During 1998 the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs requested the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) to chair the Crop Estimates Liaison Committee (CELC), who is represented of directly affected groups in the different grain industries. The CELC is an official NAMC Committee and it is constituted of stakeholders in the grain industry, namely Grain SA, Grain Silo Industry, National Chamber of Milling, Animal Feed Manufacturers’ Association, Grain Traders’ Association, the ARC, South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX) and the DoA. Since its inception in October 1998, CELC achieved three of the four prime functions of the CELC, namely:

• The establishment of a completely independent and objective Crop Estimates Committee, free of commercial bias.
• The understanding and acceptance of the CEC of what is required from it by the industry and why.
• An accurate, timely and credible crop estimate.
• The fourth function, that of monitoring the performance of the CEC, is an ongoing function and is undertaken by the ‘market’ using the crop estimates.

 One of the NAMC Council members of the NAMC chair the meetings of the Crop Estimates Liaison Committee (CELC) and the Supply and Demand Estimates Liaison Committee (S&DELC).

CELC and S&DELC have an oversight function over the official crop estimates and supply and demand estimates functions for South Africa and these committees, comprised of all stakeholders, plays a critical role in ensuring the standard and funding thereof.

These estimates are not only fundamental functions in ensuring food security for the country, but also have a major effect on the grain markets.

Any directly affected group in the grains and oilseeds markets are welcome to attend these meetings.

For any enquiries or more information on the above, please contact Ms Lizette Mellet in writing by e-mail to lizettem@namc.co.za.