Article
Concerns regarding Leaf Services’ inspection costs
Published: 03/11/2023
Since deregulation, stakeholders have ensured that commodities meet the grading specifications set out in contracts. In this regard, it is important to note that the Agricultural Product Standards Act facilitates trade, and not food safety. Product is checked when producers deliver it to the silo, when a buyer’s consignment is outloaded at a silo, when it arrives at the mill door or when the processor disputes the quality. If it differs
from the contract, a dispute is declared. The additional cost of around R18 million to perform this non-essential function is causing concern as the sector has to pay for services from an appointed agent that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) cannot provide from public funds.
In this regard, DALRRD and Leaf Services met with industry on 19 September this year. Since the meeting, the assignee has been contacting individual sectors to discuss the proposed methodology to be established
before the end of the year. The projected cost of inspecting processed products is R30 million. In total, the introduction of these services will cost the grain and oilseeds sector an additional R48 million.
Engagement is ongoing and Agbiz Grain and other stakeholders will use every opportunity to express its concerns and propose more affordable alternatives, where possible. – Agbiz Grain