Regulating South Africa's Citrus Export Commodity

This paper is about changes in the regulation of citrus exports from South Africa. It traces the changes from state regulation of the citrus chain to very recent forms of private regulation in the context of highly competitive global markets. The paper argues that while these forms of private regulation are positive in that they are encouraging the industry to shift its focus from volume to quality in line with overseas market demands, there are also limits and problems with private market regulation. The evidence thus far suggests that private regulation is limited to certain export chains associated with particular overseas markets and that is serves particular private interests.