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The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) has raised concerns over the delays in clearing meat imports as it could cause South Africans to spend more on their meat products during the Christmas holidays.
AMIE says the requirements which were put in place earlier this year causes delays in the issuance of meat import removal permits, a process which normally takes 48 hours, but now takes eight to nine days.
The association is calling for the Border Management Agency (BMA) to reconsider the requirements to avoid further damage to the economy and food supply chain.
“As South Africa moves into the festive season, a critical time for trade, the resulting delays at major ports, particularly Durban, are creating unnecessary costs that consumers are ultimately forced to bear, as well as contributing to food inflation overall.”
Imameleng Mothebe, CEO of AMIE, says BMA should increase the capacity for inspections or revert to the previous system until adequate resources are in place to handle the increased workload.
The requirement causing delays requires veterinary inspectors to be present when the seal is broken on between 35%-45% of containers, prior to the requisite samples being taken by the authorities.
“The requirement is supposed to be based on a transparent risk assessment, using objective criteria but in practice, the measures are being applied unilaterally, without any indication given to importers on risk criteria being applied.”
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Mothebe adds that ports were already congested before the introduction of the new requirements.
The association acknowledges that government regulations play an important role in making sure the food sector operates fairly, however, the regulations must be implemented with the necessary capacity to handle the regulatory burden.
“There is also currently no clear or consistent policy or standards that are being applied across the country’s ports, which is deeply problematic.”
One issue that Mothebe raised is the need to address coordination between key agencies such as the BMA and the police.
He says police often stop the truck between the port and its destination, and break the seals to inspect the imported goods. However, BMA’s veterinary inspectors reject the same goods because they have found the seal broken.
“This lack of coordination between agencies has further contributed to unnecessary delays, rejection of containers, driving up the cost of imports and, consequently, the prices consumers pay for essential goods.”
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He adds that trade must be allowed to run smoothly and efficiently, especially during high-demand periods like the festive season.
“While we support measures to ensure the health and safety of imported products, the lack of consistent standards and capacity at BMA is impeding trade and burdening consumers.”
He stresses that the people who feel the pinch most are the importers. “Due to these delays, food import companies are now forced to cover exorbitant demurrage and container storage costs.”
Mothebe used the example of one company that was reported to have paid R325 000 in demurrage charges over just two weeks. For smaller importers, these additional charges could prove crippling.
“The knock-on effect is especially troubling for affordable protein products like polony, viennas, and sausages, which rely on inputs from raw meat imports.”
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