DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES (DAFF) PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE BRIEFING: PROPOSAL FOR MEAT INSPECTION IN SOUTH AFRICA - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES (DAFF) PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE BRIEFING: PROPOSAL FOR MEAT INSPECTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

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Title: DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES (DAFF) PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE BRIEFING: PROPOSAL FOR MEAT INSPECTION IN SOUTH AFRICA


1
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES
(DAFF) PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE BRIEFING PROPOSAL
FOR MEAT INSPECTION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Dr Tembile Songabe BVMch (Medunsa),
MSc(Path)(Utrecht) Director Veterinary Public
Health Agricultural production, health and food
safety 26 February 2013
2
Background on Meat Inspection Service in SA
  • 1967 Animal Slaughter, Meat and Animal Products
    Hygiene Act, 1967 (Act 87 of 1967)
  • The Act required Meat Inspection Service to be
    provided exclusively by government (Department of
    Agriculture) and various Municipal spheres of
    Government
  • 1992 Abattoir Hygiene Act, 1992 (Act 121 of
    1992)
  • The Act made a revolutionary change by
    privatising Meat Inspection Service.
  • Abattoir owners were required to employ their own
    meat inspection staff
  • A number of government employed officials
    responsible for Meat Inspection Service were made
    redundant and had to join the employ of private
    abattoirs
  • Meat Hygiene Directorate of the Department, and
    various structures previously responsible for
    monitoring meat safety were effectively
    dismantled

3
Background on Meat Inspection Service in SA
  • 2000 Meat Safety Act, 2000 (Act No 40 of 2000)
  • The Act made a Meat Inspection Service to be
    rendered independently from the abattoir.
  • As such, the Act required the abattoir to
    procure Meat Inspection Service. Effectively,
    the Act meant that abattoirs cannot perform their
    own meat inspection
  • The Act also stipulated from whom the Meat
    Inspection Services must be procured from, i.e.
    Meat Inspection Service can only be rendered by
    the National Executive Officer, a Provincial
    Executive Officer, an Authorised Person or an
    assignee.
  • The Act also outlined the processes for the NEO
    to delegate and assign certain powers and duties
    to such an Authorised Person.
  • The Act also clearly outlined the process for the
    designation of such assignees.
  • The Act made it the responsibility of The
    Minister to designate National Executive Officer
    and MECs to designate Provincial Executive
    Officers (PEOs).
  • In summary, the Act returned the control of Meat
    Inspection Service back to The Minister.

4
Independence of Meat Inspection
  • The abattoir owner must procure meat inspection
    service (section 11(1)(b), and that meat
    inspection function must be performed
    independently of the abattoir (section 11(1)(c),
    and meat inspection may only be performed by
  • National Executive Officer (NEO) National
    Department (DAFF)
  • Provincial Executive Officer (PEO) Provincial
    Departments (PDAs)
  • Assignee (Single/Multiple) established in terms
    of section 4 of the Act
  • Authorized person
  • The industry proposal seemed to suggest that only
    an assignee must render meat inspection this is
    devoid of substance and truth, and is most
    regrettable
  • The major weakness in the Meat Safety Act was the
    failure to define independency that was
    contemplated this left a vacuum for wide range
    of interpretations
  • World Organization for Animal Health (OIE)
    describes technical independence as
  • To exercise a profession with due diligence,
    ethically and impartially, and free from any
    financial, hierarchical, political, or otherwise
    pressures

5
Current Meat Inspection Service in SA
  • Poultry Waiver of independence from meat
    inspection in-house meat inspection services
  • In limited areas, the service is offered by PEOs
    (PDAs)
  • Until recently, NEO (DAFF) was also involved in
    few abattoirs
  • Majority of meat inspection is offered by
    various private service providers, ranging from
    one person to big companies
  • These private entities employ Meat Inspectors,
    and deploy such Meat Inspectors to abattoirs that
    have procured Meat Inspection Service from them.
  • Abattoirs pay the private entity, and in-turn the
    private entity pays the salary of the individual
    Meat Inspector, a system similar to
    labour-brokers

6
Current Meat Inspection Service in SA
challenges
  • Meat Inspection personnel are at the abattoirs
    FULL-TIME, and they oversee, approve and stamp
    each carcass
  • Although government visit abattoirs at regular
    intervals there is NO full-time presence of
    government official at all times
  • Other than concerns over labour practices, the
    current system should be working very well if it
    was not being sabotaged by devious abattoir
    owners
  • There are reports and evidence of some abattoirs
    putting pressure on meat inspectors (authorised
    persons) to pass products of questionable and/or
    poor quality

7
Current Meat Inspection Service in SA Problem
Statement/ challenges
  • Poor remuneration of meat inspection personnel
    Lack of job stability Inexperienced personnel
    Possible poor decision making Compromise to
    meat safety
  • Current meat inspection costing not affordable
    to small volume abattoirs
  • Meat inspection not standardized across the
    country
  • Government capacity to provide oversight is
    limited in certain Provinces due to human
    resource capacity and financial resource
    challenges
  • Different approaches by government to enforce
    existing legislation (norms and standards)
  • Poor understanding of matters of meat safety by
    Senior Management and Senior Politicians in
    certain Provinces, hence poor resource allocation

8
Key pronunciations
  • The intergovernmental consultative process made
    the following pronunciations
  • Meat Inspection Service is an important function
    that guarantees the safety of meat to the
    consumer.
  • In South Africa, Meat Inspection Service was for
    a long time a function of government. Just prior
    to 1994, this function was taken away from
    government and privatised - Government Veterinary
    Public Health (Food Hygiene) structures were
    effectively dismantled. Meat Inspection personnel
    employed by government at a time were made
    redundant and were made to be employed by the
    private sector.
  • There has been a dismal failure by the private
    sector to effectively perform Meat Inspection
    Service independently, hence the present
    discussions and current challenges. Presently,
    the bulk of Meat Inspection service is still
    performed by the private sector it is clear that
    the private sector is still failing the consumers
    in as far as technical independence.

9
Key pronunciations
  • The present privatised system would work
    perfectly well if the INDUSTRY did not interfere
    with the technical independency of the Meat
    Inspectors on the ground.
  • From the recommendations of the first
    consultative process, it can be deduced that the
    industry wanted to maintain the status quo
    through their Independent Meat Inspection (IMI)
    proposal of a single industry approved assignee
    to conduct meat inspection at all abattoirs in
    the country.
  • The industry created/ proposed/ endorsed assignee
    would still be industry/ privately-owned, and
    would be no different from the current system,
    and would be prone to same challenges that
    currently exist ie- tempering with technical
    independency of the Meat Inspector or National
    Executive Officer.
  • Given the dismal failure by the private sector to
    render such services in a technically independent
    and impartial manner, a decision to remove these
    services from government is considered not to
    have been well thought and ill-advised.

10
Key pronunciations
  • Final proposal
  • As such, a capacity shall be re-established
    within government to render and manage meat
    inspection services. Rendering of such service
    shall still be subjected to cost recovery as
    envisaged in section 11(1)(b), i.e. Abattoir
    owner must procure these services.
  • However, due to the required financial and human
    resource planning, such capacity shall be
    developed in phases over a period of time.

11
THANK YOU
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