South Africa only used 11.4% of duty-free ethanol quota during first year of EPA

In South Africa, just 11.4% of the 80,000 metric ton duty-free ethanol quota to Europe under the new Economic Partnership Agreement with Southern African Development Community countries has been used during the first year of the trade deal. Ethanol is among a long list of other commodities and products granted duty-free access, most of which also wasn’t used. The European Commissioner for Trade blamed a lack of awareness about the opportunity among South African exporters while her South African counterpart blamed phytosantitary protocols. Ethanol is not subject to phytosantitary protocols, however.