DISEASE PUTS ZIMBABWE BEEF EXPORTS IN JEOPARDY
Zimbabwe's beef exports to the European
Community (EC), potentially worth 70 mln Zimbabwean dlrs this
year, may be jeopardised by an outbreak of foot and mouth
disease in southwestern Matabeleland, industry sources said.
    The country has temporarily suspended beef exports to the
EC because of the outbreak and awaits a decision from the EC
veterinary committee, which is considering a formal ban.
    The outbreak in the country's main ranching province has
already led neighbouring beef-producing Botswana and Zambia to
bar beef and dairy imports from Zimbabwe, threatening the dairy
industry with a loss of at least one mln dlrs in export
revenue.
    "The situation is still uncertain at the moment. Normally
when an outbreak occurs there is an automatic suspension of
beef exports," one industry source said yesterday.
     Commenting on EC policy, he explained, "Depending on the
seriousness of the outbreak the (veterinary) committee then
decides on three options, allowing us to continue exporting
beef from disease-free areas, clamping a three-month suspension
on exports or banning us from exporting for a year. We are
still awaiting their decision," he added, asking not to be
identified.
    Zimbabwe was granted an export quota of 8,100 tonnes of
high-grade beef to EC markets in 1985 after the country had
spent millions of dollars erecting disease-control fences and
upgrading abattoirs to meet stringent EC rules.
    Should the EC ban Zimbabwean exports, the country will be
forced to sell its beef on glutted world beef markets at low
prices, the source said. Projected earnings from beef sales
could fall about 23 mln dlrs as a result, he said.
 Reuter
