Just months after restoring imports to Taiwan, South African apples once again lose market access due to discovery of codling moth
Apple exports from South Africa to Taiwan have been suspended after the Taiwan Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA) found live codling moths in a shipment at its Keelung branch.
The South African Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) was notified of the suspension by APHIA last Wednesday 24 October. It was recommended that the issuance of phytosanitary and pre-cooling certificates be immediately suspended.
APHIA said shipments already at sea as of October 24 will continue to be accepted, although they will undergo more stringent inspections, according to a statement from DALRRD.
The news comes as a blow to South Africa’s industry and government, which only recently reopened the Taiwanese market after much effort.
Taiwan suspended imports of South African apples in May 2023 after codling moth was found in shipments. Imports resumed only in May 2024.
According to the TDA data cited, South Africa did not ship any apples to Taiwan from July 2023 to June 2024. The United States was the main beneficiary, filling the supply gap and shipping a total of 64,694 tons, capturing a 46 percent share of Taiwan’s apple import market. Published in USDA Foreign Agriculture Service Fresh Deciduous Fruit Annual 2024.
The 2024/25 season has begun and the US has taken advantage of the absence of South African apples to once again rise to pole position.
Before losing access, South Africa shipped 9,681 tonnes of apples to Taiwan in 2022/23 (July-June) and 12,461 tonnes in 2021/22, according to TDA statistics.
The latest suspension of access to South African apples comes less than a week after the South African government asked Taiwan to relocate its liaison office from the administrative capital, Pretoria.
The move, announced by South Africa’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was aimed at underscoring the “undiplomatic nature of South Africa’s relationship with Taiwan,” Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.
South Africa’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it has given Taiwan six months to relocate its unofficial embassy, known as the Taipei Liaison Office. The ministry announced that the mission would be renamed Taipei Trade Bureau and relocated to South Africa’s commercial capital Johannesburg, DW news agency reported.
China is South Africa’s largest trading partner and both countries are members of the BRICS bloc of developing countries, whose annual summit was held in the Russian city of Kazan last week.
