The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform has announced that the ban on the importing of live cloven-hoofed animals and live poultry and their raw products from South Africa will remain in place.
A media statement issued on Friday by the ministry said the bans on live cloven-hoofed animals and poultry were imposed in January 2019 and May 2021 respectively.
It will remain in place because the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreaks in SA have not yet been resolved as per a June 2021 report from the South African Veterinary Authority.
The statement said FMD has spread to 11 other locations in the KwaZulu Natal Province since May 2021, while the HPAI infection continues to spread and 33 new outbreaks were reported across the Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape provinces since April 2021.
“However, Namibia continues to allow the importation or in-transit of raw products derived from cloven-hoofed animals and poultry that are transiting through South Africa that are originating from other countries or zones that are free from FMD as well as HPAI-free countries or compartments,” it said.
Namibia also continues to allow the importation and in-transit movement of raw pork from South Africa, provided that these products originate from the approved FMD-free (pig) compartments.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
