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Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry

Thesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.

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Main Author: Visser, Kara
Other Authors: Van der Merwe, Melissa
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2026
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access_status_str Open Access
author Visser, Kara
author2 Van der Merwe, Melissa
author_browse Van der Merwe, Melissa
Visser, Kara
author_facet Van der Merwe, Melissa
Visser, Kara
author_sort Visser, Kara
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
format Thesis
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institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:45:20.375Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2026
publishDateRange 2026
publishDateSort 2026
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
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spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135604 Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry Visser, Kara Van der Merwe, Melissa Stellenbosch University. Faculty of AgriSciences. Dept. of Agricultural Economics. Thesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Visser, K. 2026. Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/b40aeae4-43d0-4c8a-8c5d-c5d860e73d5f As the world’s second largest citrus exporter, South Africa faced mounting compliance costs in terms of mandatory and voluntary standards. South Africa exported to more than 100 countries, and each country had its own set of standards South Africa must comply with for these citrus exports. Despite being the most stringent when implementing these standards, the EU remained the main export market for South African citrus. Based on this, this research had the following research objectives: One, identify the mandatory and voluntary standards implemented by different regulatory schemes. Two, examine how changes in the EU regulations affected South African citrus exports. Three, determine the costs of the mandatory and voluntary standards. Four, determine the benefits of complying with the mandatory and voluntary standards. Five, determine if there was an overlap between mandatory and voluntary standards. Six, evaluate alternative export markets to which South Africa could export their citrus. The main export markets for South Africa were mainly located in the Northern Hemisphere and ranged from the USA to Russia, with all main markets regulating the following mandatory standards: CBS, FCM, Fruit Flies and cold storage regulations with different implementation stringencies. The EU had the most stringent regulations, with the cold storage regulations being the most stringent. When comparing other export markets' standards to the EU standards, the Eastern regions, such as the Middle East, Asia and Russia, CBS was the standard that the participants found the least difficult to comply with. Global GAP and SIZA, both social and environmental, were the most implemented voluntary standards in the citrus industry. Global GAP became mandatory for exports, where even exporters needed a Global GAP CoC certificate to export. Furthermore, PPECB requires that producers have a valid Global GAP certificate before clearing fruit for exports. Greenhouse Gas Reduction control chapters were the most difficult for participants to comply with for both Global GAP and SIZA. Therefore, industry bodies can investigate how they can help participants make compliance easier. This recommendation can be implemented with working groups between the industry bodies, the standards bodies and participants in the citrus industry. In terms of cost of compliance, as the compliance costs increased by R1 000, the annual income increased by R6 823. Therefore, even if compliance is difficult and a lot of work for producers, it is still in their best financial interest to comply with mandatory and voluntary standards. This will help producers to continue their exports and grow their business. Masters 2026-04-02T08:39:26Z 2026-04-02T08:39:26Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135604 en Stellenbosch University 109 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle Visser, Kara
Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry
title Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry
title_full Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry
title_fullStr Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry
title_short Evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the South African citrus industry
title_sort evaluating the cost of compliance to mandatory and voluntary standards in the south african citrus industry
url https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135604
work_keys_str_mv AT visserkara evaluatingthecostofcompliancetomandatoryandvoluntarystandardsinthesouthafricancitrusindustry