Green light for Chinese beef exports

China has given the final seal of approval for Namibia to start exporting beef to that country.
This was announced yesterday by the Ministry of Agriculture Water and Forestry, which said the health certificates have been approved for Meatco to export beef to Hong Kong.
Both Meatco Windhoek and Meatco Okahandja have received the approved health certificates from China.
According to Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Milton Maseke, this ends the negotiating process and gives the green light for the beef to be exported.
However, he pointed out that it is now up to Meatco to identify markets in Hong Kong, where the beef will be exported to, and therefore no date has been finalised for when the exports will start.
“It is now in the hands of Meatco and they need to identify markets on that side,” he said.
Maseke also said that the import/export permits, which Meatco applied for, still have to be finalised, as well as the issue of exporting mutton to China.
He said that at this stage there is no set quota from China.
Maseke, however, pointed out that China has a population of about 1.3 billion people, while Namibia produces about 60 000 tonnes of beef annually.
Of this, 20 000 tonnes are exported to the European and South African markets.
Maseke said Meatco has export experience, while China is a niche market that must be satisfied.
He said that the pressure will be on producers, who must increase production to meet the demand of the new markets that are coming on board.
Earlier this year, Meatco spokesperson Rosa Hamukuaja-Thobias said that the types of products eligible for the Chinese market are boneless and bone-in frozen beef cuts.
She said once the process of approval is complete, Meatco intends to request that the government renegotiate with China to add vacuum-packed fresh beef on the product list.
She said that vacuum-packed chilled beef and offal are the most sought after products in the Chinese market, fetching premium prices.
Hamukuaja-Thobias added that the company has no quota limiting it, before adding that the volumes and type of product will depend on their prices.
The export of beef to China comes after the two countries signed a protocol on veterinary health conditions and quarantine in August last year, where frozen deboned and bone-in meat, as well as other by-products, were to be exported to the Asian nation.
The Chinese market, as opposed to the European Union (EU), Swiss and Norwegian markets, will allow for the import of bone-in beef, provided that the animals are slaughtered and the beef is processed and certified at an export-approved slaughterhouse or abattoir by the Directorate of Veterinary Services.
According to the conditions of the agreement, which will make Namibia the first African country to sell beef to China, the cattle slaughtered for the export market should come from a farm that has not introduced any cloven-hooved animal where vaccination has not been practiced during the past 12 months. The farm should also be in an FMD-free zone.


ELLANIE SMIT