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Botswana and Namibia have made the decision to block a number of South African agricultural commodities from entering their borders.
Agri SA says it has written to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development Thoko Didiza to request her urgent intervention.
Executive Director Christo van der Rheede says the decision does not stem from any wrongdoing but the countries have cited the need to protect their own local production, even as they continue to export their produce to South Africa.
He says the bans currently include tomatoes, potatoes, beetroot, cabbage and coloured peppers, to name a few.
Van der Rheede says the government only plans to review the bans in two years and indicated that the list of banned produce will likely expand.
Agri SA expressed its concern over the threat these bans will pose to the South African economy.
Van der Rheede says local farmers already face immense competitive challenges as the national minimum wage of R23,90 far exceeds the labour costs in Namibia and Botswana at R12,23 and R5,05 respectively.
He says the additional hardship the bans put on South African farmers violated the letter and the spirit of the Southern Africa Customs Union Agreements.
