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Between the triple threat of local highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), international outbreaks of the disease, and American tariff-wars the South African poultry industry has their work cut out for them.
“HPAI is the one thing that is keeping the South African poultry industry from producing affordable food for South Africa. In 2023 the disease cost the industry R9,5 billion – and that cost was passed onto consumers. We don’t want that,” said Izaak Breitenbach, CEO of the broiler organisation of the South African Poultry Association (Sapa).
In recent months there were new issues impacting the industry on a near daily basis. This made two things abundantly clear:
- HPAI is now endemic in the country’s wild bird populations. Therefore, strategic and well-managed vaccinations must become part and parcel of any biosecurity plan in the country.
- The country must take all possible actions to ensure that the disease is not imported. It’s simply not good enough to import meat and heat treat it once it arrives on South Africa’s shore, Breitenbach stresses.
Local HPAI situation
Breitenbach said South Africa has recently seen two separate incidences of primary HPAI infections on chicken farms. The one occurred in North West province and the other in Mpumalanga. “These two incidences are unrelated, and both infections came from primary infections which means the disease was transferred from wild birds to the poultry. A secondary infection occurs when the HPAI is transferred from one farm to another. We haven’t seen that recently.”
While both outbreaks were contained, the lesson learned is that South Africa has wild birds that carry the H5N1 strain of HPAI. Therefore, the industry should be wary not to contract other infections in the winter – even though this isn’t the typical season that HPAI outbreaks occur. Outbreaks usually occur in spring, Breitenbach added.
However, great strides were made when the National Department of Agriculture (NDA) approved Astral Foods’ application to vaccinate the broilers on one of its Gauteng farms. “Sapa and the department are currently negotiating terms and conditions to see how we can safely vaccinate as many of our poultry as possible.” This is not a simple feat as the department will need to have absolute control over the vaccines used, the farms that was vaccinated, and be able to monitor the birds afterwards.
The reason for this is that vaccinated flocks won’t die of HPAI infections. Therefore, the birds’ blood will have to be tested regularly to see if the virus has entered the flock. If HPAI is picked up in the poultry, it’s critical that the produce (eggs) from the infected flock be disposed of. After 21 days the birds should be tested again. If they are clean, they can return to full, commercial production. “The difference is that the farmer will only lose 21 days’ production and the animal will still be alive. An unvaccinated animal will have to be culled,” Breitenbach said. “So, not only do we lose the bird if it’s not vaccinated, but we also lose all future production as well.”
American trade drama
Earlier this year United States (US) president Donald Trump threatened South Africa with 10% tariffs across the board. This figure has since increased to a 30% blanket tariff on all products from South Africa.
Breitenbach said historically the US was the second biggest dumper of poultry products on the South African market. However, after the local industry was able to convince the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) that it was suffering material losses, the country instated a most-favoured nations (MFN) tariff against the US in terms of poultry imports.
However, in 2015, under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), it was agreed that the US could export 65 000 tonnes of poultry meat to South Africa annually. In turn South Africa could export several products, such as citrus, steel, and motor vehicles tariff-free to the US. “Poultry was sacrificed for the benefit of other sectors. However, if any of the other industries were to lose their benefits, the US immediately loses their benefit to export 65 000 tonnes of poultry into South Africa,” Breitenbach said.
South Africa has also been placed under severe pressure to allow the US to export more poultry to the country, but the African country has remained firm that this would continuously shrink the local poultry industry. The US then came up with a different approach where they said if an outbreak of HPAI occurred in their country, they would determine if borders of certain states would be closed for poultry exports. They would also determine when to lift such a ban.
“This was unacceptable as we cannot have the US looking after South Africa’s HPAI welfare,” Breitenbach said, adding that it is the NDA’s responsibility to ensure that diseases don’t cross the border into the country.
To add insult to injury the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) has now allowed all countries to say when they have a disease outbreak and when the disease has been contained. “This basically voided the agreement between South Africa and the US.”
However, it did not solve the industry’s problem. Therefore, Sapa continued to engage with government and the NDA has given them the assurance that the department will remain in control through the issuing of import permits. “The government has committed to using its authority to protect the local industry by being cautious when it comes to the issuing of permits.”
Brazil HPAI outbreak
This year Brazil experienced its first outbreak of HPAI. It was confined to a single province, but as South Africa does not have a compartmentalisation contract in place, all poultry and poultry product imports from that country was halted.
“South Africa has compartmentalisation contracts in place with the European Union and the US, which means if HPAI breaks out in one state or region, imports from others could still be allowed.” The importation ban posed a problem specifically with regards to mechanically deboned meat (MDM), which is used locally in the manufacturing of products such as polony and chicken sausages. “We don’t really produce MDM in a massive scale, so South African producers cannot quickly serve those markets. However, the industry is very agile and can cover any poultry shortages in a very short amount of time.”
It did not take long to resolve this outbreak. In fact, the HPAI outbreak was over as soon as it was confirmed, and South Africa has once again opened its market to Brazilian poultry. And did it cause a shortage? “When I read the newspapers, it sounds as though there was a big shortage. However, as somebody who works inside the industry, I can tell you that we did not experience any shortages.”
The only thing Breitenbach concedes might have happened was that MDM products could’ve seen a rise in prices over this period. “With rising stakes on all fronts – from biosecurity to international diplomacy – the poultry industry urges swift, science-based action to ensure resilient food production for South Africa’s future.” – Susan Marais, Plaas Media
