial
SPS Committee, the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) team of the Directorate Plant
Health (DPH) assessed the risks posed by pests and diseases known to occur on
these fruit in China. This technical process is conducted according to
international principles and standards, and prevents potentially damaging
foreign organisms from entering SA on imported goods.
DPH completed the assessments and resulting import protocols in record time.
The next step is that three technical experts from SA's Agricultural Product
Inspection Services (APIS) and Directorate Plant Health will conduct site
visits in China in September 2007, before the harvest of apples and pears
starts. Their investigations will provide the final assurance that Chinese
producers and pest mitigation systems meet SA's plant health import conditions.
And so you could see the traditional Chinese "Fragrant pear" in SA by November
2007.
For further information contact:
Dr Marinda Visser
Director Plant Health
Tel: (012) 319 6529
Cell: 083 500 8799
Issued by: Department of Agriculture
8 February 2007
