Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism
In the light of China introducing a temporary zero-tariff scheme for several African countries, including South Africa, starting 1 May 2026 and ending on 30 April 2028, which provides tariff-free access to China’s market for a range of agricultural products, such as fruit, wine, nuts and rooibos:
- What measures has his Department put in place to ensure that black farmers in the province are able to benefit from this zero-tariff scheme;
- whether any (a) support programmes, (b) export facilitation initiatives or (c) partner-ships are being implemented to assist emerging and small-scale black farmers to access the Chinese market; if so, what are the details;
- how many black farmers or enterprises in the province are currently export-ready to take advantage of this opportunity?
THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM
7. (1) The Department has noted the introduction of China’s temporary zero-tariff scheme, effective from 1 May 2026 until 30 April 2028, which grants qualifying South African agricultural exports duty-free access to the Chinese market. Products expected to benefit include fruit, wine, nuts, and rooibos.
To position black farmers in the province to benefit from this opportunity, the Department is strengthening export-readiness support through targeted market interventions, technical compliance assistance, and farmer development initiatives.
Current measures include:
- support with compliance relating to phytosanitary and sanitary standards required for exports to China.
- facilitation of participation in trade missions and international exhibitions, targeting the Chinese market. Currently, the department supports wine companies to participate in Prowine China and other in country promotional activities, in collaboration with Wines of South Africa. The Department also facilitates yearly participation of producers onto the Food and Hotel China platform. Also, through collaboration with the Fresh Produce Exporters Forum (FPEF,) South Africa also has a pavilion at Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong to support producers/exporters to promote their fruit.
- through Wesgro, emerging and black-owned enterprises are prioritised in export development programmes. Of importance is the Export Advancement Programme that develops the export readiness capacity of black owned and emerging enterprises who want to tap into the export market.
7. (2)(a) Current support programmes being implemented include:
- farmer support programmes aimed on commercialisation and expanding production capacity for export markets e.g. financial support through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Grant (CASP), AgriBEE fund, and other industry instruments like Hortfin, available to link producers to financial resources.
- extension and advisory services to improve production standards, ensure export readiness (APSD, AES & Veterinary Services)
- support for GlobalGAP, HACCP, SIZA, WIETA and other internationally recognised certifications.
(b) Export facilitation initiatives include:
- assistance with obtaining Certificates of Origin and compliance documentation required under the Chinese tariff preference scheme
- export market intelligence on product opportunities, competition, etc
- facilitation of participation in Chinese exhibition platforms and business-to-business engagements
The zero-tariff arrangement still requires exporters to comply with applicable tariff schedules and rules-of-origin requirements in order to access the preferential treatment.
(c) Partnerships being pursued or implemented include cooperation with:
- the National Department of Trade, Industry and Competition
- export councils, industry bodies in the fruit, wine, nut, and rooibos sectors
- Chinese trade and investment partners aimed at improving market access and buyer connectivity, and for additional market intelligence.
7. (3) The Department over the years had a Market Readiness Programme where producers have undergone value chain capacity building through Making Markets Matter, farm to fork value chain exposure (locally and abroad), Compliance Programme (SAGAP, GLOBALGAP, WIETA, SIZA and HACCP. From these Programmes, about 112 producers could meet the technical, phytosanitary, and commercial requirements for exporting to China under the zero-tariff framework.
