(Bloomberg) — South Africa has taken a preliminary step toward filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the European Union over its treatment of citrus purchases from the country.
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The African country has requested consultations with the EU at the WTO in a bid to resolve the dispute, the country’s trade and agriculture ministries said in a statement on Monday.
“We believe that the measures taken by the EU are neither justified, nor proportionate, nor appropriate,” Ebrahim Patel, South Africa’s trade minister, said in the statement.
Two years ago, the EU imposed requirements including additional refrigeration of fruit entering from South Africa, the world’s largest exporter of produce after Spain, to combat the incidence of blight. Citrus black spot, a fungal disease that leaves dark spots on fruit. South African growers must also prove they have carried out costly spraying of trees in an effort to contain the disease and submit to inspections at orchards and packing houses.
South Africa shipped $644 million worth of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, grapefruit and tangerines to the EU in 2023, according to the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa.
The EU decision has increased costs for South Africa, which maintains that citrus black spot, although causing blemishes on fruit skins, does not affect quality and cannot be transferred to other plants at this stage. He also said some shipments to Europe had been falsely classified as being contaminated with the disease.
The Southern African Citrus Growers Association said last year the measures would cost the industry more than 500 million rand ($26 million) in lost exports because it would be unable to access enough specialized refrigerated containers in time to get the fruit to the European market.
“The industry cannot afford the nearly R2 billion needed to comply with restrictive EU trade regulations,” said Thoko Didiza, South Africa’s agriculture minister.
“The EU regrets that South Africa has chosen to continue consultations at the WTO on this issue,” European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said in response to questions. “The EU is confident that its legislation is fully compliant with its WTO obligations.”
In total, South Africa exported around $2.5 billion worth of agricultural products to the EU last year and $13.2 billion in total worldwide. A third of its citrus exports go to the EU.
The industry has the potential to grow to generate an additional R20 billion in exports per year and create an additional 100,000 jobs, Justin Chadwick, CEO of the Citrus Growers Association, said in the release. This will not happen if EU restrictions are maintained, he said.
(Updates with EU comment in penultimate paragraph)
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