The Department of Agriculture is currently battling a foot-and-mouth outbreak in three provinces, which has halted exports to China and parts of the Middle East.

Minister of Agriculture John Steenhuisen said farmers who don’t want to get behind livestock tracing will ultimately be excluded from international export markets.

The department is currently battling a foot-and-mouth outbreak in three provinces, which has halted exports to China and parts of the Middle East.

Steenhuisen said South Africa is under pressure from international consumers to know exactly where their meat comes from and how it’s been treated.

An auction in Utrecht, KwaZulu-Natal, in February is being blamed for the spread of foot-and-mouth disease to four locations in the province and another in Mpumalanga.

Steenhuisen said he will be issuing directives in the coming days that will impose strict regulations on auctions.

“Anyone who breaks those laws will face prosecution and potential civil recovery from others who have been economically harmed by their selfishness or recklessness.”

Amid mounting pressure from international consumers for greater transparency on where animals are reared, slaughtered and exported from, Steenhuisen said breeders who don’t agree to tracing will find it harder to market their products.

“Traceable meat gets a premium on international markets, and being able to access new markets for your products, being able to get that premium is going to be fundamentally important for the viability, sustainability, and profitability of the red meat sector going forward.”

Steenhuisen said he’s looking at ways to incentivise farmers to get behind a track and trace system.

*This article was first published by Eye Witness News