DAFFOfficial newsletter of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

July 2017

Youth in agriculture, forestry and fisheries honoured for excellence

General Bheki Cele, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in the middle with Ms Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services on the left and Mr Inkosi Phathekile Holomisa, Deputy Minister of Labour on the right. With them are some of the award winners of #YAFF.

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The Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries General Bheki Cele, honoured young peo-ple for their excellence in the agri-culture, forestry and fisheries sec-tors when he hosted the second annual #Youth in Agriculture, For-estry and Fisheries (YAFF) Awards in Pretoria on 23 June 2017.

The #YAFF Awards were launched in 2016 to encourage young people to consider farming as a career choice and those already involved in farming to increase their participation in the economy mainstream.

During the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, the chairperson stated that stakeholders must ensure that programmes of ben-eficiation and economic diversifica-tion, of agricultural modernisation and the development of agro-processing, must of necessity target the creation of jobs and economic opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

Although notable progress has been made in attracting young aca-demics and professionals to take ad-vantage of career opportunities within the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector, there still remains a challenge in creating a platform that will encour-age and stimulate the entrepreneurial potential of young people in the sec-tor.

#YAFF 2017 awards were hosted under the theme, “Harnessing invest-

ment for youth empowerment towards South Africa’s economic development and future prosperity”.• Agriculture Excellence Award:

Smallholder• Agriculture Excellence Award:

Commercial• Forestry Recognition Award:

Small scale• Forestry Excellence Award:

Large scale• Fisheries Recognition Award:

Large scale• Agro processing Excellence

Award: Small scale

Youth in agriculture, forestry and fisheries honoured for excellence

Mr Sphesihle Vazi – Co- Host of the #YAFF Awards and Youth Farmer and Selimathunzi TV Presenter with Ms Ms Sulile Molut-soane Assistant Director: Intergovernmental Rela-tions.

• Special Awards: ATI graduate entrepreneur

• Special Awards: Young entrepre-neur with a disability

The awards have been preceded by career expos held by the depart-ment for the youth in the provinces of Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

The expos provided a platform for young people to engage with the department and its stakeholders on issues ranging from finance, youth support programmes and access to markets.

Editor PiweMbiko (012)3196936 piwem@daff.gov.zaSubeditor LeratoMofokeng (012)3197927 leratomof@daff.gov.zaReporters SamuelKgatla (012)3197181 samuelk@daff.gov.za InnocentMhlanga (012)3197827 innocentm@daff.gov.za RonyMoremi (012)3196622 rincertm@daff.gov.za JamelaNkanyane (012)3196903 jamelan@daff.gov.za MerciaSmith (012)3196666 mercias@daff.gov.zaPhotographer JariusMmutle (012)3197366 jarusm@daff.gov.zaInterns LindaMabaso (012)3197819 lindamab@daff.gov.za ZiphoraRadebe (012)3196958 ziphorar@daff.gov.zaDistribution SheilaFlockton (012)3197141 sheilaf@daff.gov.zaWebsite:www.daff.gov.za

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“Harnessing investment for youth empower-ment towards South Africa’s economic development and future prosperity”

Agriculture Excellence Award: Smallholder

Mr Lutendo Mccrae Ramahala is the chairperson of Vhu-Matshelo Coop, which is a LEDA incubated 100% youth-owned enterprise with six highly committed and skilled direc-tors; three of the directors are ac-tively involved while three have per-manently employment elsewhere.

Mr Ramahala is responsible for the day-to-day running of the coop; im-plementing operational strategies and sourcing for growth opportunities for the business. The business has been operating for a period of three years on a five hectare piece of land which was acquired by private means. The busi-ness demonstrates great potential to grow and create sustainable jobs as it has already secured a market with

Agriculture Excellence Award: Commercial

Mr Eric Nhlaba, a graduate from the Free State Technikon, is the sole own-er of Inanda Trading. He is a former hotelier who started his business after realising that he could feed pigs with all the food discarded by hotels and, as a result he purchased three pigs.

