OPINION | MISMANAGEMENT and inconsistent trade policies are creating a ‘disaster’ for South African businesses and consumers following the blanket ban on poultry from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul due to a single case of Newcastle disease, according to Roy Thomas, logistics and operations director of Hume International.
Authorities confirmed a case of Newcastle disease in a commercial flock in Rio Grande do Sul on 09 July this year – the first recorded outbreak in the country since 2006. Newcastle disease is a viral illness that affects domestic and wild birds.
Despite the solitary nature of the incident, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has suddenly imposed immediate trade restrictions on all day-old chicks, hatching eggs, table eggs, and poultry meat from establishments in Rio Grande do Sul. Likewise, all unused import permits have been cancelled.
In addition to the cancellation of permits, consignments already en route to South Africa containing products packed in their final packaging in Rio Grande do Sul on or after 18 June 2024 will be rejected, and either returned to Brazil or destroyed at the importer’s expense. This represents a harsh blow to businesses and could leave a gaping hole in poultry inventories come September and October, with serious impacts on the price of mechanically deboned meat (MDM), chicken livers, and turkey cuts.
Meanwhile, local Brazilian authorities have advised that the area where the case was identified has been isolated and no other cases have been detected. Additionally, as per the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code, Newcastle disease has an incubation period of 21 days, suggesting that Brazil should have been declared Newcastle-free from 01 August 2024.
Further demonstrating the irrationality of its decision, DALLRD’s actions contravene the terms of the Import Permit and Health Certificate, which state that products should not originate from facilities within a 10km radius of the affected farm. Some countries, like Canada, Israel, Japan, and Namibia, have even adopted a 50km radius as a quarantine measure.
Brazil is the largest exporter of poultry globally, and between 15% to 20% of its poultry and some 50% of its turkey is produced in Rio Grande do Sul. Also pointing to the severity of the situation, South Africa imports an average of over 18 000MT of chicken MDM every year, which is a vital component in the production of polony and sausages for the lower LSM market sector. A staggering 90% of this product is sourced from Brazil.
This ban could reduce these imports by as much as 20%, hurting the pockets of households and having dire consequences for the South African processed meat industry, which employs thousands of people in factories across the country.
This situation is the direct result of DALLRD banning the entire province and not applying the regionalisation clause as indicated on the Import Permit and Health Certificate. The loss of this vital trade partner will have far-reaching consequences for local consumers, and we therefore plead with government to adhere to the Import Permit and Health Certificate that is in place with Brazil.
Moreover, we call on government to redouble its efforts to negotiate a new health certificate with Brazil that allows for regionalisation, as is the current case for the United States of America (USA), and to implement a heat treatment protocol for MDM in local processing plants to counter the threat of avian influenza.
