Pretoria: The Department of Agriculture is currently evaluating the feasibility of regionalising chicken imports from Brazil to maintain local demand while safeguarding biosecurity measures. This consideration comes after South Africa imposed a suspension on imports of live poultry, eggs, and fresh (including frozen) poultry meat from Brazil due to an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
According to South African Government News Agency, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock in Brazil reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1 – clade 2.3.4.4b) in chickens at a breeding facility in the municipality of Montenegro, located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, on 15 May 2025. This development prompted South Africa to halt trade of live poultry, eggs, and fresh poultry meat from Brazil and revise its import permit process.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen emphasized that although South Africa’s poultry industry has a sufficient supply of domestically slaughtered chickens, there are concerns about the impact of the suspension on the country’s food supply chain, particularly regarding the affordability and accessibility of processed meats and pet foods. He stated that the department is in ongoing discussions with Brazilian authorities to ensure the outbreak has not spread to other states and to confirm that no additional farms in other regions are affected.
“This is a necessary procedure to ensure that we don’t introduce the virus to South Africans and infect the poultry industry. We need to balance food security realities with biosecurity imperatives,” Steenhuisen explained. The Minister further mentioned that the delay in Brazil’s response to South Africa’s inquiries is due to the volume of similar requests Brazil is handling, as it exports poultry products to numerous other countries.