South Africa Reversal: Wine Exports Banned April 16th

In an abrupt about-face, the South African authorities announced yesterday a hard ban on alcohol transport. This comes after South Africa put initial restrictions in place on transporting alcohol, then eased them to allow the exportation of wine. Now, in a very sudden move, all alcohol transport is to be ceased immediately, for the period from April 16 to the current end of the lockdown on May 1^st (and of course this could be subject to change).

The wine industry is shocked and disappointed in this abrupt announcement, as the export of wine from South Africa is a substantial source of revenue for the country. The industry will continue lobbying for a change in these restrictions, arguing that the economic impact to South Africa would be severe. Our offices in South Africa have reported that containers in the process of being loaded must now be unloaded by order of Customs, or if en route to ports today must return to the supplier. Containers already inside the port terminals should be allowed to load for export.

If you have any questions about specific shipments, please check with your suppliers or designated forwarder. We will continue to monitor this situation closely and provide updates as soon as possible.

For more information, please read the linked articles from fin24 and Business Insider.