Chicken import ban from Brazil begins to be a worry

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The Department of Agriculture is currently assessing the possibility of implementing regionalisation for chicken imports from Brazil to ensure local demand is met without compromising biosecurity.

This follows South Africa’s suspension of imports of live poultry, eggs, and fresh (including frozen) poultry meat from Brazil after an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Brazil reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1 – clade 2.3.4.4b) in chickens, in a breeding establishment (parents), located in the municipality of Montenegro, state of Rio Grande do Sul, on 15 May 2025.

Concerns remain

This necessitated South Africa to suspend trade of live poultry, eggs and fresh poultry meat, and revised its import permit process.

Agriculture Minister, John Steenhuisen, noted that while South Africa’s poultry industry has sufficient domestic slaughter chickens, concerns remain over the impact the suspension import of Brazilian poultry on the country’s food supply chain, particularly the affordability and accessibility of processed meats and pet foods.

He said the department is in constant engagement with the Brazilian authorities to determine if the outbreak has not spread to other states and a confirmation that there are no additional affected farms in other regions.

“This is a necessary procedure of ensuring that we don’t introduce the virus to South Africans and infect the poultry industry. We need to balance food security realities with biosecurity imperatives,” Steenhuisen explained.

The Minister added that the department has established that the reason for the delay in Brazil responding to South Africa’s enquiries is due to the number of similar enquiries Brazil is receiving and responding to, since Brazil exports poultry products to many other countries.