Pretoria - South Africa and the United States have committed to resolving the dispute over meat, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies says.
Minister Davies met with his US counterpart Ambassador Michael Froman on the sidelines of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
The meeting, among other things, assessed progress made since a notice was issued by US President Barack Obama last month regarding withdrawing duty-free treatment for South Africa’s agricultural exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if South Africa does not resolve the US’ concerns.
In the letter, President Obama warned South Africa that if the negotiations on the outstanding issues related to the poultry issues are not resolved by 31 December then the US would suspend South Africa’s duty-free treatment of South African agricultural goods into the United States.
Since the issuing of President Obama’s notice, South African and US veterinarians signed the “Protocol for Poultry Meat and Day-Old Chicks” on 13 November 2015.
The protocol will secure the continued exports of poultry from those areas in the US that are not affected by Avian Flu in the event of any new outbreaks of the disease.
On Friday, 18 December 2015, the Deputy Minister of Finance Mcebisi Jonas published a notice in the Government Gazette amending Schedule 4 of the Customs and Excise Act by inserting rebate item 460.03 that provides for a rebate of the anti-dumping duty imposed on bone-in chicken pieces originating or imported from the United States for 65000 tonnes per annum.
“The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) also published guidelines on the allocation of the quota and the issuing of rebate permits. A volume of 16 250 MT will be available for use on a first come first serve basis from 18 December 2015 until 31 March 2016 where after rebate permits issued by ITAC will be required for use of the rebate item. With these publications the Government of South Africa implemented the agreement reached between the US and SA poultry industries in Paris in June this year”, explained Minister Davies.
Minister Davies and Ambassador Froman said the implementation of the Paris agreement signals a significant milestone in the process of finalising the market access issues raised in President Obama’s letter.
Both Ministers committed to working together to resolve the meat dispute. They said their officials will continue to engage constructively to finalise the last few outstanding issues. - SAnews.gov.za
