• Review of South African phytosanitary import requirements necessitated by RSA’s signature to the latest International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) -
  • Import restrictions on a multitude of pathogens not known to occur in RSA, but of minor or no economic importance in other countries;
  • The on-going problem of a lack of alignment with respect to phytosanitary regulations between South Africa and other Sub-Saharan African countries; and
• The Brazilian Government’s insistence that Pest Risk Analyses (PRA’s) be conducted on all crop/pest combinations in all countries.

The first was an ongoing problem, which had arisen because South Africa was a signatory to the IPPC convention whereas most other Sub-Saharan African countries were not.

The IPPC convention seek to facilitate free trade while at the same time acknowledging a country’s sovereign right to protect itself against the introduction of potentially hazardous pests. This meant that phytosanitary requirements could not be used as a measure of seed quality (as had been the case in the past), but only as a means of keeping new and problematic pests out. In line with this convention, therefore, South Africa no longer asked for unreasonable statements such as freedom from Xanthomonas campestris (Black Rot) because, although it was an important seedborne disease, it was so widespread in the country, that it was no longer a phytosanitary issue. This did not mean that it was not an important quality issue and ever increasing emphasis would be placed on consistent and reliable seed testing and seed treatment methods that would allow an individual seed company to ask its supplier (another seed company) to supply proof that a particular lot was free from whichever pest was considered important for the end user.

The second issue centered around Brazil’s insistence that PRA’s be conducted on all crop/pest combinations for each country from which it imported seed. At the current rate of progress in Brazil it was estimated that it would take at least 62 years to do this. In the mean time it was conceded that crops traditionally imported from a particular country could continue to be imported according to the "old" requirements, provided that a pest list had been submitted. The catch here was that in order to be considered a "traditional" crop, it should have been exported to Brazil a minimum of four times in three years. At the moment, South Africa has only one crop, namely onions, on the list. The Vice Chairman of this committee, Susan Allen, was nominated to represent SANSOR, on an ISF delegation that was to meet with the Brazilian authorities in Brasilia on 4th April 2003. As a result, we should be in a far better position in terms of understanding what exactly they want, who has to pay for what, and the ground work to be done to facilitate a co-ordinated response from all countries via ISF. This is a work in progress as, amongst other things, Brazil has a new government as of January 2003. The new deputy agricultural minister has a very positive attitude towards the international seed trade, since he was once one of us! As is so often the case, it takes some time for a new philosophy to filter through to the technicians (who were in place under the old government) so this issue remains a work in progress.