ALLAN SECCOMBE, Johannesburg | Tuesday
A EUROPEAN Union official says she is ”fairly confident” EU inspectors will recommend lifting a ban on imports of South African meat, imposed after a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak last month.
An EU team will inspect the affected area in eastern KwaZulu-Natal and speak to national and provincial agriculture ministries later this week, said Mary McCaughey, a representative for the EU delegation in South Africa.
”We are fairly confident, although we can’t pre-empt the mission’s findings, that they would be in a position to recommend to the EU’s veterinary standing committee the lifting of the temporary suspension on imports of South African meat,” McCaughey said.
She said the ban on imports could be lifted as early as November if the EU inspectors recommended an end to the suspension. South African meat exports to the EU are estimated to be worth $13m a year.
A Foot-and-Mouth Disease Control Centre representative said measures taken so far appear to be containing the disease, which first broke out in mid-September.
The last incident was on October 10 when a cow tested positive on a third farm for the highly infectious disease and all 14 cattle and four goats on the farm were culled.
”Our measures now are still as stringent as when the disease first broke out and tests are still being conducted on a daily basis by 20 surveillance teams travelling around the area,” said John MacDonald from the centre.
The 20 teams have examined 74458 cattle, 81800 sheep, 11958 pigs and 7945 goats during 2176 farm inspections.
Veterinary teams have culled more than 3600 pigs, cattle, sheep and goats since mid-September in a 3km radius around the first two affected farms near the village of Camperdown, about 40km northwest of Durban.
The virus is suspected to have been brought into the country in pig swill imported from the Middle East or the Far East.
Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Mauritius and Singapore have banned imports of South African meat and livestock. Namibia has only halted meat imports from the affected area. – Reuters