SOUTH AFRICA has embargoed the import of Belgian poultry, pork, beef and dairy products which could be contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical dioxin. The department of agriculture says a “few thousand tons” of Belgian products already imported will not be released. The government will review the embargo after receiving a list from Brussels of contaminated farms and determining whether the South African imports came from those farms. Several countries have turned away from European foods suspected of containing the cancer-causing toxin — introduced into the food chain through Belgian animal feed.