‘People must rest assured that it will be sorted out …’

– General manager of the National Wool Growers’ Association, Leon de Beer, reassuring wool producers and industry role players that a solution to the current ban on wool exports to China is imminent

Wool producers and industry role players have been urged not to panic about the ban on wool exports to China as the issue was receiving priority attention.

This was the message that came out of a meeting of the task team on international trade, which recently met in Pretoria and was established in January by government in response to the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak.

Deon Saayman, New Cape Wools CEO, who attended the meeting, said the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries confirmed it had received official communication from Chinese officials stating that country would no longer accept wool imports, as a result of South Africa losing its FMD-free status.

“What that means is the state veterinarian is no longer issuing health certificates on any of the goods going to China,” he said.

Saayman said a decision had also been taken to send a trade delegation to China, including representatives from various affected industries, such as wool and red meat producers, to engage with Chinese authorities. Leon de Beer, general manager of the National Wool Growers’ Association, told Farmer’s Weekly that about 70% of the local wool clip was exported to China. He said the local industry’s effective wool traceability system would count in the country’s favour during negotiations.

During a previous FMD outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal in 2011, South Africa negotiated an arrangement that allowed wool exports to continue.

“People must rest assured that it will be sorted out and we’ll have a solution to this problem, hopefully within the next few weeks,” he said. – Sabrina Dean