CAPE TOWN: South Africa’s listeriosis outbreak has led to several countries banning exports of affected meat products from the country, the amount in terms of costs to the economy has been tiny, a senior official said on Wednesday.According to Niki Kruger, the Chief Director for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, overall the ban by several countries represented a small percentage of South Africa’s overall exports.
Kruger said this in Parliament when he appeared before the Joint Meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Portfolio Committee on Health on the listeriosis outbreak and the recall of certain meat products.
“The message overall is that there is a very small percentage of our exports that are affected currently. The biggest risk for us is the impact in terms of the perception of South African exports in regard to this,” she said.
Kruger said over the past two years, when it comes to sausages, South Africa has been exporting products amounting to $18 million on average, with top export destinations being Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia and the Seychelles.
“What we have been informed so far in terms of countries that have put a ban on these products are Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Seychelles, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Kenya.
“If you look at in terms of the exports over the past two years, the value of the exports that has been affected is about $8 million.
