The South African Meat Processors Association (Sampa) has welcomed efforts by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) to find a solution to the ban on poultry imports from Brazil, which the association says threatens 125 000 jobs in the manufacturing sector and may cause a shortage of affordable protein in South Africa.

Government had imposed a ban on poultry and poultry products from Brazil on May 16 owing to bird flu outbreaks in the country.

The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) on May 19 called for local authorities to restrict imports only from the specific regions in Brazil affected by the disease, rather than imposing a blanket ban on all chicken meat imports from that country.

The AMIE subsequently welcomed DoA’s commitment to make a determination on a partial lifting of the Brazilian import suspension by the end of this week, based on the fact that the bird flu outbreak is limited to the Rio Grande do Sol province in Brazil.

AMIE also called on government anew to reopen poultry imports from other countries, including France, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium, that have self-declared freedom from avian influenza.

Chicken imports from Brazil accounted for about 18% of South Africa’s local consumption last year, particularly mechanically deboned meat (MDM), which is used in the production of processed meats such as polony, viennas, bangers, frozen burgers and meat pies.

The AMIE confirmed that the World Organisation for Animal Health also recommends a regionalisation strategy in respect of import restrictions.

Sampa also suggests that government implement a zoning approach to preserve South Africa’s food security and jobs in the poultry processing sector.

The association confirms that Sky Country Meats, for one, has already been forced to lay off almost 100 employees, with more retrenchments to follow if imports of MDM are not restored.

South Africa does not produce MDM in significant quantities and is therefore forced to import this product from Brazil, as the largest producer of MDM globally.

Brazil supplies 92% of all imported MDM to South Africa, with an average 18 000 t having been imported every month over the last 12 months.

Sampa and the AMIE remain ready to work with the DoA and other entities to implement a proactive policy framework that will better insulate South Africa’s food value chain and protect local jobs.

Meanwhile, according to South African Poultry Association Broiler Organisation CEO Izaak Breitenbach, South African poultry producers have the capacity to make up for the loss of Brazilian chicken meat imports amid the import ban.

He explained in a statement on May 20 that the local industry currently produces about 21.5-million chickens a week and has the capacity to increase this by another one-million chickens a week.

Breitenbach said is there is a problem following a ban on Brazilian imports, it will concern MDM and will not impact fresh or frozen chicken meat.