No sign of Zim lifting ban on SA imports

The ban on imports from SA of animal products into Zimbabwe still stands, according to information radioed-in by a Zimbabwe clearing and forwarding agent to Lin Botha of Sediba Clearing and vice-chairman of the SA Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) in Beitbridge – the SA-Zimbabwe border town. This ban is on all imports of animal and animal products from SA which, said Saaff at the imposition of the legislation on March 30, included beef, milk (in all forms), cheese, butter, yoghurt, dairy juices, ice cream, chocolate, chickens, table eggs, hatching eggs, pork products, salamis, pies, processed meats, tinned goods (beef, ham, meatballs, Viennas) and even fish. Zimbabwe’s ministry of agriculture said this was because of reports of a series of outbreaks of Rift Valley Fever in the Gauteng, Eastern Cape and Free State provinces in February. The statement added that the ban was “a temporary and precautionary measure and will be lifted once the situation is addressed in SA” – and that it was “working together with the SA government” on the issue. But, her Zimbabwe contact told Botha, there was no indication that the ban was likely to be lifted in the near future.