This marked the beginning of Eric as a farmer and from there his business has flourished. His business has been in op-eration for four years. He is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the business. He acquired a bond from the Land Bank to purchase land in order to kick-start his business. His business focuses on piggery farming on a commer-cial scale and also has cattle and sheep on the farm. He also produces maize

NTK to grow and supply sugar beans; it also has letters of intent from Spar and other chain stores to supply fresh vegetables. It has created permanent employment for six community mem-bers. Other than the ongoing non-monetary support, training, mentoring and advice received from LEDA, the co-op has also received grants from DTI, NYDA, the Makhado Municipal-ity and Department of Social Devel-opment to purchase production inputs, fencing of the premises and for the in-stallation of a borehole and building an office and storeroom, the funds were also used for debushing of the five hectares. As part of the nature conser-vation strategies, they have created ridges to prevent soil erosion.

which he uses to feed his livestock. He currently has 2300 pigs and has

a contract with a big abattoir to supply approximately 150 pigs per week. He also supplies the informal market with sheep and cattle for weddings and funerals. Moreover, he supplies over two thousand chickens to informal traders both locally and in neighbour-ing towns.

Eric uses his truck to deliver the pigs to the market once a week, he gener-ates additional income by transporting livestock and other farming requisites for his neighbours for the rest of the week. He currently employs four per-manent workers and has approxi-mately fifteen casual labourers.

Mr Lutendo Mccrae Ramahala, winner of the Agriculture Excel-lence Award: Smallholder on the right, with Mr Sizwe Magagula, Vice Chairman of the South African Sub-tropical Growers Association.

Left is Mr Hamlet Hlomendlini, Chief Economist at AgriSA who received the award on behalf of Mr Eric Nhlaba with Mr Mortimer Man-nya, Deputy Director General: Food Security and Agrarian reform.

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Forestry Recognition Award: Small scale

Gretfontein Farm, SA Fine Tuned Trading (PTY) LTD is a forestry based enterprise which focuses mainly on the following: timber growing, harvesting, procurement, rehabilitation and conversions of wattle jungles into commercial plan-tation.

Mlungisi Sonwabile Bushula is a di-rector of the business and he is active-ly involved in the daily operations of the business, such as ensuing that opera-tions run as planned and also manage business negotiations with stakehold-ers, human resource management, financial management and marketing. The businesses operate on a land that was leased from a family trust, which was founded by his late grandfather. His grandfather bought five portions out of seven of Gertfontein Farm, near Ndakana Village, Sutterheim with as-sistance from the Department of Ru-ral Development and Land Reform in

Forestry Excellence Award: Large scale

Zwelidumile Freedom Baleni is a beneficiary of the Mabandla Com-munity Trust and he started as a supervisor for the harvesting op-erations in the company and then received a bursary from DAFF to pursue a qualification in forestry.

After completion of his studies, he returned to manage the company. He further received another bursary to study Business management in Ire-land (UK) and on his return he became a Chief Executive Officer of Umgano Devco. His leadership saw the com-pany growing from planting timber to processing timber.

The Mabandla Community Trust has 3 200 households as beneficiaries, with four members of the Mabandla

September 2005, with each portion having its own natural dam.

The business received monetary support from the IDC and SEDA- East London branch. The farm is currently assisted by the two (2) companies namely; Rance Timber and Amathole Forestry Company with technical for-estry management advice, fire-fight-ing, market access and mentorship.

The SA Fine Tuned Trading company is a registered Member of NCT Forest-ry as a supplier of pulp wood to Durban woodchips; supplying a minimum of 64 tons per month and has the capacity to produce more than 20 000 units; ranging from 1,4 m dropper, laths, vari-ous size fencing poles to transmission poles per month. The business occa-sionally sells oversized gum trees to Indigenous Timber CC and are cur-rently adding value by treating some of the products for the market.

community being assigned as direc-tors of the company.

The main focuses of the business are forestry, timber, eco-adventures and livestock. All four entities operate under their own management who re-port directly to the CEO. They acquired the land through the Land Restitution Processes and further received sup-port from the IDC.

They market timber to a single mar-ket, SAPPI and sell planks to hardware stores in the district.

The company is supporting three young people with their studies and intend to absorb them after the com-pletion of their studies. Each Umgano Devco has consistently managed to sustain 120 jobs in the past three years.

Mr Mlungisi Sonwabile Bushula, Di-rector of Gretfontein farm, SA Fine Tuned Trading is the winner of the Forestry Recognition Award: Small scale. On the right is Mr Lucky Sibambo, MCB Group CEO.

Mr Zwelidumile Freedom Baleni on the left, is a beneficiary of Ma-bandla Community Trust and won the Forestry Excellence Award: Large-scale category. With him is Dr Shadrack Moephuli, CEO of the Agricultural Research Council.

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Fisheries Recognition Award: Large scale

Ms Caroline Manna Lewack is part of the Sondelani trust which own shares in the Blue Karoo Trust, and has been in operation for six (6) years. They purchased their land using the DBSA Green Fund recoverable grant.

