It turns out that there is difference between what you say and what you do and the Americans appear to take this difference rather seriously. The cost of this lesson will soon be borne by a number of agricultural sectors that aren’t even involved with the current AGOA haggling. And this lesson will hurt. A lot. As of 15 March 2016, agricultural goods being exported from South Africa to the United States of America will have the duty free treatment under AGOA suspended which is not good news for the agricultural sector. This comes after the January 4^th dealine by which South Africa was required to lower certain barriers relating to SPS issues on poultry, beef and pork. The South African Department of Trade and Industry announced in the first week of January that the negotiations had been completed. The suggestion was made by the DTI that AGOA was therefore no longer in danger of being suspended. President Obama disagreed and stated in the proclamation of 11 January 2016: “I have determined that South Africa is not meeting the requirements described in section 506A(a)(1) of the 1974 Act and that 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 sub-Saharan African country. Accordingly, I have decided to suspend the application of duty-free treatment for all AGOA-eligible goods in the agricultural sector from South Africa for purposes of section 506A of the 1974 Act, effective on March 15, 2016.” The suspension on March 15 2016 does not only affect the poultry, beef and pork products that have caused the delay in negotiations. It affects a list of agricultural products that would normally enjoy duty free access into the USA under AGOA. But the problem can be averted if we simply do what we say we will do, on time. Not like last time when we only did some of what was promised, in injury time, to quote Minister Davies.