South Africa must wait to export meat despite fixing FMD: officials

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South Africa must wait to export meat despite fixing FMD: officials

South Africa needs approval from trade partners including the EU before meat exports resume after the country was declared free of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) this week, senior officials said on Wednesday. South Africa was banned from exporting all cloven-hoofed animals - such as cattle, goats and sheep - and their products since an FMD outbreak in 2011 which has cost the industry an estimated 3 billion rand a year in lost exports. The International Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases, a specialist body of the World Organisation for Animal Health, this week found that South Africa had met all conditions to regain its FMD-free status. But, she said at a briefing, "We don't expect we have to go to countries with a piece of paper saying we qualify now." South Africa's veterinary authority and those of its trade partners were negotiating the resumption of exports, Mpho Maja, the department's director of animal health, told reporters.

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