Trade Forward Southern Africa (TFSA) works to increase opportunities to trade, overcome nontechnical barriers to trade in goods, and improve export performance in the region while facilitating trade with the United Kingdom as it exits the European Union.
Farmed abalone, oysters and mussels in South Africa and Namibia have traditionally been consumed locally or exported to the Far East. With growing production, competition in traditional markets and the impact of Covid-19, this sector realized the need to access new international markets, particularly European markets. During 2020 a TFSA pilot phase set out to identify barriers to export. This was followed in 2021 with the implementation of several initiatives to address these barriers.
The European Union (EU) regulations pertaining to the import of farmed bivalves and gastropod molluscs was studied and analyzed. Using this information, a database of the South African and Namibian laboratories capable of providing the diagnostic tests and analyses required for compliance to these regulations, was developed. In this, the testing requirements for organoleptic characteristics, hazardous substances, as well as marine microbes and biotoxins were matched to accredited laboratories.
With assistance from MegaPesca in Portugal, the latest guideline resources on compliance to the EU regulations were collected and used to develop a “compliance pack” for farmers, as well as for the competent authorities in the respective countries. The work was expanded into a review of the officially documented shellfish monitoring programmes in both South Africa and Namibia, taking note of the latest EU requirements.
During the TFSA work a critical shortage of essential skills in the identification of potentially harmful algal blooms (HAB’s) was identified. The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission’s (IOC’s) Science and Communication Centre on Harmful Algae at the University of Copenhagen were approached, and an arrangement made to provide training in this area for South Africa and Namibia. It is hoped that this training will be concluded in 2022.
The TFSA inputs to eliminate export barriers culminated in a “roadmap toward compliance” for both countries. This roadmap has been documented and disseminated to the sector and authorities with the view to better equipping all parties to deal with barriers to the export of their products.