South Africa has resolved a trade row with the US which threatened millions of dollars worth of business, its trade minister has said.
The US had said it would throw South Africa out of its preferential trade programme over its refusal to allow the importation of American chickens.

President Obama had set the end of 2015 as the deadline to resolve the dispute.

Last-minute negotiations which dealt with South African health concerns ended the row.

For more than a decade, South Africa - like several other African countries - has enjoyed preferential trading status with the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).

The BBC's Karen Allen in Johannesburg said this was worth more than $170m (£117m) a year to South African farmers exporting citrus fruits, wine and nuts.

South Africa's Trade Minister Rob Davies said, when announcing that a deal had been struck, that 32,000 jobs depended on Agoa.

The US had been upset that South Africa was imposing what it saw as unfair restrictions on the import of American chickens over worries about avian flu and salmonella.

But Mr Davies said he had received assurances from the US authorities over the safety of their meat exports and added that rigorous safety checks would now be carried out.

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South Africa has big pretty chickens I am sure obama has seen them.

US Sets Deadline for South Africa Trade Imports

South Africa has been given a March 15 deadline to allow U.S. poultry into the country or lose duty-free access for its farming exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), according to a proclamation issued Monday by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Last week, South Africa's Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, announced the two countries had completed negotiations on various meat imports, but U.S. Ambassador Michael Froman warned there were more hurdles for Pretoria.

Froman said the United States needed to ensure South Africans were able to purchase U.S. poultry products before confirming that South Africa could enjoy full AGOA benefits.

The U.S. proclamation reiterated that remark, saying, “Suspending the application of duty-free treatment to certain goods would be more effective in promoting compliance by South Africa with such requirements than terminating the designation of South Africa as a beneficiary."

A U.S. Trade Representative spokesman told Bloomberg news Tuesday, "With the substantive points resolved, we are able to move to the final benchmark: Testing the new system to make certain American poultry can be made available on store shelves in South Africa."

South Africa Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) spokesman Sidwell Medupe told local Fin24 the DTI would issue a statement regarding the U.S. proclamation later Tuesday.

If South Africa meets the March 15 deadline, Obama could revoke the proclamation or reinstate AGOA benefits after a suspension has taken place, the U.S. Trade Representative told South African media.

Obama had warned November 5 that he would revoke the duty-free status of South African agricultural produce unless Pretoria took action by the end of 2015 to loosen restrictions on U.S. farm exports.

Eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment is one of the criteria for membership of AGOA, which was renewed by the U.S. Congress in June and provides duty-free access to goods from sub-Saharan African countries, ranging from crude oil to clothing.

South Africa exported $176 million in agricultural products to the United States under AGOA in 2014 and potential lost benefits are estimated to total $4 million to $7 million.

Mexico needs poultry