Pretoria - South Africa has resolved all issues to guarantee its access to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) until 2025, said the Department of Trade and Industry.
“South Africa has resolved all the issues to guarantee its access in AGOA until 2025. The issues relating to the three meats have been resolved, thus paving the way for continued preferential access into the US market for the duration of AGOA,” said the department’s spokesperson Sidwell Medupe.
In a statement on Thursday, the dti said South Africa and the United States continue to enjoy strong economic relations, with total trade among the two nations at R155 billion in 2015.
The priority remains leveraging market access opportunities that arise from AGOA and there are currently no discussions on a Free Trade Agreement with the US within the Southern Africa Customs Union.
According to Medupe, discussions are ongoing to resolve issues of interest to South Africa and facilitating market access of products of export interest to South Africa such as chicken breast, mutton/lamb meat and sheep and goat embryos, among others.
In addition to these products, other products of interest to South Africa in the US market are apples, pears, stone fruits, litchis, citrus, avocados and mangoes.
“Progress has been achieved with South African litchis accessing the US market in 2016. South Africa continues to engage with the US through strategic platforms such as the Trade Investment Framework Agreement to enhance mutually beneficial trade and investment between the two parties,” said Medupe.
In March, government announced that it had concluded negotiations on poultry, beef and pork with the United States, a move that brings to a close months of discussions with the US on the terms required for South Africa to secure its position in AGOA.
In November 2015, US President Barack Obama announced that the duty-free entry into the US of South Africa’s agricultural exports under AGOA would end if South Africa’s health restrictions on the import of US poultry, beef and pork were not lifted by January 4. However, the deadline was extended to 15 March 2016.
AGOA is a legislation that provides duty-free market access to the US for qualifying sub-Saharan African countries by extending preferences on more than 4 600 products. AGOA was reauthorized in June 2015 for 10 years until 2025, with South Africa’s inclusion. – SAnews.gov.za
