The Western Cape government’s trade promotion agency, Wesgro, has refuted claims that an export deal for chickens’ feet to China isn't in place.
It was responding to an article in Freight News which contended that no agreement existed at a government level for trade in chickens’ legs from South Africa to China.
The report was carried by Farmer’s Weekly who, Wesgro claims, published inaccurate information without affording the agency enough time to respond.
Government-level involvement would be a pre-requisite to such a trade being possible, which was denied by both the South African Poultry Association and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
Wesgro stresses the existence of a “solid signed commercial contract between Askcarlakote and a Chinese buyer with the initial introduction facilitated by Wesgro.”
It says the deal is worth R300 million to supply the chickens’ feet to China, which amounts to 540 tonnes of product exported to China per month from the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.
“Currently, the final regulatory processes are in progress to formalise and implement this commercial deal,” Wesgro says.
“Given the substantial scale of the deal, various matters to give effect to the deal are being addressed, including the resolution of logistics and the development of the cold storage value chain.
“It is important to note that a deal of this nature has the potential to act as a catalyst for opening new areas of trade between countries.”
