South Africa is to suspend all exports of poultry meat, reports South African Broadcasting Company. This follows a recent outbreak of Avian flu on five ostrich farms in the Oudtshoorn area in the Western Cape.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Tina Joemat-Pettersen announced the move during her budget speech in Parliament yesterday. She says avian flu-free compartments will be set up to enable exports of poultry meat to resume as soon as possible.

She said: "The EU countries – if we allowed them to ban our meat, it becomes more difficult to put the meat back on the shelves of those countries. Once the EU has imposed a ban on SA, it could take more than a year for us to regain our status. whereas if we have a self-imposed ban, it does not take us that long to lift the ban."

Further Reading

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You can visit the Avian Flu page by clicking here.