The trust has 53 beneficiaries that are actively involved in the daily op-erations of the business. Over the six (6) years that Caroline has been part of the operations, she has grown out-standingly in her knowledge and abil-ity to culture fish.

She supervises the breeding and growing of fry to fingerings in the hatchery and in addition her personal development has been remarkable.

Not only is she able to culture fish and lead others, she has thorough understanding of the business enter-

Agro processing Excellence Award: Small scale

Ms Berene Damons is the sole own-er of the Tesselaarsdal Wines com-pany which is currently producing red wine. Hemel-en-Aarde’s Pinot Noir collection is growing bigger and more interesting with the ad-dition of another claim to its list of achievements.

Berene Damons of Hamilton Rus-sell Vineyards has exceeded all ex-pectations with her first release of Tesselaarsdal Pinot Noir 2015. This is a breakthrough in more than one respect.

A first wine for Berene, but most im-portantly, the first wine project wholly owned by a member of a “previously disadvantaged community” in the Hemel-en-Aarde area and indeed the Overstrand. With the encouragement of Anthony Hamilton Russell, Be-rene’s Tesselaarsdal wines has sur-passed all hopes. Her influence and history strongly supports the promo-tion of this first release.

Berene initially joined Hamilton

prise. The business was supported by

various government departments, the local municipality and the private sec-tor in piloting this initiative.

The business’ focus is on fish farm-ing and processing and currently har-vests 10 tons of fish per month.

Demand has been established for 840 tons of fish per month, orders have been secured and local sales have commended.

They are currently producing a fish sausage and will be producing smoked fish fillets shortly. Distribution will be through bulk markets.

They have an in depth human re-source development programme and invest on employee personal and pro-fessional development.

Russell Vineyards in February 2001 as an au pair at the age of 19.

She soon moved to an administra-tive position in the farm’s wine busi-ness and took another step up to manage the complicated administra-tion linked to wine exports and the de-tail of labelling on the estate.

Fifteen years after starting her ca-reer at Hemel-en-Aarde, Berene is proud of her latest accomplishment.

Her responsibility is to handle mar-keting, communication, assist in mak-ing the wine, sales, contracts, budget-ing and planning of the company.

The business is in the process of ac-quiring land for agricultural purposes and is currently run from the premised of the Hamilton Russell Vineyards.

She currently has a five years con-tractual agreement with La viege Ba-bylon vineyards in the Hemel – en- Aarde area for the for the collection of Noir grapes.

Ms Caroline Manna Lewack is part of the Sondelani Trust that won the Fisheries Recognition Award: Large-scale. With her is Mr Karabo Motlana, Stakeholder & Public Policy Manager, Oceana Group Limited.

Ms Berene Damons, sole owner of Tesselaarsdal Wines company which is currently producing red wine, is the winner of the Agro processing Excellence Award: Small scale. With her is Mr Sihle Ndlovu, NOSA Agricultural Serv-ices board member.

July 2017 DAFFnews No. 7 6

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Special Awards: ATI graduate entrepreneur

Mr Fandana Sonwabile from Sivu-lamasango cooperative is the ATI graduate winner. The cooperative was started and is operated by a group of current and former stu-dents of Fort Cox College. The co-operative was a culmination of four years of work starting in 2012 when a group of twelve first-year students made contributions from their sav-ings and pocket money to start a broiler project.

Fort Cox College has been helpful over the years providing crucial access to infrastructure, including the poultry housing which the cooperative is in the process of renovating for use.

To secure long-term access to arable

land, in 2016 the cooperative entered into a lease agreement with the Totoyi Family and other families at Lugudwini Village, securing a twenty year access to 100 ha of arable land which is mere-ly five meters to Keiskamma River.

The coop is currently producing Broil-ers—one batch of 400 chicks per week and vegetables such as cabbage, but-ternut, potato and green mealies, they also plant maize and use it for feeding purposes in order to lessen the cost of feed.

They sell their produce to the local supermarket as well as retail stores in King Williams Town, Middledrift and Alice as well as the local community.

Mr Fandana Sonwabile from Si-vulamasango coop, winner of AIT graduate entrepreneur with General Bheki Cele, DM of DAFF.

Special Awards: Young entrepreneur with a disability

The Macheke Family Farm is a fam-ily business operating with cabbage cultivated on 2 ha and tomatoes planted under shade nets of 50 m x 100 m on 1,5 ha.

