Question NW2610 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
13 November 2020 - NW2610
Steyn, Ms A to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether, with reference to the suffering of animals during live export and given that the Muslim Judicial Council has stated that live export violates the tayyib (clean and pure) requirements and standards needed for Halaal certification, thereby making the live animals unfit for religious purposes and in light of the fact that prior to 2019, chilled carcasses were exported in order to ensure food security in the importing country and provide revenue generation for emerging farmers, she will acknowledge that live export excludes all downstream processing industries and the jobs that this supports; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the reasons that her department is supporting live export?
Reply:
The department has not made any finding that the animals suffer during live export. The transportation of live animals by sea, if done in compliance to animal welfare and health requirements, does not pose any more challenges to the animals than it would be the case when the animals are kept on a farm or feedlot.
The Muslim Judicial Council has not submitted any statement on live animal exports to the department and therefore the department is not in a position to respond to the question until we have received the statement and studied it.
Access to mainstream markets is the heartbeat of agribusinesses. Ability of smallholder farmers to secure supply contracts for animals at export parity prices is an affirmation to the competitiveness of agribusinesses exporting the animals. In this instance, downstream value chain actors such as abattoirs will need to procure raw material at export parity prices. It is unfair and unjust expectation for smallholder farmers to sell animals at lower than export parity prices with the intention to accommodate downstream activities. Inclusive economic growth of the sector that significantly contributes to job creation and reduction of poverty is directly linked to the competitive performance of agribusinesses.