"Historical Dominance''

South Africa says the review of a new partnership agreement between African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union must happen on the basis that it increases Africa's market share of the global economy. SA's Foreign Affairs director general, Sipho Pityana, says ACP countries must learn from the country's six-year long negotiations for a trade deal with the EU. The trade deal was repeatedly delayed because individual EU member countries raised protectionist objections just as the two sides were about to reach agreement.

´´The SA-EU negotiations have some telling lessons,'' says Pityana: ´´We must jealously guard against the persistent use of the continent to dump goods in a manner that undermines our economies''. This come after SA and the EU reached agreement on a long-awaited deal that will see tariffs on many SA wines and spirits exports to the EU eliminated. The accord has been under negotiation for more than six years in parallel with the EU-SA trade pact, which came into force on January 1 this year. The wines and spirits agreement is expected to come into effect in early September. In return SA has agreed to phase out certain wine and spirits terms such as ´´ouzo'', ´´grappa'', ´´port'' and ´´sherry'' over several years. SA producers will phase out the use of the terms ´´port'' and ´´sherry'' over 12 years in the local market and over five years in export markets. SA agriculture department director-

general, Bongiwe Njobe, accused the European countries of trying to use their ´´historical dominance of the world as a weapon'' in seeking to preserve their exclusive rights over the naming of wines and spirits. She insisted SA has not surrendered to the Europeans over the general principle of wines and spirits labelling and production: ´´We have a good deal: We did not get into any further compromises''.

Although negotiations for a wines and spirits deal between SA and the EU originally focused on the use of ´´port'' and ´´sherry'' by SA producers, more than a dozen other geographic designations and terms were suddenly interjected into the discussions by the Europeans in September last year, just as the two sides reached agreement on port and sherry. SA objected arguing that the multilateral World Trade Organisation (WTO) would be a better forum for talks on geographic designations.

In 1999 SA exported approximately 22 percent of its ´´good drinking wine'' production or about 100-million litres. The UK was country's largest export market accounting for 40 percent of the wine exports, or 40-million litres, while the Netherlands followed second with 18-million litres.

Freitag, 11. August 2000