South Africa and Brazil have concluded a compartmentalisation agreement which will allow poultry imports from provinces in Brazil not affected by bird flu.
Brazil applied for compartmentalisation following the nation-wide ban South Africa imposed on Brazilian poultry imports following an outbreak at a Brazilian production facility in May.
An announcement by the South African department of Agriculture said the ban would in future be limited to Brazil’s southern province of Rio Grande do Sul, effective from 19 June 2025. This presumably means the nationwide ban will still apply to all Brazilian poultry produced between 1 May, when the original ban came into effect, and 19 June.
Brazil’s first bird flu outbreak has already had a dramatic effect on its global poultry trade. Brazil chicken meat exports dropped nearly 13% in May as more than 20 countries imposed trade restrictions.
Brazil is the world’s largest poultry exporter, and was heading for another record year before bird flu struck.
Brazil had limited the damage by redirecting exports to other countries, the Poultry Site reported.
Ricardo Santin, president of the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) said export volumes in May were 393 400 tons, 12.9% lower than in May last year. Export revenues were US$ 741.1 million, down 9.5% on the previous year.
Brazil’s chicken exports to China dropped 28% in May, with lower export volumes also recorded to South Africa (-20.5%) and Mexico (-18.8%). Exports to the European Union grew 46.2% in May, ABPA said.
