20 Mar 2014

North East region farmers and abattoir owners have been challenged to set high standards for safe, wholesome meat and meat products by adhering to good hygiene and manufacturing practices.

Speaking at a stakeholder’s workshop on meat hygiene and quality control organised by the Department of Veterinary Services at Tatisiding on Tuesday, March 19, Masunga district commissioner, Mr Rapetse Mathumo pointed out that in the past, meat handling was never a big issues as today.

He also explained that as per the Meat Handling Act of 2006, meat handlers at all stages leading to during and after slaughter must satisfy international standards for meat handling. He said major setbacks were failure by cattle farmers as the main stakeholders in the meat industry to adhere to set pre-slaughter standards.

Mr Mathumo said the free range method of rearing animals used by most farmers was not acceptable as animals tended to be infected by different diseases which have been proven to pose a danger to consumers.

He urged farmers to brand their animals with personal brands and the district brand as well as insert ear tags for proper identification. He said an identifiable animal, if found to be infected, was easier to trace to its kraal. This is important in preventing spread of diseases.

Mr Mathumo encouraged farmers to adhere to standards as in that would work to their advantage in the future given the fact government would soon allow Batswana to own abattoirs and even sell their animals outside the country.

“In the near future BMC will not be the only supplier of Botswana meat and products to the international community and such let us be the first region to invade the outside market,” he said.

Meanwhile, Principal Veterinary Officer at Francistown BMC, Dr Ketlhophilwe Dihawa explained that for those intending to build and own abattoirs, they needed to make applications to the director of veterinary services who would then engage other stakeholders to make an assessment of the application.

He said the process of assessing the application took about 60 days within which the applicant would be given feedback on whether his or her application had been approved or declined.

He said where an application was rejected, reasons were furnished to the applicant who also had opportunity to appeal to the Office of the President within a period of 30 days. ENDS