Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 11/17/15


South Africa will resume import of U.S. poultry under a finalized trade agreement, South Africa’s departments of Trade and Industry and of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a news release issued today on its website.    

The “Protocol for Poultry Meat and Day-Old Chicks” was signed on Friday, the release noted, and a 65,000-ton quota will be open by Dec. 31.

The deal ends months of technical discussions between the two sides, and follows Washington’s threat earlier this month to suspend benefits to South African agricultural products under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) if that country weren't to remove trade barriers.

South Africa had missed a deadline to finalize the deal, originally agreed to this summer. Discussions were prolonged by U.S. concerns over meat and poultry trade, and South Africa’s concerns over avian flu, which affected some 20 U.S. states this year. 

“Negotiating an appropriate trade protocol and health certificate that both secures market access for the US and also ensures safety for animal and human health was a challenging task for the Veterinarians from both the United States and South Africa,” South African officials said in the release. 

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