South African poultry producers have the capacity to make up for the loss of Brazilian chicken meat imports due to an outbreak of avian influenza in the country.
SA Poultry Association’s Broiler Organisation CEO, Izaak Breitenbach, said local production was currently about 21.5 million chickens per week and the industry had the capacity to increase this by about another million birds per week.
“As the winter months are a period of lower demand for chicken, the additional supply should be sufficient to ensure there are no shortages of chicken meat, or price increases, because of shortages,” said Breitenbach.
Brazil announced the bird flu outbreak at the end of last week and, in response, countries and regions, including China, the European Union, and Japan have imposed trade bans to prevent the spread of the disease across borders.
Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa chief economist, Wandile Sihlobo, has called on the government to temporarily ban chicken imports from Brazil but the Department of Agriculture has not yet made an announcement in this regard.
Brazil has no compartmentalisation agreement with South Africa, which would have allowed imports from other parts of Brazil except the regions or provinces affected by the outbreak.
“South African producers supply more than 80% of the chicken consumed in the country. Brazil supplies most of the chicken imports, which equated to 18% of local production last year,” said Breitenbach.
“If there is a problem following a ban on Brazilian imports, it will concern mechanically deboned meat (MDM), not fresh or frozen chicken meat. MDM is a paste used in the production of processed meats such as polony and sausages. It is not made in any large quantities in South Africa.”
MDM accounts for about 60% of South Africa’s poultry imports from Brazil. The second largest category is offal – products such as chicken heads, feet, gizzards and livers. A far smaller proportion – 4.5% of Brazilian imports – comprises bone-in chicken portions such as leg quarters, thighs, drumsticks and wings
“It is worth noting that Brazil has no compartmentalisation agreement with South Africa because it is up to Brazil to apply for this, and it has not done so. This is despite increasing numbers of infections in Brazil since 2023 in wild birds, which carry the disease,” he said.
The Department of Agriculture has rejected suggestions that, should bird flu break out in Brazil, South Africa should allow MDM imports on condition that the MDM is used only in products that will be cooked or heat treated, which will kill the virus.
The department has said it will not allow the importation of potentially infected chicken products.
“SAPA agrees with the position not to allow the importation of poultry products that will place our local industry at risk from any infectious disease such as bird flu,” said Breitenbach.
He said it remained to be seen whether Brazil’s bird flu outbreak could be confined to the one facility where it occurred.
“The spread of the virus in Europe and the United States shows that culling is proving ineffective in stamping out any outbreak. That is why vaccination is increasingly being seen as an essential tool in efforts to prevent disastrous outbreaks such as South Africa experienced in 2023,” said Breitenbach.
“The impact of a ban on Brazilian chicken imports will not be felt immediately. Chicken imports from Brazil can take about six weeks to reach South Africa and product dispatched before the ban is implemented will not be affected.”
