Namibia: Meat industry holds breath
New Era | 15 July 2010
Meat industry holds breath
by Toivo Ndjebela
WINDHOEK – The Namibian meat industry has admitted that it would like to maintain the European Union market for its exports, and hopes the country would change its stance on the contentious Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe, as Southern African heads of state meet today in Pretoria, South Africa, for trade negotiations.
President Hifikepunye Pohamba left for Pretoria yesterday and would join fellow heads of state from Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland for a Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) summit, aimed to “reposition SACU, as a vehicle for deeper economic integration”.
Namibia and South Africa go into today’s summit as the only two SACU members that have not signed the EPA, a situation that has the local beef industry worried for its future business.
“In the first instance, the meat industry would like to maintain the EU market,” says Paul Strydom, General Manager of the Meat Board of Namibia, on the question of what other options the industry is looking at if the EPA talks are fumbled.
Strydom says the local market is already saturated and cannot accommodate more than the 20 percent it takes at the moment, with 80 percent of the local meat produce exported mainly to the EU.
Local meat exporters are now eyeing opportunities in Scandinavia and confirming this, Strydom said, “… access to the Norwegian market could be increased and without unnecessary tariffs.”
“Other markets that we are looking at are the Middle East and certain Asian markets,” he added.
In Asia, Namibia, through the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), is eyeing access to the Chinese market, which recently tasted the country’s beef at the Shanghai Expo.
Japan is another opt-ion Namibia is looking at, but exporters of meat products have cited distance to Asia’s leading economy as a major challenge.
Today’s SACU summit, which ends tomorrow in the South African capital, would further explore the causes of and solution to the discord currently existing among SACU member states after Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland signed the EPA with the European Union (EU), while South Africa and Namibia refused to do so.
The local beef industry here has come to terms with the fact that it has to look for alternatives, as there exist no concrete indications that Namibia would sign the controversial agreement.
This is more so because the country’s Trade and Industry Minister, Hage Geingob, has been a fierce critic of the manner in which the EU seems to want things done with regard to the EPA.
In a recent document, Geingob states that “all too often” African states are “forced” to sign agreements that “eventually haunt us”.
“We cannot sign an agreement just for the sake of giving in to the demands of the other side,” says Geingob, adding that signing holds serious economic and policy consequences for Namibia.
“Other negotiating configurations have not signed EPAs, yet we seem to be singled out for rebuke for not doing so.
“We see this in the media all the time. Is this perhaps part of the tactics of divide-and-rule and playing us off against our fellow African countries?” Geingob wanted to know.
