Browse Data and Analysis

On January 31, 2023, the South African Ministry of Health issued a Government Notice (R 2986) inviting comments on the draft regulation relating to the labeling and advertising of foods.

The energy crisis, which has resulted in the declaration of a National State of Disaster, is causing disruptions and rising costs for the advanced and diverse agriculture and food sector in South Africa, which is heavily reliant upon electrification.

Based on recent changes to regulations, updated internet links, and revised reporting guidelines, all portions of the report have been updated. The paper evaluates the rules and regulations governing the import of food and agricultural products.

The Report's parts have all been modified to reflect the new reporting guidelines, online connections, and contacts. The report includes a list of the main licenses and certificates needed to export food and agricultural products from the United States to South Africa.

South Africa is a significant market for American agricultural goods. Due to its expanding market, which supports the effective delivery of both imported and domestically produced agricultural products to major urban areas and the broader Southern Africa region, the country is a desirable location for businesses.

The Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform appears to have issued a circular with new import and transshipment requirement for animal and animal products into and through Namibia that states that importers must obtain a Namibian Veterinary Import Permit or Namibian Veterinary Import Permit for Conveyance In-Transit for commodities aimed for use in Namibia or in-transit.

On November 9, 2022, The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) announced the initiation of the sunset review of anti-dumping duties (ADDs) of frozen bone-in portions of poultry from the United States.

The current labor disputes at Transnet, South Africa’s state-owed port, rail and pipeline authority, have caused severe staff shortages at ports resulting in a significant slowdown of port operations and caused the company to declare fore majeure.

South Africa’s food service sector generated revenues valued at US$3.5 billion in 2021, an upsurge of almost 30 percent from 2020. The South Africa hotel, restaurant, and institutional industry was severely affected by the strict restrictions imposed by the South African government to control the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020.

South Africa has suspended anti-dumping duties on poultry from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain for a period of twelve months, but the duties remain in place for U.S. poultry.

The United States exports bone-in chicken meat to South Africa under a Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) arrangement, which was set at 71,290 tons to be imported quarterly for the April 2021 - March 2022 quota year. The US bone-in chicken quota for the year 2021/2022 was filled at 84 percent, a 10 percent drop from the previous quota year.

South Africa has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties against bone-in chicken meat imports from Brazil and four European Union countries. With this announcement, South Africa is now imposing anti-dumping duties against all nine countries that have regularly exported bone-in chicken portions to this market.