DALRRD Permits

Applying for permits on agricultural products can be cumbersome. Let us help you get the permits quickly and efficiently. We assist with a wide range of permits on agricultural products and schemes.

Minimum Market Access Quota Permits

Minimum Market Access (MMA) quota permits allow importers of agricultural products to import specific quantities duty-free or for lesser duty.

Products that qualify for MMA permits are many and include; meat products wheat, barley, butter, ice cream mixtures, milk and cream, cheese, certain vegetables, macaroni, noodles, whiskies, gin, vodka and cotton among others.

MMA quotas are administered by The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD), formerly known as DAFF. Importers can apply for a quota permit annually, half-year, or quarterly, depending on the product. The issued quota permit will indicate the quantity granted to the importer, expiry date of the permit and tariff subheadings of the products.

The amount of quota issued to applicants is determined primarily by:

Economic Partnership Agreement Tariff Rate Quotas 

EPA Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) offers local exporters EU market access for certain agricultural products.

TRQ is a system in which volumes inside a quota do not incur an import duty or are charged a preferential duty rate. Quantities exported or imported outside the TRQ incur the normal full duty. The TRQ can provide good import duty savings to companies exporting to the EU.

Under the EPA, a TRQ is not only available to South African exporters. It is also available to EU companies exporting to South Africa, however, products eligible for the TRQ are different if inbound or outbound.

Products eligible for TRQ on exports to the EU include milk and cream, butter and fats, strawberries, sugar, jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, pears, apricots, peaches, orange juice, apple juice, active Yeats, wines, ethyl alcohol among others. TRQ applications for export the EU in 2021 will open around October 2020.