Fruit, veg trucks barred from entering Swaziland

16 April 2010, The Swazi Observer
URL: http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=12655

Mbabane:  There was drama at Ngwenya Border Post when members of the Swaziland Food and Vegetable Association were stopped from bringing in fruits and vegetables from South Africa.
More than 10 trucks were barred from entering Swaziland by local police officers. Some simply off-loaded their cargo and returned to South Africa. They normally enter the country to deliver in central markets, where the local vendors then buy the fresh produce and transport it to their various destinations.

The ministry of agriculture has since stepped up its rules in ensuring that fresh produce coming into the country is free and safe from diseases. The vegetables bought from South African markets are certified by the SA farmers before being brought to Swaziland, but the rules have since changed and now the produce must be certified by the South African ministry of agriculture as well. The closest SA Agriculture office offering such services is in Nelspruit, and this is a long way for the vendors, who say the travelling expenses become high and cut down dramatically on their profits.

They argue that if government wanted to tighten the rules on importing vegetables and fruits from South Africa, it should have set up an office at the Ngwenya Border Post, where the food would be tested and certificates of compliance issued.

“Imagine having to buy a load of potatoes at Carolina and having to drive all the way to Neslpruit to pay the E120 for the certificate and drive back to Swaziland. This is just too much, which is why we implore the ministry to set up an office at Ngwenya, where the produce can be tested and certified. The current arrangement is unworkable for us,” Sipho Dlamini said yesterday morning.

They blamed Senior Research Officer at the Malkerns Research Station Similo Mavimbela, whom they accused of enforcing the new rules without putting a structure in place at the border where their produce could be checked and certified.

By midday yesterday, some of the vendors had managed to load the produce onto their trucks and driven into Swaziland after it became apparent that there were no officers from the ministry who were coming to solve the issue.

When called, Mavimbela mentioned that the country could not risk bringing unchecked and uncertified produce into the country, because if it was infected, it would then infect the produce planted in the country. “We are going to enforce these new regulations as we would be blamed if these plant diseases spread into the country. Until things change, the laws will be in place. The vendors have no option, but to comply.”