01 November 2023, Smilefm.co.za, Danielle Mentoor
The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters of Southern Africa (AMIE) says speed is of the essence in rolling out emergency measures to mitigate possible poultry shortages and price increases this festive season.
This is due to recent recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza HPAI (bird flu) outbreak in the country. The highly contagious H7 strain has resulted in over 7.5 million chickens being culled in the local poultry industry this year alone.
Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa, Ebrahim Patel gave the industry and affected parties two weeks to make submissions to create a temporary rebate on imported chicken products.
This short submission timeline was made in an attempt to take urgent measures to protect consumers against shortages and a spike in chicken product prices.
