South Africa Given Deadline to Comply with U.S. Export Rules

The United States is giving South Africa until March 15th to comply with requirements that opened the door for U.S. poultry imports and other products.

Meetingplace reports the Obama Administration set the deadline as outlined in the African Growth and Opportunity Act. President Obama officially will suspend South Africa’s trade benefits in 60 days unless that nation reassesses health issues that would restrict U.S. farm exports as called for in the agreement, which was formalized last month.

Officials in South Africa are concerned about the potential spread of avian influenza which killed 50 million U.S. birds last year. The deadline, however, puts pressure on South Africa to resolve the poultry health issue before losing the protection from tariffs on goods shipped to the United States.

The potential removal of duty-free benefits linked to more than 7,000 South African products shipped to U.S. markets like oranges, macadamia nuts and wine could cost the nation as much as $7 million.

Source: NAFB