Pretoria - South African Ambassador to the US, Mninwa Mahlangu, is in Libreville, Gabon, to participate in the 14th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum, said the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) on Monday.
AGOA is a preferential agreement that has been in place since 2000 between the US and Sub Saharan African countries. The current AGOA is due to expire at the end of September.
Ambassador Mahlangu said he is confident that South Africa will continue benefiting from AGOA for the next 10 years.
The Forum is an annual event held on a rotating basis between the United States and Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries with the last Forum having been hosted by the US in Washington in 2014.
The Ambassador reiterated government’s message that AGOA has generated enormous good will for the US in the continent and more can still be done.
In addition, South Africa has made tremendous progress to address the issues that were previously raised by the US.
“One of the issues was related to poultry. The South African Poultry Association has since the Paris deal drafted the industry-to-industry agreement to confirm the understanding of the discussions in Paris and forwarded it to the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC), and the National Chicken Council for consideration. A response was received recently.
“The South African Government is ready to implement the agreement once finalised by the respective poultry industries,” stated Ambassador Mahlangu.
The US poultry industry represented by USAPEEC had demanded that the current anti-dumping duties that South Africa has in place be dropped from the tariff book so that the exports can resume.
“The Paris meeting agreed to pass on the debate with regard to the merits or demerits of the anti-dumping duties that South Africa legally imposed on US bone-in chicken pieces. Instead both industries agreed to focus on finding a mutually acceptable solution to the US interest in seeking to secure market access for its bone-in-chicken pieces.”
Mahlangu emphasised that South Africa has also already made significant progress, and continues to make progress on addressing other market access interests and regulatory concerns of the US on beef and pork.
The Forum, which takes place from today until Thursday, is being held under the theme “AGOA at 15: Charting for a sustainable US-Africa Trade and Investment Partnership”. – SAnews.gov.za
