SA plans to double tax-free wine exports to EU

Johannesburg - South African plans to double exports of duty-free wine after a trade agreement between southern African countries and the European Union (EU).

The Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Southern African Customs Union, which include Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Botswana, means South Africa can export 110 million litres of duty-free wine, up from the current 48 million litres, Wines of South Africa said in an emailed statement.

The EU region accounts for 75% of the nation’s annual offshore wine sales, valued at R5bn.

"We hope to see wine makers capitalise on this opportunity to build Brand South Africa, as well as the reputation of their own brands," Michael Mokhoro, a relationship manager for South Africa’s wine and brandy industries, said in the statement. He added that the agreement “offered a much-needed boost for the industry that had been besieged by drought and a tough global climate."

South Africa is the world’s seventh-largest producer of wine and has almost 100 000 hectares of vineyards, mostly in the Western Cape.

Crops across the region have been damaged by a drought and South Africa last year received the least rainfall since records started in 1904.