Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies expects key negotiations over agricultural exports with the US to be completed "well before" the expiry deadline.

Briefing media in Parliament on Tuesday, Davies said South Africa was a step closer to keeping its African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) status with the US.

His comments come after the dti announced earlier on Tuesday that a deal between US and SA veterinarians paved the way for the US to resume exporting 65 000 tonnes of chicken to South Africa.

In terms of the Poultry Veterinary Trade Protocol (PVTP) which covers poultry and day-old chicks, the quota will be open by December 31 2015, but will exclude poultry from avian flu-hit areas.

Almost 20 US States experienced outbreaks of avian flu this year.

The PVTP was signed on Friday after several months of discussion.

Davies told Parliament the next step will include an agreement between the two veterinarian bodies regarding salmonella and a separate proposal on shoulder cuts on pork.

That should conclude the negotiations and prevent South Africa's exit from Agoa's agricultural agreement, he said.

"Negotiating an appropriate trade protocol and health certificate that both secures market access for the US and also ensures safety for animal and human health was a challenging task for the veterinarians from both the US and SA," the dti said.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) is a US trade act aiming to enhance market access to the US for qualifying sub-Saharan African countries. The dti said Agoa has contributed significantly towards building a mutually beneficial partnership between the US and SA. The value of duty-free SA farming exports to the US was $176m in 2014, for instance.

President Barack Obama signed the Agoa Extension & Enhancement Act (AEEA) into law in June. However, certain US lobbies insisted that some issues of interest to them such as poultry, pork and beef imports needed to be resolved by SA to allow the country to remain eligible.

Earlier in November the US announced plans to suspend SA's Agoa trade benefits on agricultural goods, following a drawn-out dispute over SA’s restrictions on farm imports.

The action also followed the US review of SA’s status as a full Agoa beneficiary, which eliminates import levies on more than 7 000 products ranging from textiles to manufactured items. According to a letter Obama sent to the US Congress, SA has continued imposing barriers to US trade, including American agricultural exports. SA had 60 days to take steps to avoid the suspension coming into effect.

"SA is a vital part of the regional integration and development process underway in Africa and removing SA from Agoa would substantially diminish the significance of Agoa for sub-Saharan Africa and the US," according to the dti.

It said a breakthrough made with the US on the poultry issue at a meeting in Paris in June and progress made on issues related to poultry, beef and pork offer significant opportunities for the US and SA to increase their agricultural trade. According to the dti, the 65 000 tonne quota for the import of these three types of meat from the US will be open by the end of 2015.

"Trade and investment relations between SA and the US have continued to grow and deepen during the period under Agoa. South Africa meets all the eligibility criteria to remain a beneficiary of Agoa for the next 10 years," said the dti. It said SA remains on track to finalise outstanding Agoa issues by the end of the year.

According to the dti, the import quota for US bone-in-chicken pieces (chicken legs) will be created by the SA Revenue Service (SARS) by the end of the year.

News24.com