Despite his physical impairment, Macheke Nyiko is actively involved in the day-to-day running of the business and is very passionate about taking the family business to greater heights.

The farm was acquired in 2009 through the Land Reform Program. The family started by producing to-matoes on 1 ha and later extended to planting other vegetables such as cabbage and spinach. In 2015, the family received funding through re-capitalisation of farms from DRDLR through which farming equipment was purchased.

Approximately R87, 000 has been generated in the last year through sales of tomatoes and cabbage, and the procedure are sold to informal

markets such as Tshwane Market, supermarkets at Hammanskraal, Pay

Macheke Nyiko from Macheke Family Farm won the Spe-cial Awards: Young entrepreneur with a disability. From left is General Bheki Cele, DM of DAFF, Ms Ramasimele Jacqueline Maisela, HOD of Limpopo Department of Ag-riculture and Rural Development.

points and local community (Cyfer-skuil) and Bela-Bela supermarkets.

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The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is urging all the producers, packers and importers of honey or mixtures of bee products in South Africa to comply with the regulations relating to the grading, packing and marking of honey or mixture of bee products. Compliance with the requirements of the relevant regulations is quite instrumental to enhancing market access for smallholder and commercial beekeepers and or processors.

The sale of honey and mixtures of bee products is regulated in terms of the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990), Regulation No. R.835 dated 25 August 2000. The regulation prescribes that honey and mixtures of bee products shall comply with the key elements which include, among others, grading, packing and marking requirements. Producers, packers and importers of honey and mixtures of bee products are advised to comply with the local market requirements enshrined in the Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990) and its regulations in order to produce good quality honey and mixtures of bee products that can compete in the formal markets. Food safety and quality measures should be a priority in all honey and mixtures of bee products producers/ packers and importers.

It is important to note that honey may be subjected to laboratory tests to determine the composition, quality and ripeness. If the honey does not comply with any one of these selected tests, then it shall be deemed as not complying with standards for grades of honey. The ability to comply is quite instrumental to the attainment of, among others, the objectives of the National Development Plan and the Agricultural Policy Action Plan relative to fighting unemployment, alleviating poverty, ensuring economic growth and positioning South Africa in the world through marketing and supplying the world with honey and mixtures of bee products that meets market requirements, i.e. marked and packaged properly, good quality and healthy and safe for human consumption.

The apiculture industry plays an important role in generating employment and in increasing family income. Amid the complexities in the apiculture industry, like many developing countries, South Africa is striving to improve the quality of the honey and mixtures of bee products. Amongst the challenges in question, control of regulated diseases and pests of honey bees has been one of the fundamental priorities. American

foul brood is currently a challenge to certain parts of the Western Cape Province resulting in major economic damage to the industry. In essence, Good Agricultural Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices are critical in order to sustain this crucial industry.

As part of preventing and minimizing the potential introduction of exotic pests of honey bees, it is crucial that imported honey and mixtures of bee products must comply with the import conditions as stipulated by the Agricultural Pests Act, 1983 (Act No. 36 of 1983) of the DAFF and applicable food safety requirements as prescribed by the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectant Act, 1972 (Act No. 54 of 1972) of the Department of Health. An Import Permit is required to import honey and mixtures of bee products in the Republic of South Africa, and that can be obtained from DAFF.

For further information on other regulations for local produce such as agronomy, deciduous fruit, animal products, processed products, local vegetables and local citrus and subtropical fruit, please contact the Directorate: Food Import and Export Standards on 012 319 6118.

Are you intending to sell honey and mixtures of bee products in South Africa?

agriculture,forestry & fisheriesDepartment:Agriculture, Forestry and FisheriesREPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

Honey container properly marked as per regulation.

July 2017 DAFFnews No. 7 8

Departmental

The China-South Africa Aquacul-ture Technology Demonstration Centre (ATDC) at Gariep Dam, Free State Province was handed over to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Honourable Senzeni Zokwana by the Chinese Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Coun-selor, Mr Rong Yangsong on 23 June.

This happened during a glittering handover ceremony of the centre which was witnessed by DAFF and Free State Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development officials.

The handover meant that the South African government was now going to have full control of the centre. The cen-tre has been operating in partnership between China and South Africa and is aimed at boosting aquaculture farming in the province.

Back in 2007, both the governments of China and South Africa agreed that China would help build an aquacul-ture centre. Upon completion of the building, both sides agreed to extend the viable cooperation by introducing a 3-year technological cooperation phase which commenced in February 2014. The ATDC is the first official de-velopment aid project implemented in South Africa in the agriculture sector. More than 1.5 million fish of various species have been cultured.

