The objectives of this article are to provide policy makers in agriculture with a tariff policy framewo~k and a tariffi~tion strategy. Titis is necessary in order to successfully complete the tariffication process and act as a basis for future achons. The Department of Agricullure has officially opted for the implementation of import ~ffs o~ all agricultural produc~ 8:fld in so doing signified a dranntic change from the historical policy to protect local mdustnes by means of quantitative import restrictions. It is due to this change in policy direction, as well as South Africa's commitments in term_s of the GA IT Uruguay Round of multilateral negotiations, that a study of the impact of tariffication on local agncultural marketing arrangements and policy is necessary. It is essential that, given the complexity of the tariffication process, the Department of Agriculture officially adopts a tariff po_licy and _formul~tes a tariff_ policy framework wl_lic~ is_ transparent, administratively easy to manage and can serve as a basis for which agncultural tanffs are calculated. Turung 1s also of the essence and in order to prevent the process from becoming too complex and time consuming.