Industry heavyweights say government should put emergency measures in place in case Brazil – SA's biggest supplier of poultry imports – is struck by bird flu. Hume is calling for the SA government to change its protocols to allow the local heat treatment of imported poultry. In some cases, bans have remained on countries for years after they have been declared bird flu free," says Hume. The one is compartmentalisation - where a ban is not imposed on a country as a whole but only on areas with outbreaks of bird flu. So, even if imports from Brazil were banned if bird flu breaks out there, there will be other options," he adds.

Source: News 24 April 27, 2023 23:17 UTC