Cheaper meat if SA lifts ban

Johannesburg - The Brazilian government hopes that before the end of this year South Africa will lift its ban on that country's meat - a ban imposed in October 2005.

This could mean lower prices for South African consumers.

According to Mari Carmen, the head of the trade division at the Brazilian Embassy in Pretoria, great efforts are being made to get the ban on Brazilian pork scrapped. The ban was introduced after the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in parts of Brazil during 2005.

While various countries have since wholly or partly lifted their embargoes on Brazilian beef and pork, the South African authorities are still dealing with outstanding issues concerning the certification of Brazilian meat.

Tsotso Sehoole, spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, says the South African authorities have received and evaluated the information requested from Brazil, but decisions on certification issues are still necessary.

She says a variety of steps have to be followed to prove that animal diseases have been contained, as importing countries do their own inspections. The ban will therefore not be lifted before certainty is obtained that imported meat is not a threat to South Africa's herds.

"At this stage it is difficult to determine how long the certification process will take and it is therefore difficult to provide a timeline [as to when a decision will be made]," says Sehoole.

It is understood that there is increasing pressure on South Africa to lift the injunction. A complaint may be submitted to the World Health Organisation (WHO) if an agreement is not reached soon.

Brazil, with more than 200m cattle, is the world's biggest exporter of beef and one of the biggest suppliers of pork.

That country provides about 20% of all chicken consumed in this country.

Large quantities of pork are currently being imported from Canada, while beef comes mainly from Namibia and Botswana.

- Sake24.com

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