Citrus growers in South Africa call for urgent WTO intervention to ensure oranges can be exported to EU

Industry organisation the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) has called on global body the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to urgently establish a panel to adjudicate on the False Coddling Moth (FCM) regime governing the importation of South African oranges to the European Union (EU). CGA has written to Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel to call for the establishment of the WTO panel, because, if the issue is not resolved before the 2023 export season starts, growers could face hundreds of millions of rands in losses, putting the future sustainability of the entire industry at risk, says CGA CEO Justin Chadwick. The call follows after a stalemate was reached between the South African government and the EU after the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) lodged a dispute at the WTO in July. Consultations since then have not made any progress. “The CGA is unmoved in its view that the cold treatment prescribed within the new regulations ...