During the handover, Mr Yangsong said that the ATDC was now officially handed over from China to South Af-rica and wouldl be operated and su-pervised by the South African govern-ment.

The centre was expected to play a crucial role in upskilling people in aquaculture and especially fisheries.

Yangsong also believed that the cen-tre would continue playing an impor-tant part in the development of South African’s aquaculture.

Minister Zokwana also reiterated

Aquaculture centre handed over to South Africa

By Samuel Kgatla

that aquaculture was one of the most crucial sectors that could serve as a panacea to address systemic youth unemployment; which was why the partnership with their Chinese counter-parts was so important.

“Aquaculture is a priority for our gov-ernment as it has the potential to con-tribute significantly to economic growth, food security and job creation. The aquaculture sector in South Africa is still in its infancy and we need to encour-

age greater collaboration that includes the private sector to enable our young people to explore and benefit from the opportunities that this sector presents. We need this country to have young fish farmers, but we also need skilled officials to support the fish farmers,” he said.

In conclusion, he mentioned that South Africa had put together a clear plan on the operations of the centre go-ing forward.

Mr Senzeni Zokwana holds a fish at aquaculture centre at Gariep Dam.

Minister Zokwana handing over a gift to Mr Rong Yang-song of China.

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South African Aquaculture experts from the Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Free State Provinces led by Ms Khu-mo Morake, Director: Aquaculture Technical Services received train-ing on aquaculture breeding tech-niques in Taichung, Taiwan from 8 – 12 May 2017. In exchange, the Tai-wanese experts on aquaculture also came to South Africa and visited the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Limpopo De-partment Agriculture and Rural De-velopment (LDARD) and the aqua-culture project at the University of Limpopo on 5 June 2017.

Both visits form part of preparations to pave way for more Taiwanese del-egations expected to visit the country later this year. South Africa and Taiwan are planning to grow and share exper-tise on tilapia, fish health and animal vaccines. The information shared shall influence the next Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting anticipated to take place in October 2017.

The experts engaged their counter-parts within DAFF and visited DAFF’s

Taiwan aquaculture expert visit Tilapia project

Sea Point Aquaculture Research fa-cility, LDARD, the Aquaculture Re-search Unit (ARU) of the University Of Limpopo and Agriculture Research Council (ARC).

In response to DAFF’s efforts to grow the tilapia industry among other things, the LDARD is planning to partner with the University of Limpopo to produce more tilapia, carp and catfish at the Turfloop Fish Breeding Station in order to intensify research efforts. The proc-ess of rehabilitating fish breeding sta-tions in order for them to comply with international standards is underway. The goal is to increase the availability of fingerlings in the country, which will enable an increase in fish production in the future.

Ms Jenetha Mahlangu from DAFF said that the visit was important to DAFF and LDARD because they want-ed to grow the sector.

“I believe that the partnership will help improve our aquaculture. It mo-tivates us to see that the province is working closely with the University of Limpopo’s Aquaculture Research Unit.

By Samuel Kgatla

I am excited about the project and it gives us hope, even when we sign the agreements in the future,” she said.

She also thanked the Taiwanese del-egates for visiting the country.

Professor Ngoni Moyo from the Uni-versity of Limpopo said the university’s ARU was a strategic partner of govern-ment because they were focusing on tilapia research. Moreover, he said the growing season for tilapia was short in Limpopo.

“We are trying to look at feeding our tilapia with Mopani worms. This shall help us to reduce its feeding cost. We are actively working on fish and our aquaculture is linked to government programmes,” he said.

Chien Tu from Taiwan said that South Africa’s aquaculture was doing well and added that things could im-prove for the better if they shared their expertise. He confirmed that he saw potential with the University’s Aquacul-ture Research Unit especially on tilapia which is a sure indication that South Africa’s tilapia-growing industry contin-ues to get recognition internationally.

DAFF officials and Taiwanese experts doing some rounds at University of Limpopo’s aquaculture unit.

July 2017 DAFFnews No. 7 10

Sector

The Embassy and Consulate in Brazil, in partnership with Parana Development Agency (PDA) and Federacao das Industrias do Estado de Sao Paulo (FIESP) hosted a busi-ness seminar from 5-7 June 2017 and on 8 June 2017 at the States of Parana and Sao Paulo, respectively.

