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28 Feb 2023
SA Flag
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CGA calls for urgent political intervention to ensure South African oranges continue to be exported to EU in 2023

The Citrus Growers Association of South Africa (CGA) has written to Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel requesting that he urgently calls for the establishment of a World Trade Organisation (WTO) Panel to adjudicate on the new False Coddling Moth (FCM) regime governing the importation of South African oranges to the EU region. If the issue is not resolved before the 2023 export season kicks off, growers could face hundreds of millions in losses putting the future sustainability of the entire industry at risk.

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28 Feb 2023
Cover Crops
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Improve soil health with cover crops

Cover crops support soil health by increasing soil carbon – organic matter – which stimulates microbial activity and improves soil structure.

The impact of cover crops on soil health was discussed at a workshop facilitated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) held at Oak Valley in Grabouw in August. Ivan Jansen van Rensburg from Barenbrug described eight soil-health benefits of cover crops: sequestering carbon, supporting microbes, suppressing diseases, fixing nitrogen, suppressing weeds, preventing erosion, building structure, and improving aeration and infiltration. Different cover crops have different strengths, so diversity is important. For example, radish roots muscle into the soil, breaking up compaction, enabling water movement. But Jansen van Rensburg pointed out that the finer roots of cereals are as useful as the large roots of radishes.

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30 Sep 2022
Citrus Export
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SA citrus industry voluntarily closes export of Valencias to EU to mitigate CBS risk

With a month left of the current export season, the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGA) and the Fresh Produce Exporters’ Forum Boards have taken the decision to voluntarily close the export of Valencia oranges from Citrus Black Spot (CBS) affected areas in South Africa to the European Union (EU) starting from the 16th the September 2022.

Justin Chadwick, CEO of the CGA, has written the following regarding the closure of Valencia exports: “This decision was taken in response to the 10 CBS notifications of non-compliance (NONCs) on SA citrus detected so far this season and the traditional heightened risk that Valencia oranges pose for CBS non-compliance at the tail end of the EU export season.”

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31 Aug 2022
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Tonnes of South African citrus fruit stranded in EU ports over dispute

Tonnes of oranges are rotting in containers stuck in European ports and could be wasted as South Africa and the European Union clash in a trade dispute over import rules.

South Africa, the world’s second-largest exporter of fresh citrus fruits after Spain, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month when the EU introduced new phytosanitary requirements that growers say threaten their survival.

The measures came into force in July when ships carrying hundreds of containers full of South African fruit bound for Europe were already at sea, causing them to be blocked on arrival, according to the South African Citrus Growers Association (CGA).

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31 Aug 2022
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South African domestic market: ”We’ve never had a citrus year like this”

On the domestic market, prices for South African oranges are 20 to 30% lower than usual, selling for an average of R2.50 and R3 per kilogram.

“It’s a mess,” declares a municipal market citrus trader who doesn’t want to be named. “We’ve never had a citrus season like this, I’d say it’s one of the most difficult years we’ve ever had.”

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21 Jul 2022
Valencia oranges
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South Africa to appeal against new EU citrus rules

CGA’s Justin Chadwick said cold treatment requirement is unnecessary, unjustified and disproportionate.

The South African citrus industry is scrambling to avert disruptions in its citrus exports to the European Union due to changes in regulations governing the importation of oranges into the EU.

The new regulations, which deal specifically with orange imports from South Africa and other sub-Saharan countries, were published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Tuesday and will come into force today.

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21 Jul 2022
Navel Pickers
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South African citrus: “The Russian market turned out to be actually very good”

Running a fruit exporting company feels a bit like being an operational company that happens to sell fruit at the moment, an exporter remarks, when managing logistics and fighting for space and equipment on vessels take up most of their days.

“You have to be passionate about fruit to be working in the fruit trade,” he says. “It’s not an easy place at the moment.”

Slow colour development on Valencias in Limpopo Province has meant at least two to three weeks of lost marketing opportunities, which, along with impediments to South Africa’s lemon and the grapefruit harvest, could explain why citrus volumes via Durban port have, thus far, not been as high as expected.

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25 May 2022
EU Flag
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New proposed EU regulations threaten the export of Southern African oranges to the region

This week, the European Union’s (EU) Standing Committee on Plant, Animal, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF) will discuss and, possibly vote on, new and arguably misinformed regulations on False Coddling Moth (FCM) which pose a major threat to Southern African orange exports.

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