Meatco expects slaughter to resume later this month

By: Envaalde Matheus

Meatco expects to resume slaughtering around 23 October as animals complete the mandatory 30-day quarantine period following the foot and mouth disease outbreak.

Meatco interim CEO Albertus Aochamub says animals in registered feedlots can be slaughtered once they complete 30 days quarantine and meet veterinary requirements.

Aochamub made the remarks on Tuesday in Windhoek after the EU clarified that meat products certified before the 23 September restrictions, can still enter the European market for 90 days.

Aochamub said exports might resume to restricted markets from areas outside the outbreak area, or restrictions could remain in the EU and other markets, while exports resume to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Aochamub said current restrictions could also remain in place, depending on the situation and the veterinary assessment.

Aochamub said if the outbreak remains confined to the //Karas area and there are no new outbreaks, trading arrangements could be reassessed after 90 days.

“As of the 23rd of October, if there were animals that have now undergone the 30-day quarantine, those animals would be available to all the feedlots, I mean all the factories in the country to process,” he said.

Aochamub said producers can continue supplying feedlots under conditions set by DVS, but warned that trading will not be as straightforward as it was before the restrictions.

“We have our own animals, we then have animals that belong to a subcontractor that operates the Okapuka feedlot, and that gives us the ability to remain open after we have satisfied the 30-day quarantine period that was newly imposed. So after the 30 days as of the 23rd of October, we should be slaughtering,” he said.

Aochamub said Meatco is reviewing its operations as the FMD situation develops, but it is too early to determine the longer-term impact on the company.

“We have to determine, depending on how long the situation lasts, what actions to take for the factories to remain profitable and operational,” he said.

Aochamub said it was too early to make decisions.

“It’s too early and it’s premature to say whether there will be widespread laying off of people, whether there’s going to be significant downsizing of operations and what that would mean, whether we are going to have to shut some of the poor-performing operating units within Meatco,” he said.

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