SA's safety standards should not be for sale

©Andrey Kiselev via 123RF

The current impasse in the agricultural component of the AGOA negotiations centres on food safety and health standards, two areas in which South Africa is justifiably proud of its achievements. The "brinkmanship" alleged by AMIE to have imperiled the AGOA agricultural export benefits is due to the actions of the USA, not South Africa.

The presence of Salmonella

It is regrettable that the US chose to raise the issue of Salmonella and the presence of this disease in US poultry imports only in the last few months. Negotiations have been underway since 2014, and had US negotiators raised the issue earlier, it would have been long resolved.

The Salmonella testing protocol used by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is based on the European Union's as well as standards set by the International Standards Organisation. South Africa's protocol complies with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Code and our protocols effectively to keep South African consumers protected from imported food products that can be harmful to animals and people alike.

Reducing disease incidence

With imports, only the product itself can be tested, while all steps in the local production process can be tested, delivering a wider set of results on which to base an assessment of disease incidence. In the case of local poultry, the breeding stock, feed ingredients, feed, farms, abattoirs as well as the final product are all tested. This comprehensive data is readily available to the state veterinary services.

With imports, the DAFF can only test what lands on our shores. Achieving a zero incidence level with any disease is very difficult, so SA and international protocols are based on establishing systems that continually reduce disease incidence and which manage any cases that are found in finished products. Our local producer control systems are equivalent to the import protocols applied by DAFF.

A price worth paying

Should South Africa not agree to lower its food health and safety standards to accommodate predatory and opportunistic US poultry producers and President Obama removes the trade benefits accruing to our agricultural exports, this will not remove the right to export any product listed under AGOA. It will only affect the duty-free access for our agricultural exports. The likely volume drops in our agricultural exports are expected to be limited. SA's agricultural exports are worth around US$170 million, while the total AGOA related trade is around US$2 billion. The losses that might occur will be a small price to pay for animal and human health.

For South Africans, lowering our standards to below international norms, having different standards for the US compared to both all other importers and local producers as well as putting our human and animal health at risk in the process, is simply a price not worth paying.