EU citrus imports from SACU

South Africa’s citrus-fruit exports to the EU have become a point of contention. Citrus fruits are considered sensitive products in the SADC EPA and are protected from full liberalisation, but even so, according to press reports, low price competition from South African citrus-fruit producers coupled with increasing labour costs has put Spanish producers of oranges in a very difficult situation. EU producers associations have warned of similar problems in Italy and Portugal and have also pointed to the risks of bringing a specific plant pest into the EU.
In June 2022, the Commission imposed new phytosanitary requirements to prevent the false codling moth, a citrus pest native to South Africa, from spreading into the EU; tonnes of fruits were stranded in ports as a result. Experts from South Africa found these measures to be profoundly disruptive for the country, and ‘unjust and punitive’. South Africa requested consultations (the first step of WTO dispute settlement) with the EU, in what is the first-ever WTO dispute settlement case launched by South Africa. In August, South Africa and the Commission agreed to release the stranded fruits at EU ports after cold treatment.