What EU’s farm-to-fork strategy will mean for SA agriculture

Source: Wandile Sihlobo, Bizcommunity, 27 Oct 2021, photo credit: acresinsurance.co.uk

The European Union’s (EU) Farm-to-Fork Strategy is set to be implemented in 2022 and will come with an additional layer of regulations, which will have an impact on South Africa (SA). As background, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and Mozambique-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) of 2016, enhanced market access benefits for SA.

These benefits included fully or partially removed customs duties on 98,7% of exports, and expansion of tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on key agricultural exports. Since the implementation of the agreement in October 2016, SA’s exports to the EU have increased by 25%, from US$2,2bn in 2017 to US$2,8bn in 2020, according to data from Trade Map.

But there is cause for concern that this growth in exports could slow down as a new set of regulations, which is part of the EU Green Deal’s Farm-to-Fork Strategy1, is implemented.
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The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.