According to South African sources (bnnbloomerg and citypress behind paywall), “too white” agricultural business can no longer export to Europe and Britain but maybe it’s all about inadequate pest control…
This week, the South African government has introduced regulations stipulating that farms considered “too white” will lose access to EU and UK markets. Farmers must meet Black economic empowerment targets to maintain export permits for products such as milk, cream, butter, fruit, nuts, sugar, jam, fruit purée, fruit juices, yeast, table grapes, and wine. The guidelines, consistent with the official South African, controversial “black economic empowerment” policy, apply to agricultural businesses with an annual turnover of at least 10 million rand.
Critics, including the Southern African Agri Initiative, argue that these rules undermine investor security, job creation, and growth in the agricultural sector. The Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s largest opposition party, has filed a complaint with EU and UK trade offices, asserting that the regulations violate fair trade principles. In 2022, South Africa’s agricultural exports totaled about 240 billion rand, with 20% going to the EU and 4% to the UK. Companies are generally encouraged to adopt black empowerment plans to address financial inequalities from the apartheid era but such a drastic measure is unprecedented. It’s quite possible that this measure aims to rest the cost of recently imposed EU restrictions to South African exports regarding hygiene standards to big white farmers.
