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).
