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CHAPTER 4
Activation of the Oilseeds Working Group (September 1996)
After it became clear that the Oilseeds Board had to be phased out, NOPO
requested an Oilseeds Working Group to be set up for the industry. The aim of the
working group was to serve as a forum where role-players could reflect on industry
functions and the business plan that had to be prepared for the Minister. The
recommendations of the Oilseeds Working Group would eventually serve as basis
for the business plan for the deregulation of the industry.
The Oilseeds Working Group convened for the first time on 23 September 1996
and comprised representatives from NOPO, the Oil Pressers Association, AFMA,
the Groundnuts Forum (already established by then) and the Oilseeds Board. The
discussion was handled within a framework of the practical implications of the
Marketing Act for the industry, the identification of functions of the board that could
be continued in the industry after deregulation, the timeframes within which the new
structures had to be activated and the funding of the new structures. The board was
requested to prepare a viability study with recommendations by 30 November 1996,
after which the working group had to convene again on 3 December 1996 to discuss
the recommendations.
Preparation for the establishment of the Oilseeds Trust
At the 1996 NOPO Congress the Executive was given a mandate to continue
investigating the activation of an Oilseeds Development Trust when the Oilseeds
Board was phased out.
Discussions in this regard were held with the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kraai
van Niekerk, who recommended that all the interest groups in the industry be
involved in the deregulation process. He also discussed practical guidelines for
this with NOPO.
The NOPO legal representatives prepared recommendations for a draft trust deed.
These proposals were passed on to the Oilseeds Working Group. These included
that a donation of R100 be recorded as part of the initial trust capital.
Establishment of Groundnuts Forum
The first meeting of the Groundnuts Forum took place on 8 May 1996. The aim of
the forum was to handle matters of joint interest within the groundnut value chain.
NOPO recommended that a similar forum be established for sunflower and
soybeans.
Strategic actions to adjust to new policy environment
Congress decisions on the marketing schemes: 1996
Despite the proposed deregulation of the industry the 1996 Congress requested
the Oilseeds Board to take steps to handle possible surpluses of oilseeds produced
in South Africa. This decision was motivated by the possibility that a sunflower
surplus could realise during the 1996/1997 season. The Congress decided further
that the single-channel export scheme for groundnuts should be retained.
From these decisions it could be concluded that oilseeds producers had not yet
fully accepted the impact of the new Marketing Act and deregulation.
Commercial grain producer organisation
The south-west area management of NOPO recommended that a model for a
commercial grain producer organisation be investigated. The aim of such an
organisation would be to provide cost-effective support services to oilseeds,
maize, sorghum and winter cereal producers by combining the existing industry
organisations. Martiens Prinsloo discussed this proposal on behalf of the south-
west area management at a NOPO Executive meeting on 28 May 1996. This was
the first step for NOPO in a process of closer co-operation between existing
industry organisations in the grain industry.