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THE
GRAIN AND OILSEED INDUSTRY
OF SOUTH AFRICA – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
ႅႄ
Like the other control boards, the Oilseeds Board appointed agents to receive,
grade, store and consign products for the Board. Producers’ remuneration for
products they delivered to the Oilseeds Board was also paid to them via the agents.
The Oilseeds Board appointed the existing handlers of oilseeds as its agents as far
as possible, as they already had the expertise and facilities.
At the end of 1952 the Oilseeds Board appointed inspectors, among other things to
carry out audit inspections and other investigations of agents, settle grading disputes,
grade and sell undergrade products and carry out inspections on groundnuts intended
for the export and food markets.
From 1968 the Oilseeds Board also controlled the marketing of soybeans, in addition
to groundnuts and sunflower.
The name of the Board was later changed to the Oilseeds Board.
The Oilseeds Board operated a single-channel pooled system for oilseeds. The
controlled marketing of oilseeds had certain benefits for the industry, including
stability in the market to the benefit of producers as well as off-takers, increased
production, exporting of groundnuts of a very high quality and the correct interpre-
tation of market information.
Control abolished
However, due to changed circumstances in the South African political dispensation
and international trade the marketing scheme with respect to groundnuts was
amended to such an extent on 22 April 1994 that groundnuts could be traded freely
by producers and they were allowed to operate a surplus-removal system with
voluntary pools and a single-channel export system. In terms of the single-channel
export system the Oilseeds Board granted institutions that had supplies and
access to selection plants exemption to export groundnuts, subject to the payment
of prescribed levies.
These amendments meant that only 30% of the groundnuts crop was sold to the
Oilseeds Board in 1994. Groundnuts that were delivered to the Board’s voluntary
pools were selected and traded domestically as well as overseas.
Since July 1995 the Oilseeds Board’s role as exporter of groundnuts effectively
became redundant. However, the Board was appointed by the Minister of Agricul-
ture to apply quality control on all groundnuts destined for export in order to try
and maintain South Africa’s standing with respect to quality standards. The Oil-
seeds Board played an important role in supplying and co-ordinating information
and provided an independent service with respect to sampling and grading.
The Marketing of Agricultural Products Act of 1996 required all existing marketing
councils to submit a business plan to the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
and the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) within 30 days after the
NAMC that had been appointed in terms of this Act had convened for the first
time. It had to include recommendations on the way in which the conclusion of the
activities of the council concerned would be managed.
Any requests by the industry for statutory measures had to be motivated fully
in the business plan. The core principle was that statutory measures as well as
proposals for the restructuring of the functions of the Oilseeds Board had to be
supported by unanimous recommendations from the industry, failing which the
Minister could decide about measures for deregulation himself.
As the NAMC proposed to meet for the first time on 6 January 1997, this implied
that the business plan for the oilseeds industry, like those for the other agricultural
industries, had to be submitted to the NAMC by the first week of February 1997.
The business plan for the oilseeds industry was submitted to the Minister of Agri-
culture after extensive negotiations between all the role-players in the industry. The
business plan made provision for the following structures to look after the interests
of the industry after the abolition of the Oilseeds Board:
• The
Oil and Protein Seed Development Trust (OPDT)
, which is discussed in
Chapter 3.