On Friday, August 4, USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) received an informal notification from South Africa's Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) that called into question whether the U.S. regulatory system meets their requirements and noted that South Africa has the right to refuse imports from countries not meeting their requirements. USDEC is seeking further clarification from FAS on the impact of this message to trade; answers at this time are still pending, however.

FAS is working to confirm whether, as a result of this informal communication, DALRDD may have stopped issuing import permits for U.S. dairy products. FAS has not received any official notice of a policy change nor any explanation for the "informal notification" in writing from South Africa's government. FAS is seeking clarification on whether the notification will result in the closure of the South African market to U.S. dairy exports.

USDEC has requested confirmation of whether import permits that were issued prior to this August 4 informal notification will be honored but does not yet have an answer. If you have any exports now en route to South Africa, or any planned shipments that are now at risk, contact Sandra Benson at sbenson@usdec.org with the following information:

1. Exporting company name
2. Exporter contact name, email, and phone
3. Importing company name
4. Importer contact name, email and phone
5. Date of export
6. Expected date of arrival
7. Importer's import permit number (if available)
8. APHIS certificate

USDEC is working with USDA and USTR to address this potential market closure and will provide additional details as soon as they are available.