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Post forecasts that South Africa’s oilseed area will be maintained at elevated levels in marketing year 2024/25. South Africa’s summer rainfall oilseed crops in marketing year 2023/24 have been affected by an El Niño induced mid-summer drought, resulting in an expected major drop in crop volumes, creating an optimistic outlook for higher crop area in marketing year 2024/25.

South Africa’s corn crop in marketing year 2023/24 has been affected by an El Niño induced mid-summer drought, resulting in an expected drop of more than 15 percent in crop volume.

The South African ports have been overwhelmed with challenges in the past few years, causing delays in operations and financial losses. In 2022, the Container Port Performance Index by the World Bank ranked the port of Durban 341 out of 348 ports in the world and the Port of Cape Town was ranked 344.

The Competition Commission of South Africa, and independent body under the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition announced the launch of a comprehensive market inquiry that will seek to determine if the South African poultry industry is impeding, distorting, or restricting competition in a way that violates the South African Competition Act.

On January 26, 2024, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) together with the International Trade Administration (ITAC) announced the decision to implement a 25 percent rebate on bone-in cuts and 30 percent rebate on boneless chicken of imported chicken.

Corn production in South Africa is off to a reasonable start in marketing year 2023/24 after decent rainfall was recorded over most of the corn-producing areas.

The Netherlands is working towards a ‘sugar tax’. As a first step, the existing levy on non-alcoholic beverages (excluding dairy, soy drinks and water) was increased to €0.26 ($0.29) per liter starting January 1, 2024.

The Netherlands, as a Member State of the European Union (EU), conforms to all EU regulations and directives. However, rules for the certification of imports are complicated and, in practice, are not always harmonized across EU Member States.

This report is an addendum to the GAIN report number E42023-0041 EU Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Report, November 13, 2023. It lists the Dutch import regulations and standards that are not harmonized within the EU or where the Netherlands varies from the EU standards.

South Africa is an important market for agricultural products from the United States. The country is a favorable site for enterprises due to its developing market, which facilitates the effective transportation of both imported and domestically produced agricultural products to major urban centers and the greater Southern Africa region.

The Animal Health Directorate in the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) released a progress report on the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreak that was first detected in the Western Cape Province in April 2023.

South African production of lemons is forecast to rise by 10 percent in MY 2023/24 on sufficient irrigation and greater input investments by producers, while tangerine/mandarins production is forecast to increase by 4 percent.