The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (Amiesa) has allayed concerns about the impact of the listeriosis outbreak on South Africa’s meat exports.
“It will have very little impact on the meat industry as a whole – and will only be felt in the processed meats sector,” said Amiesa CEO David Wolpert.
Processed meat represented a relatively small portion of South Africa’s meat exports, he added. Around 1500 metric tonnes of processed meat was exported in January 2018, according to Wolpert.
This compares to the 8 102 metric tonnes of total meat exports – including chicken and excluding processed meat. The volumes were too low to have a significant impact, he said. The current situation would however have a psychological effect on the industry as a whole as well as the perception of the industry from outside the country.
This can already be seen in the recent suspension of cold, processed meat imports from South Africa by its neighbouring countries Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.
The industry has also raised concern about South Africa’s imports of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) from Brazil, where the world’s largest poultry producer BRF has allegedly been circumventing food safety measures.
The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) has called on government to find out from Brazilian authorities whether the food safety tests that BRF allegedly evaded included tests for listeria. Sapa is also concerned that South Africa is still accepting imports from the country even while implementing stringent measures on its own processed meat products.
Sapa claimed that the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) had been slow in implementing a listeria test protocol for imported MDM. Last week Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced that the source of the listeriosis outbreak was an Enterprise meat processing plant in Limpopo.
This resulted in the Department of Trade and Industry issuing a recall of all products from Enterprise and Rainbow Chicken Limited (RCL Foods) as traces of listeria were found at both facilities, although RCL tested negative for the strain responsible for the outbreak.
“The safety recall will affect the manufacturers’ entire distribution networks, both domestic and international,” he said. Motsoaledi also pulled all processed or “ready-to-eat” cold meats off the shelves.
Additionally, RCL Foods’ export registration number has been suspended until further notice by the National Consumer Commission (NCC) which has allegedly called for all companies involved with safety recall notices to be suspended from exporting their goods.
RCL declined to comment on the suspension of its export registration notice and the impact on the company – which exports to several southern African countries. An RCL spokesperson told FTW that the company would be taking account of all questions raised to be answered at a later date.
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The current situation will have a psychological effect on the industry as a whole as well as the perception of the industry from outside the country. – David Wolpert
