According to Merlog Foods, the first shipments from Brazil are now expected from the week of 18 August, but these are now at risk of being delayed further by outdated import administration at the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group noted that the Border Management Authority (BMA) has to verify health certificates to enable the meat to enter the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While an online electronic verification system to do this is readily available, the group said that the South African authorities still rely on paper-based certificates, which adds more than a week to the verification process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“These delays, caused by a reliance on paper-based certificates, are undermining food security and contributing to rising protein costs in South Africa,” it said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Veterinary health certificates for poultry exports from Brazil are issued both as hard copies and as secure electronic records accessible through an internationally recognised online portal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Both the Border Management Authority and the Directorate of Animal Health under the Department of Agriculture already have access to this online system,” the importer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Currently, even when poultry shipments are pre-cleared using the online system, the poultry is held at a South African port until the original paper-based certificates arrive, which adds at least 7 to 10 days of delay before the chicken can be released for sale.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merlog Foods urged the BMA to rely on the online veterinary portal as used by Brazil instead of waiting for paper certificates to be sent from Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shortages and price hikes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Chicken-Factory-meat-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWith MDM imports only returning in mid-August, the ban and subsequent delays have created a three-month gap where local industries were effectively shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has reflected in higher prices for products that use the meat, as well as shortages in some cases. The product is used by local producers to make Polony, Viennas, Russians and Braaiwors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa does not produce its own MDM and relies on imports from Brazil to meet its requirements. About 19,000 tonnes of mechanically deboned chicken are imported from Brazil every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merlog said these products are widely consumed by lower-income households and used in local school feeding schemes, and the blockages have led to an estimates 100 million meals lost per week of delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The delays also compounded other local issues like the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease at the country’s biggest beef producer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Food price inflation, especially for meat, has been steadily rising as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of the food shortages and higher prices, meat producers have been sitting idle for over two months, hitting production all along the supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This risks heavy job losses and instability in the lower LSM consumer segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merlog said that it is critical that the Department of Agriculture finalise a ‘regionalisation protocol’ with Brazil to prevent future bottlenecks and delays that could damage food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would allow imports from unaffected provinces and regions to continue in the event of avian flu outbreaks, rather than triggering a nationwide ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf another case of bird flu arises in future and no agreement is in place, the entire country could once again be subject to a blanket ban. This would force us to experience unnecessary disruptions again,” it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chicken importer Merlog Foods has warned that South Africa faces food shortages and higher prices if unnecessary blockages at the border aren’t resolved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":795065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[20281,22976],"class_list":["post-834140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-chicken","tag-mdm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":834141,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834140\/revisions\/834141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWith MDM imports only returning in mid-August, the ban and subsequent delays have created a three-month gap where local industries were effectively shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has reflected in higher prices for products that use the meat, as well as shortages in some cases. The product is used by local producers to make Polony, Viennas, Russians and Braaiwors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa does not produce its own MDM and relies on imports from Brazil to meet its requirements. About 19,000 tonnes of mechanically deboned chicken are imported from Brazil every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merlog said these products are widely consumed by lower-income households and used in local school feeding schemes, and the blockages have led to an estimates 100 million meals lost per week of delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The delays also compounded other local issues like the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease at the country’s biggest beef producer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Food price inflation, especially for meat, has been steadily rising as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of the food shortages and higher prices, meat producers have been sitting idle for over two months, hitting production all along the supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This risks heavy job losses and instability in the lower LSM consumer segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merlog said that it is critical that the Department of Agriculture finalise a ‘regionalisation protocol’ with Brazil to prevent future bottlenecks and delays that could damage food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This would allow imports from unaffected provinces and regions to continue in the event of avian flu outbreaks, rather than triggering a nationwide ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf another case of bird flu arises in future and no agreement is in place, the entire country could once again be subject to a blanket ban. This would force us to experience unnecessary disruptions again,” it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chicken importer Merlog Foods has warned that South Africa faces food shortages and higher prices if unnecessary blockages at the border aren’t resolved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":795065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[20281,22976],"class_list":["post-834140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-chicken","tag-mdm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":834141,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834140\/revisions\/834141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}