Cape Town – Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies says he will meet with US representatives at the beginning of June in France, to negotiate a trade agreement, intended at a stronger flow of South African poultry export products to the West.
The Minister said this when he delivered the Department of Trade and Industry’s Budget Vote speech in Parliament on Thursday.
He told Members of Parliament that the US Senate had now passed a Bill that provides for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to be extended for a period of 10 years with the inclusion of South Africa.
However, the Minister said the French engagements were aimed at ironing out a few outstanding issues, including the US government allowing South Africa to export poultry products to the country.
“New provisions in the Bill however strengthen the conditionalities that will apply and clearly seek to chart a course “to transform the relationship between the US and Africa from non-reciprocal concessions to reciprocal agreements.
“In addition, the Bill provides for regular reviews of African countries’ trade and investment policies with an emphasis on the openness to US products, and in the case of South Africa, such a review is scheduled to be held within 30 days of the enactment of the Bill,” he said.
The Minister said the negotiations would continue because what was notably absent was any improvement in the level of access of AGOA eligible countries’ products to the US market.
“AGOA commitments remain important to sectors such as autos, chemicals and some agriculture, and agro processing and government is working hard to remain a beneficiary of AGOA mindful of the 30 day out of cycle review to which we will be subjected.
“However, the reality is that with the many new conditions and changing dynamics of US trade policy, the value of AGOA is diminishing while its costs are rising.
“I will raise the matter for discussion in Cabinet in the near future,” he said.
Textiles sector showing signs of improvement
The Minister said during the past few years, the department has managed to revitalise the struggling clothing, textiles, leather and footwear sector to set it on a path of growth.
He said through the department’s Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Programme, the sector has been turned around to one that managed to save and create jobs, especially in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.
“Not so long ago, the demise of this sector was regarded as a foregone conclusion.
“In this House, we heard some members imploring us not to support what was seen as a lost cause.
“So-called ‘soft-touch industrial policy’ was cited as the way to go – in other words, abandon support for sectors which were for one reason or another experiencing difficulties,” he said.
He said according to a review of the programme that the Industrial Development Corporation conducted recently,
- A total of R3.7 billion had been approved under the programme, of which R2.6 billion had been disbursed since inception in 2010; and
- The share employment in the sector had gone up from 28.8% in 2009 to 38.8% in 2014 as a result of companies drawing on the competitive programme.
“The programme’s interventions have already demonstrably contributed to improved overall competitiveness, sustainability and employment growth for its recipients.
“At a cost to date of R2.6 billion disbursed, the programme has facilitated the creation of R3.9 billion in manufacturing value addition, as well as saving over 68 000 jobs and achieving a total net gain of 6 900 new jobs,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
