Britain has announced that a bird flu-related trade embargo with South Africa has been lifted.
It means British producers can ship poultry to South Africa for the first time in eight years. Britain was declared free of so-called bird flu earlier this year.
The British government suggests the trade will be worth £160m ($209.2m) to the country’s poultry industry.
British Food Safety Minister Daniel Zeichner met with South African ministers Rosemary Capa and Andrew Whitfield last week to finalize the deal.
Zeichner said: “This deal not only opens up new opportunities for UK poultry traders, but also provides a new avenue to grow the UK economy.
“We are one step further on our journey to securing better trade deals for British farmers, improving industry resilience and boosting our food exports.”
South Africa has traditionally been an important market for British chicken producers, with poultry exports to South Africa worth more than £37 million in 2016, when the avian flu export ban came into effect.
The news that the market has now reopened to UK exporters has been welcomed by meat industry representatives.
Katie Doherty, CEO of the International Meat Trade Association, said: “The reopening of South Africa to poultry meat exports from Britain is fantastic news for British producers and exporters – before the ban it was a crucial market for British exporters. ”
Richard Griffiths, CEO of the British Poultry Council, added: “The ability to resume British poultry trade with South Africa following the lifting of the avian flu ban is a great example of government and industry working together to remove technical barriers to trade. to overcome. It is incredibly exciting to gain access to what was once one of our largest markets.”
“UK signs new poultry export deal with South Africa as bird flu ban ends” was originally created and published by Just Food, a brand owned by GlobalData.
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