SPEECH BY JANET LOVE ON THE MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS BILL

Speech by Janet Love, Chairperson of National Assembly Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Water and Forestry

The Marketing of Agricultural Products Bill was tabled in Parliament on 1st February 1996. Many aspects of that Bill were unacceptable to the ANC, which took a series of steps to generate an amended version of the Bill.

What was unacceptable to the ANC about the original Bill?

• The status quo, including the protection of narrow interests, would have remained the same. The Agricultural marketing Council would have continued to be composed on the basis of vested interests, rather than expertise. The Marketing Control Boards would have bee resurrected in the form of "Statutory Marketing Authorities". The lack of transparency of these structures would have continued and single channel marketing and price fixing would have remained the order of the day.
• The objectives of any intervention were not clearly stated, making it possible for interventions in the market to be pursued to favour the interests of a minority as opposed to those of the country as a whole.
• Despite the fact that at every turn, organised agriculture has correctly emphasised the importance of agriculture, in terms of the employment it provides, the Bill failed to acknowledge the direct interest of agricultural workers in the expansion and development of agricultural marketing opportunities and hence their interest in the viability of the agricultural sector as a whole.

Over the past two years, the Portfolio Committee has received 137 written submissions, many of which are detailed and voluminous. It organised a public hearing in Parliament. It presided over a hearing in Johannesburg on the marketing of citrus which was also addressed by speakers from Israel, France, Britain and New Zealand, in order to enrich our deliberations with knowledge of the international experience. We have discussed these issues on a number of occasions, including at Joint Sittings with our colleagues in the Senate and have held a number of meetings with representatives from the industry. Following the publication of the draft Bill, the ANC also proposed that a series of provincial hearings be conducted and the reports that emerged from them were also taken into account. In all of this, many interest groups have taken the opportunity to submit their comments and engage with the parliamentary committees responsible for agriculture: they included the SAAU and its affiliates, NAFU, independent producer organisations, labour, agro-industry, consumers, academics, NGOs and control boards. All those who have contributed to the process are to be congratulated on the resulting amended Bill, which has a number of distinct advantages over the original Bill. In particular:-

• Firstly, proposals for the establishment of a statutory intervention in terms of this legislation will have to be considered against the following objectives- i. increasing the access to the market; ii. promoting efficiency in marketing; iii. the optimisation of export earnings; and iv. enhancing the viability of the agricultural sector. In addition, any intervention may not be "substantially detrimental to food security, the number of employment opportunities within the economy or to fair labour practice".
• Secondly, the scope for intervention is much reduced. The legislation is now designed to ensure that the success or failure of a measure can be tested against the objectives it was designed to fulfil. Furthermore, it obliges any measure to be reappraised at least once every two years. Domestic single-channel marketing are not provided for. Any request for a measure must include proposals for implementation, inspection and fiscal implications which the Council must consider when it assesses whether or not such a measure will fall within the objectives of the Bill before us.
• Thirdly, the Marketing Council consisting of 10 members who will provide advice to the Minister on the basis of practical knowledge and experience in agriculture - related commercial production; trade and industry; economics; small scale production; and consumer related issues. The process in which the Council will be involved ensure transparency and flexibility. Committees of the Council are optional. Minority views must be reflected in the advice to the Minister and all reports must be informed by inputs from directly affected groups.
• Fourthly, the process of the marketing of agricultural products is now correctly located within the food chain through the inclusion and full involvement of farmers - both large and small -scale - workers, processors and consumers. It is only on such a solid foundation that all South Africans will come together to work for the development, security and growth of our agricultural sector.

The manipulations that were there in the agricultural market before, were those of a siege economy. We are not a siege economy today. With the removal of apartheid-era controls, agriculture will have to become more responsive to international trends and market conditions.

Prices will change and some will become more volatile. But let us not be fooled into believing that the current onset of increases in the prices of food are as a result of changes in this legislation. These increases must be scrutinised. Where the reason for the increase lies must be fully exposed and properly understood. It is precisely such transparency that this new marketing legislation will make possible. Furthermore, the trade union movement needs to be commended for the fact that in its interventions in the deliberations over this Bill, it has constantly stressed the need for this legislation to bridge the gap currently being experienced by all in the agriculture and food industry between marketing and tariffication. That is a challenge that the new National Agricultural marketing Council face.

The proposed legislation will, for the first time and most importantly, oblige the Council and, through it provide to the Minister, on how to increase and broaden access to the agricultural market. What proactive steps must be taken. Our Committee and the agricultural and food sector as a whole will be monitoring progress in this regard very closely.

In the process of reaching as wide a consensus as possible very few of us were fully satisfied on all scores. In addition, as the process moved along new ideas, improvements and reformulations were devised. A number of technical aspects have been identified and need improvement. While we feel that it is important for such amendments to be discussed and drafted as soon as possible, the majority of the committee were of the view that we must give some certainty to our sector and set in motion, as soon as possible, the process of selecting the Council. It is only after such a process is complete, that the Bill can be promulgated into law. By this time, technicalities will have had ample time to be addressed.

Every effort was made to take on board the concerns of all interest groups, whilst staying true to the principles which the ANC believed to be appropriate for the Bill. It is with great satisfaction that we are able to report overwhelming support for the amended version of the Bill and the widely held view that it is a greatly improved piece of legislation. We recommend that the National Assembly adopts this Bill today.