1 February 2024
Before any South African chicken feet can make their way to China, the two countries’ governments must conclude an export agreement and this could take a long time.
Izaak Breitenbach, CEO of the broiler chicken branch of the South African Poultry Association (Sapa), says without an export agreement between the two countries, no exports can legally take place.
He was responding to last week’s announcement by the Western Cape trade promotion agency, Wesgro, that @AskCarlaKote Trading Solutions, a Cape Town company, had signed an export contract for chicken feet with a Chinese company.
Wesgro said it and Standard Bank were the stakeholders who helped finalise the contract. According to Wesgro’s statement, Carla Kote, founder of the company, is optimistic that the first test shipment to China could depart before the end of the year, provided all regulatory hurdles can be overcome.
This news received wide media coverage and Breitenbach says he received many inquiries about it.
“I inquired with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, which confirmed that South Africa does not have an export agreement with China at the state level. Therefore, we cannot legally export to China even if we want to.
“Sapa receives many inquiries from South Africans saying they have a contract to export chicken feet to China, but without an agreement between the two countries’ governments it is impossible. Negotiating such agreements can take a very long time.
“Almost all our local broiler chicken companies have done research on exporting chicken feet to China. China prefers larger feet than those available in our local market. They are looking for feet from a chicken weighing 2,5 kg.
“China also has an extremely high standard regarding how clean the feet should be. The skins must be removed and the feet must not have burn marks. These are caused when wet manure burns the feet of chickens.”
