The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has reported that egg stock levels are replenishing steadily and that there is no need for panic buying.
The department has a few open import permits for eggs and poultry products from a few countries. Import of table eggs, fertilized eggs, pasteurised eggs, egg powder and liquid eggs has been going on for many years in South Africa and has not only started with the current outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
A few countries that include Brazil, USA, Argentina and others have been exporting eggs to South Africa for quite some time and we are currently processing import permit applications from a few more countries.
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“As a department, we don’t dictate which countries should make business sense for South African retailers to import eggs from, but ensure that biosecurity risk assessments are conducted when importers apply for import permits.”
“We are happy that the HPI outbreak is under control and that 70% of farms that were not infected continue to produce eggs and chickens. Since the egg production cycle is not too long, we expect the situation to normalize early next year. We will continue to import more eggs should the situation not improve”
To prepare for the festive season as we approach December the following has been imported: Fertilized eggs – 9 million,
Day old chicks – 37 802 Tons
Egg products – 62 Matric Tones ,
Poultry meat – 30 986 Matric Tones
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Fertilised eggs have increased from 1.9 million to 9 million in less than one month. These eggs will be chickens in less 4 months.
