Banning certain food imports can have unintended consequences on the poor and job security.
With the global nature of trade, countries can be exposed to imported biological threats, especially from food.
That is why it is disturbing to hear Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen’s comment that South Africa allowed its biosecurity to “slide quite dramatically”.
Biosecurity is the way we prevent biological contamination or disease entering our country – and how we monitor and eradicate such issues within our borders.
Radical action, such as banning certain food imports – as was done recently with chicken imports from Brazil – can have unintended consequences.
In this case, the imports included vast amounts of what is known as mechanically deboned meat, used in the manufacture of polony, Viennas, Russians, braai wors, bangers, frozen burgers, meat pies and corned meat.
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Shortages of this affordable protein would affect poorer people and could place thousands of jobs at risk.
Obviously, the country would, in theory, be safer from contamination from imported foodstuffs – but at what cost?
Balancing safety with broader economic issues is what Steenhuisen and the department’s experts have done in lifting the ban on imports from parts of Brazil not affected by avian flu.
Effective surveillance, accompanied by pragmatism, has to be our watchword when it comes to biosecurity.
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