South Africa To Limit White Farmers Access To Europe

Bloomberg reports that "South Africa’s ‘Too White’ Farms May Lose EU, UK Access." From the article:

    South African farms deemed “too white” will no longer be able to export their produce to the UK and the EU, according to postings in the Government Gazette, the Johannesburg-based City Press newspaper reported.

    Under the rules, farmers must meet specific Black economic empowerment targets to continuing obtaining export permits.

    The guidelines will apply to agricultural businesses with a minimum annual turnover of 10 million rand ($534,000) or more. Milk, cream, butter, fruit, nuts, sugar, jam, fruit purée, fruit juices, yeast, table grapes and wine are among the products affected, according to the notice.

    Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai), a farmers’ lobbying group, told City Press that the rules will undermine investor security, job creation and growth in the nation’s agricultural sector.

    Further, the measures fall “far outside the framework of internationally acceptable protocols, and the lobby will fight against it in every local and international forum, in courts and multilateral agencies of the UN and the African Union,” City Press reported, citing Theo de Jager, head of Saai.

    Democratic Alliance, the biggest opposition party in South Africa, lodged a complaint with the trade offices of the EU and the UK, arguing that the regulations violate the rules of fair trade. South Africa’s agreements with the EU and the UK are explicitly premised upon protecting human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, the alliance said.

    South African agricultural exports were about 240 billion rand ($12.8 billion) in 2022, with 20% headed to the EU and 4% to the UK.

I think this is an example of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.