The Honorable Deputy Minister Bheki Cele led the SA delegation con-stituted by Mr Supra Mahumapelo, the

Extending International Partnerships to Provinces through Agribusiness

Left to right: CEO of Parana Devel-opment Agency, Mr Adalberto Neto, Ambassador Mashimbye, Vice Governor of the State of Parana, Ms Cida Borghetti, Premier of North West Province, Mr Supra Mahu-mapelo and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, General Bheki Cele.

Left to right: President of Ocepar System, Mr José Roberto Ricken, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, General Bheki Cele, Parana State Secretary of Planning and General Coordina-tion, Mr. Cylleneo Pessoa Pereira Junior, Ambassador Mashimbye, CEO of Parana Development Agen-cy, Mr Adalberto Neto and Head of the Department of Sustainable Rural Development, Mr Richardson de Souza.

Premier of North West Province, Mem-bers of the Executive Council from North West and Northern Cape Prov-inces and senior officials from national and provincial government.

The business mission entailed a seminar and site visits to ensure that the provinces and the Department of Agriculture gain insight into the Bra-zilian integrated development system with specific reference to agribusi-

ness and cooperatives. In his open-ing remarks, Ambassador Ntshikiwane Mashimbye emphasised the need to address the trade imbalance between the two countries.

Participation of provinces during the business mission prompted a dia-logue on how provinces could be as-sisted in finding opportunities abroad to strengthen the small enterprises de-velopment.

No. 7 DAFFnews July 2017 11

Sector

SAVPO’s promotion with Shoprite at the end of May was a giant suc-cess and the group sold 33,3 tons of pork within eight days.

The promotion took place in 260 Shoprite stores nation-wide. Accord-ing to Marieta Human, SAVPO’s pro-motional coordinator, Shoprite’s man-agement is very satisfied with the promotion. She says that they handed

Shoprite promotion moves a lot of pork

out small recipe books and demonstra-tion ladies cooked pork in the stores. Shoprite had a variety of specials on offer. Consumers could smell and taste it and it definitely increased sales. Ac-cording to Human, a lot of the demon-

stration ladies had previously been un-employed. She said they trained them thoroughly and in this way, SAVPO contributes to empowering people. A similar promotion is currently ongoing at Checkers.

July 2017 DAFFnews No. 7 12

Sector

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is making a strong call to exporters, importers and all

other role players involved in the international trading of products involving wood-packaging material, to comply with ISPM No. 15 (International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures—Guidelines for regulating wood-packaging material in international trade).

Untreated wood-packaging material can be a pathway for the introduction of pests of economic concern, which may negatively affect the country’s natural resources, agriculture and forestry in particular.

Regulated wood-packaging material includes coniferous and non-coniferous raw wood-packaging material. This covers wood-packaging material such as pallets, dunnage, crating, packing blocks, drums, cases, loading boards, pallet collars and skids, which can be present in any imported/exported consignments.

Currently Heat Treatment (HT), Dielectric Heating (DH) and fumigation with Methyl Bromide (MB) are the only approved treatments for wood-packaging material. These treatments are considered to be significantly effective against most pests of living trees associated with wood-packaging material. Irrespective of the type of treatment applied, wood packaging must be made of debarked wood.

Treated wood-packaging material should bear the appropriate International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) mark to certify that the wood-packaging material has been subjected to the approved phytosanitary measure. Marking should be rectangular or square in shape, surrounded by border lines with a vertical line separating IPPC logo from country information, legible, permanent , not transferable, no additional information within borders of the mark and must not be hand drawn. Markings should be placed in a visible location, on two opposite sides of the article being certified. The use of the red or orange colour must be avoided because these are used only for hazardous goods.

Service providers are required to mark wood-packaging material with treatment date as a traceability and control measure. The date must consist of a day, month and year and strictly be placed outside the borders of IPPC mark.

Wood-packaging material can only be treated and marked by service providers that are registered with Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in terms of ISPM No. 15 regulation.

NB: Non-complying wood-packaging material may be subjected to treatment, destruction or refused entry.

For further information contact:Department of Agriculture, Forestry and FisheriesThe National Plant Protection Organisation of South Africa (NPPOZA)Directorate: Inspection ServicesTel.: 011 9715117 / 012 309 8753 Email: AdamD@daff.gov.za / PetuniaS@daff.gov.za

A call for compliant wood-packaging material in international trade

Example of HT mark Example of MB mark

A list of registered service providers and further information on the regulation is available on DAFF website, www.daff.gov.za > Branches > Agricultural Production Health & Food Safety > Inspection Services > Wood Packaging.