Grain SA created a COVID-19 portal on it's webpage for it's members. All the latest news, documents, regulations and relevant articles pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic and grain production can be accessed on one page. Use the link below or on the website click on the COVID-19 Update button under latest news.

Download your Grain SA Permit here

COVID-19 Updates Portal

The following can be accessed through the COVID-19 Document Library:

• Amended regulations relating to harvesting and storage of agricultural products - Regulation 11067 
• Directions issued responding to COVID-19 - Regulation 11063 
• Regulations promulgated under the Disaster Management Act, 2002
• Lockdown rules: Essential goods and services exempted (Source: Agbiz)
• The economics of a pandemic: the case of COVID-19 Presentation by Prof. Paolo Surico & Prof. Andrea Galeotti, London Business School (Source: Agbiz)
• BFAP COVID Brief - How South Africans spend their food budget (Source: BFAP)

Be sure to keep an eye on the official Grain SA communication channels via the Grain SA electronic membership card, website, e-mail, social media and the channel created on Telegram. Access the different platforms here:

• Grain SA Membership Card (JOYN)
  Use your cellphone number to access your Grain SA Digital membership card, search for the JOYN APP on Google Play Store or on the Apple App Store
• Grain SA Website
• Grain SA COVID-19 Telegram Channel

Relevant information, updates and releases pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, impacting on Grain SA members will be published as and when it becomes available.

Planting time for winter grains are around the corner, as is harvesting time for summer crops.

Grain SA is in continuous contact with input suppliers on the availability of inputs in South Africa. Input service providers is in agreement that with good planning, no shortages of inputs are foreseen. There are some agricultural chemicals that may be undersupplied due to international shortages, but alternative products are available.

The President and the Minister of Agriculture further confirmed that the entire agricultural value chain is classified as an essential industry, therefore logistics and distribution networks will be able to continue as normal. Panic purchases can however, place the logistics chain under pressure and cause temporary shortages. Also, beware of marketers who might abuse this situation in order to sell more product or raise prices.

Grain SA will continuously monitor the situation and ask members to please provide feedback should any problems be experienced.

Following the stringent measures implemented by the South African Presidency, which included prohibiting gatherings om more than 100 people, Grain SA has been monitoring the developments of COVID-19 and under the guidance and recommendations of the World Health Organization, the Presidency of South Africa and the Department of Health, have made the difficult decision to postpone the 2020 NAMPO Harvest Day which was scheduled to take place from 12-15 May 2020 at NAMPO Park, just outside Bothaville.

The 2020 NAMPO Harvest Day will be postponed to 11-14 August 2020, given that Government policies and guidelines permit the postponed date. Grain SA will evaluate and review the date by the end of June 2020 if necessitated by governmental regulations.

Grain SA is committed to implementing appropriate action plans in relation to the developments of COVID-19. “The health and safety of visitors, exhibitors, staff, sponsors and the entire agricultural community during the NAMPO Harvest Day are paramount and an event of this magnitude poses too great a risk to continue during the initially stipulated dates. Guided by these priorities and best practice, the decision to postpone the event was a necessary one,” Jannie de Villiers, CEO of Grain SA said.

The NAMPO Harvest Day received 81 345 visitors over 4-days in 2019, with 775 exhibitors and which saw a record of 376 aeroplanes and 63 helicopters descending on NAMPO Park. The economic importance of the NAMPO Harvest Day is absolutely vital to the corporate, medium and small businesses from all over South Africa participating in the show. In addition, visitors and exhibitors to the 2019 NAMPO Harvest Day, contributed an average of R28 million to the local economy, notably in the Free State and North-West towns of Bothaville, Klerksdorp, Orkney, Potchefstroom and Stilfontein, with many small business owners relying heavily on the income injection made possible as a result of this agricultural platform.

“While we’re taking precautions and doing some things a little differently, our aim is to still present a diversified agricultural trade exhibition of world standing benefiting our loyal and longstanding partners, the local communities and the broader agricultural sector as a whole. As we continue to adapt to the impact brought on by COVID-19, Grain SA will remain committed to applying risk-informed-decision making and keeping all stakeholders informed every step of the way,” said Dirk Strydom, Manager of Grain Economy and Marketing.

Grain SA will continue to adapt and to navigate this situation together as a team and more importantly, a community. We recognise that this is a challenging time for all, and most importantly, we remain deeply committed to the safety of the agricultural sector. We encourage everyone to be kind and considerate and even in the presence of social distancing, we encourage everyone to be there for one another. Let’s all help flatten the curve and support those who need it most.

