Cape Town – Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development Minister, Thoko Didiza, has assured that the avian influenza outbreak is under control, with 70% of farms unaffected.
She said that egg production is steadily increasing, and panic buying is unnecessary.
“We have increased fertilised eggs from 1.9 million to 9 million in less than one month. These eggs will be chickens in less than four months,” Didiza said in a statement on Friday.
The minister said that the importation of various egg products, such as table eggs, fertilized eggs, pasteurized eggs, egg powder, and liquid eggs, has been a longstanding practice in South Africa. Importation is not a recent response solely triggered by the current avian influenza outbreak, also referred to as ‘avian flu’ or ‘bird flu.’
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“Other countries including Brazil, USA and Argentina have been exporting eggs to South Africa for quite some time, and the department is currently processing import permit applications from a few more countries.
“The department does not dictate which countries should make business sense for South African retailers to import eggs from, it only ensures that biosecurity risk assessments are conducted when importers apply for import permits,” Didiza said.
The minister expects the situation to normalise by early next year, with ongoing imports if necessary.
“We will continue to import more eggs should the situation not improve,” she said.
To prepare for the festive season, nine million fertilized eggs, along with day-old chicks and poultry products, have been imported.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
