Tebogo Msimanga |
The Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Thoko Didiza on Friday signed the protocol with her Chinese counterpart which will facilitate the export of lemons to China.
Minister Didiza said this is another important milestone in the country. “It will contribute towards the expansion and growth in the citrus industry which has performed extremely well in the past year.”
South Africa has been exporting citrus to China under a protocol that was bilaterally agreed and signed in 2006. Under this protocol, the potential risk of false codling moth (FCM), a pest of quarantine concern to the People’s Republic of China, was addressed through a cold treatment regime of 24 days at 0.6°C in transit.
Lemons are not a host for FCM, the Department and the Citrus Research International (CRI) have collaborated over a number of years to produce the required scientific justification towards revising the export protocol for Citrus to China.
“South Africa looks forward to increasing lemon exports to the People’s Republic of China, in addition to other citrus exports which have reached almost 130 000 metric tons in 2020” said Minister Didiza.
