Johannesburg - The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is considering severe restrictions on the importation of pork, which could result in a serious shortage of spare ribs, in particular.

The aim of the restrictions is to curtail the spread of the highly contagious Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) virus, also known as Blue-Ear Pig Disease, which causes breathing and procreation problems in pigs.

There is no cure for the virus and pigs have to be slaughtered once the disease breaks out, as it did in the Western Cape in 2007.

South Africa imports 30 000 to 35 000 tonnes of pork a year, with about 165 000 tonnes being produced locally.

About half of the imported pork comprises spare ribs, which are sold principally in restaurants and supermarkets.

The other half is mainly processed into products like ham and sausages.

Canada, France, Germany and Spain supply most of the pork to South Africa, but these sources could be under threat from the new regulations the department is considering.

None of these countries has an official system to determine whether pork has been sourced from a PRRS-free area within that country.

In terms of the draft documents, which are currently being discussed by interest groups, unrestricted importation will be allowed only from the handful of countries that are officially free of the PRRS virus; these include Australia and New Zealand.

A warning has been sounded that, apart from the major abattoirs, there are about 5 000 smaller slaughterhouses using imported, unprocessed pork to produce, for instance, ham. These will be forced to halt production because of the strict regulations.

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- Sake24