The NAMPO dates are as follows:

11 - 14 August 2020 | NAMPO Harvest Day, Bothaville​​​​​

9 - 11 September 2020 | NAMPO Cape, Bredasdorp

24 - 26 September 2020 | NAMPO ALFA Livestock, Hunting and Outddor, Bothaville​​​​​

According to the latest information from the Central Energy Fund, the Minsiter of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe announced a decrease in fuel prices yesterday afternoon effective Wednesday, 1 April 2020. The diesel price is expected to decrease by R1.33/l and the petrol price will decrease with R1.76/l for 93 unleaded and R1.88/l for 95 unleaded respectively.

The increase in the Fuel and Road Accident Fund Levies on both petrol and diesel by 16 cents/l and 9 cent/l, respectively, as announced by the Minister of Finance in his Budget Speech in February, come into effect this month.

Following a referendum held in June 2016, the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU). The votes were as follows, 52% voted to leave and 48% voted to stay; the official withdrawal of the UK government was then announced for March 2017, beginning the Brexit process. However, various issues in the UK parliament delayed the withdrawal process. Following a general election, parliament ratified the withdrawal agreement, and the UK finally left the EU on 31 January 2020. This marked the beginning of a transition period that is set to end on 31 December 2020, during which the UK and EU will negotiate the nature of the relationship they will have in future. If a new trade agreement between the UK and the EU is not reached in time and no extension granted, the UK faces the possibility of trading under stricter WTO rules and higher tariffs. 

During the transition period, the UK will remain subject to EU law and remains part of the EU customs union and single market, but is no longer part of the EU's political bodies or institutions. The UK will not be able to conclude their new trade agreements until after it has left the EU customs union and single market on 31 December 2020. Nonetheless, the UK can begin with new negotiations, which will come into effect once they have left the EU customs union. Thus far, the UK has rolled over agreements based on the current EU agreements and has agreed with Kenya, SACU and Mozambique respectively, to provide for uninterrupted trade under the East African Community (EAC) and SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreements (SADC-EU EPA). 

Trade with SACU-Mozambique (SACUM-UK) negotiations

The SACUM-UK EPA is a duplicate of the SADC-EU EPA agreement, except for a few provisions modified during negotiations, in terms of market access commitments and other trade obligations, things remain the same. Negotiations were concluded in September 2019 and the agreement was signed in October 2019. The different parties are currently ratifying the agreement. Market access provisions related to agriculture which were modified include, amongst others, tariff-rate quotas for products sensitive to both parties and trigger levels for certain agricultural products eligible for automatic agricultural safeguards. Although the agreement is a duplicate of the SADC-EU EPA agreement, South Africa has made some enhancements with increased market access for wines and sugar into the UK market. 

The agricultural trade (grain specific) is small concerning the broader agreements between South Africa, the EU and the UK. This implies that the agricultural trade will not necessarily be affected directly, but the impact will rather be felt from the spillover effects from other economic conditions. One area of grain trade, which will be directly affected, is the local wheat market. 

Wheat quota 

According to the SADC-EU EPA agreement, there is 300 000 tons of wheat from the EU that comes in duty-free, 80% of which comes through the South African borders. With the rollover agreement, it was calculated that out of the 300 000 tons of wheat, the UK accounts for about 10% of the total, hence 30 090 tons of wheat has been agreed upon for the SACUM-UK agreement. This brings the total amount of wheat coming from Europe to 330 090 tons. Since wheat is considered a sensitive industry in South Africa, it is eligible for safeguards; allowing temporary action to restrict imports of a product if the country’s domestic industry is injured or threatened with injury as a result of a surge in imports. All EPA parties can utilise the general safeguards as well as the multilateral safeguard measures in terms of Article XIX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Safeguards and Article V of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. Under the EPA agreement the following measures can be taken;

1. suspension of the further reduction of the rate of import duty for the product concerned 
2. increase in the customs duty on the product concerned up to a level which does not exceed the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) applied rate at the time of taking the measure
3. Introduction of tariff quotas on the product concerned.

Impact on the South African wheat market

The European wheat enters our market between February and October of each year; the same period will apply for the UK wheat. The intention of the wheat coming in from Europe duty-free was meant to benefit processors and consumers, by providing cheaper wheat products on the market. There are currently some shortcomings in the system as the quota is on a first come first serve basis. This means that in some instances only one company receive the benefit of the duty-free imports and no competition amongst the companies prevail which leaves room for opportunistic behaviour – and also mean that the consumers do not necessarily benefit from the cheaper imports. After Brexit, as mentioned earlier, an additional 30 090 tons will be allocated for imports from the EU. The Brexit, therefore, caused the available duty-free wheat to increase, without addressing the issue of first come first serve distribution. At this point Grain SA, together with other industry players are in discussion with the government to try to rectify the system to benefit the intended people.