South Africa has renewed imports of US chicken, beef and pork products, bringing an end to a 15-year trade dispute with the country.
The South African government concluded months of discussions over 'the three meats' with the US, under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) treaty with the nation.
AGOA is a free trade deal between the nations intended to boost African exports to the US.
Over the weekend, the first shipments of the US chicken arrived at Port of Durban and were cleared by the Port Health Authorities, in accordance with an agreement entered into by both countries in January.
The imported products can now hit South African retail stores before 15 March 2016, which was the deadline set by US president Barack Obama after issuing a threat of suspending South Africa's agricultural concessions under AGOA.
For the US, the renewal could see increase in poultry, beef and pork exports by $160m a year and is also likely to boost employment in the US states of Delaware and Georgia.
US Trade Representative Michael Froman was quoted by Reuters as saying: "We're comfortable that South Africa has met the agreed-upon benchmarks. We're going to continue to monitor the situation as poultry; beef and pork make their way into the market. The president will make a determination on the revocation of his suspension order. We expect that decision to be forthcoming."
The countries are also now working on providing access to the import quota on chicken legs to newly emerging business from previously disadvantaged communities.
For around 15 years, South Africa had banned imports of US chicken over several sanitary restrictions and had also expressed concerns over the avian flu in the US, which killed around 50 million birds in 2015.
The renewal of imports comes after the US threatened to suspend duty-free status of South African exports under AGOA until the issue was resolved.
The US claimed that the products did not pose any health risks and also argued that South African restrictions on US beef, poultry, and pork imports breached the terms stated in the AGOA.
Image: South Africa renews US chicken imports. Photo: Courtesy of koko-tewan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
