By Eamonn Ryan
The significance of India’s decision becomes clearer when viewed against the history of the market.
South Africa and India have been working for years to resolve the phytosanitary and logistical barriers affecting citrus exports. The Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) reported that negotiations over in-transit cold treatment had been continuing since 2017, with trial consignments forming part of the process.
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As recently as late 2025, South Africa’s Department of Agriculture was still reporting that it was engaging India over approval of in-transit cold treatment for citrus. That changed in 2026. Following deputy president Paul Mashatile’s working visit to India in June, the South African government identified India’s notification of in-transit cold treatment for South African citrus as one of the key outcomes of the visit.
The timing matters because India’s importance to South African citrus has been growing. The CGA’s 2025 India market report recorded South African citrus exports to India increasing from about 10 000 tonnes in 2019 to more than 30 000 tonnes in 2024. It also identified strong demand for premium, seedless and easy-peel citrus in urban markets, particularly during India’s off-season. India is therefore not a speculative market waiting to be created. It is an existing market with substantial growth potential.
And that is where refrigeration enters the story.
Cold treatment is a biological process
A cold treatment protocol is fundamentally different from simply keeping fruit refrigerated. The purpose is to expose the target pest to a sufficiently low temperature for a sufficiently long period to achieve the required phytosanitary result.
India’s existing plant-quarantine framework illustrates the principle. Cold treatment schedules can specify different combinations of temperature and duration, such as 0°C or below for 10 days, 0.55°C or below for 11 days, or 1.1°C or below for 12 days, depending on the applicable protocol and pest.
The important words are temperature and duration. If the fruit is at the required temperature for only part of the journey, the treatment has not necessarily been completed. This creates a crucial distinction between cold storage and cold disinfestation.
Cold storage protects quality. Cold disinfestation must also satisfy a biological and regulatory requirement. That means the refrigeration system, temperature sensors, data logger, loading configuration and operating procedures all become part of a chain of evidence.
From the cold store to the ocean
Previously, restrictions on in-transit treatment meant that South African exporters faced additional treatment requirements after the fruit arrived in India. The CGA reported that this created additional costs, delays and potential quality risks.
Allowing treatment to take place in transit changes that equation.
Instead of: packhouse → cold store → export → voyage → Indian port → treatment → market
The supply chain can move towards: packhouse → pre-cooling → reefer → treatment during transit → Indian port → market
The difference is more than a shortened flow chart. It potentially removes a treatment operation from the destination side of the supply chain and places greater responsibility on the refrigerated transport system itself.
The cold chain has therefore become part of the border control mechanism.