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South African avocados face global market challenges, seek solutions

At the Subtrop Marketing Symposium in White River, Mpumalanga, industry experts discussed the challenges faced by South African avocados in the global market. The country exported 20.5 million 4kg cartons of avocados, contributing R3.5 billion to the economy. Despite progress in market access, Tracy Davids from the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy highlighted the issue of unequal import tariffs. South Africa, for instance, encounters a 30% import duty in India, unlike Tanzania which benefits from tariff-free access.

Derek Donkin, CEO of Subtrop, emphasized the need to negotiate lower tariffs and address phytosanitary barriers with India and China, which impose stringent treatment requirements on South African avocados. Japan's demand for cold treatment at 2°C for 19 days limits the marketing window for South African avocados to that country. Donkin also mentioned the importance of exploring alternatives to free trade agreements to protect local industries.

Subtrop and Fruit SA are researching ways to reduce imported agricultural input costs to enhance international competitiveness. Wandile Sihlobo of Agbiz pointed out the potential benefits of expanding trade within the BRICS+ bloc, which now represents half of the global agricultural trade. He advocated for focusing on reducing import tariffs with key countries like India, China, Egypt, and the UAE to leverage the growing trade opportunities within BRICS+ amidst global protectionist trends.

Source: Farmer's Weekly

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