EN E-002214/2021
Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis
on behalf of the European Commission
(25.6.2021)
The Commission is fully aware of South Africa’s lack of compliance with the trade commitments made in the EU-Southern African Development Community (SADC) Agreement. This situation has created major problems for EU operators exporting poultry meat to South Africa. The Commission is currently exploring all possible avenues (to resolve issues with sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS), antidumping and safeguard measures, in order to preserve the market access benefits deriving from the Agreement.
In particular, as regards the safeguard measure against imports of poultry from the EU adopted by the Southern African Custom Union (SACU), of which South Africa is part, the Commission has already launched a bilateral dispute settlement procedure under the EUSADC Agreement in order to restore full compliance. The Commission is currently finalising negotiations for the establishment of the arbitration panel. Once the panel is established, a final ruling on the legality of the safeguard measure should be issued within five to six months.
Once EU Member States comply with the requirements of the terrestrial code of the World Organisation for Animal Health and are declared ‘Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) free’, the Commission will support them in their discussions with South Africa in order to achieve an immediate lift of the trade restrictions.
© European Union, 2021 – EP