There are no plans to export chickens' feet to China, according to the South African Poultry Association (Sapa).
Sapa and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development have denied the existence of any protocols for such exports by local chicken producers and China.
According to Sapa’s chief executive officer, Izaak Breitenbach, it has been inundated with enquiries about the matter since the announcement was made.
“We immediately contacted the agriculture department to find out whether such protocols were in place, as all agricultural exports need to be supported by official bilateral agreements at government level.
"The department confirmed that no such agreement exists,” he said.
A Western Cape company recently announced that it had secured a deal worth R300 million per annum to supply chickens' feet to China.
The deal was apparently organised through a collaboration with Wesgro, the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape.
At the time of the announcement, Wesgro said poultry producers in the Western Cape would supply 540t of chickens' feet to China each month.
The exports would be produced by mainly women-owned poultry farms in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.
According to Farmer's Weekly, Wesgro chief executive officer Wrenelle Stander said the agreement forged by the AskCarlaKote company was a significant achievement in South Africa’s poultry industry and would showcase the Western Cape as a growing force and global agricultural exporter.
