Ostrich Exports Back to Normal | Western Cape Government

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Ostrich Exports Back to Normal

14 September 2005

WESTERN CAPE RELIEVED AFTER THE LIFTING OF BAN ON THE EXPORT OF OSTRICHES AND POULTRY, AS WELL AS OSTRICH AND POULTRY PRODUCTS

 

For Agriculture in the Western Cape the lifting of the ban on the export of ostriches and products is an important step and appreciation must be expressed to the national Minister, Mrs Thoko Didiza. This is a huge step in the right direction and will contribute to the stabilising of the ostrich industry.

What must be mentioned is the excellent working relationship between the ostrich industry in the province, the South African Ostrich Business Chamber and the Department of Agriculture during the last couple of months. Very important lessons have been learned out of this process in applying bio security and it would be in the interest of the industry to jealously guard over the protection and health of their flocks to uphold our export status, just as they have done during the last 13 months, said Uys.

Although we are grateful that we never had any clinical outbreaks or fatalities of ostriches in the Western Cape due to Avian Influenza we fully cooperated and supported the request of the national Minister of Agriculture in obtaining essential data through the testing of all ostrich farms in the province in order to confirm the successful control of the disease to our foreign trade partners.

As the responsible Minister I must express sincere appreciation to the provincial Department of Agriculture and its officials who played vital roles in restricting the spread of the disease, said Uys. The veterinary officials were almost fulltime involved in collecting thousands of samples, the testing thereof and the execution of control measures to curb the spread since July 2004 when the disease was identified in the Eastern Cape.

In particular our appreciation to the invaluable cooperation from the ostrich owners who sacrificed in a variety of ways by not moving ostriches as requested. We trust that the ostrich industry will now be able to return to normal in the Province and wish everyone every success as we continue to work together to maintain our disease free status.

Enquiries:
Alie van Jaarsveld
084 604 6701