Karan Beef takes ‘first step on the moon’ for traceability

By Alani Janeke

South Africa’s largest feedlot, Karan Beef, will no longer purchase cattle that are not registered on the RMIS traceability platform.

Karan Beef informed its customers by letter this week of this new state of affairs, but an “announcement” on social media and WhatsApp in this regard was never made by the RMIS.

“Someone has to start doing something. How long do we want to keep talking about traceability? The RMIS has done a lot of work and put in place a good system, but it is not being used very much. We have to use what is available to promote our industry and keep it safe,” says Henk Groenewald, Karan Beef’s general manager.

He says they are upset that someone leaked this letter and spread it on WhatsApp and social media as if it were a message from the RMIS. “We made this decision and sent it to our customers. It does not come from the RMIS!”

Karan Beef’s decision was driven by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in their feedlot. “We must do everything to ensure we do not end up in this situation again. An outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease is serious and will shake your business to its core. We do not wish this on anyone!”

Groenewald describes this step as a proverbial “first step on the moon” for traceability in the country.

And to those who say they do not want to upload their information to the system because they do not want the government or anyone else to get their hands on it, Groenewald says: “Since the new regulations were introduced, you give more information to your auction agent and veterinarian in order to be able to sell animals at auction than you have to share on the platform.”

It remains a free market

Groenewald says they do not want to force anyone to participate in the RMIS system. “The red meat market in the country remains a free market within which each stakeholder must make their own decisions. We are not telling anyone they must register on the system; we are only indicating what conditions will apply in future to be able to sell cattle to us.”

Dewald Olivier, CEO of the RMIS, confirmed to African Farming that this message did not come from the RMIS.

Message from the RPO

Dr. Frikkie Maré, CEO of the Red Meat Producers’ Organisation, confirmed in a WhatsApp message (below) to his members that this message, which is being distributed under the RMIS name and logo, does not come from the RMIS.

Best Producer.

The attached message started making the rounds yesterday, and caused many questions. We would like to try to provide clarity:

1.⁠ ⁠The message does not come from the RMIS.

2.⁠ ⁠The message was sent by Karan Beef to their buyers.

3.⁠ ⁠Karan Beef has decided not to purchase any calves in the future if the calves are not traceable according to the RMIS Traceability Platform. The message requested their buyers to alert producers to this and to help them prepare to meet the necessary requirements if they wish to sell to Karan Beef in the future.

4.⁠ ⁠Just as a producer can decide on the type of animal he/she farms with, how the animals are treated, and to whom he/she wants to sell, in the same way a buyer can set certain requirements that the animal being purchased must meet. This is in no way a limitation of the free market system.

5.⁠ ⁠The RMIS Traceability Platform is a voluntary system that essentially has two characteristics: a) It standardizes the location of a farm, auction, feedlot or abattoir under a set of numbers (GLN = Global Location Number), and 2) it sets up the record keeping system at farm level where the animals get their individual numbers, and enables the different systems of the auctions, feedlots and abattoirs to “talk” to each other and thus transfer data together with the to facilitate movement of animals.

6.⁠ ⁠Although you can already identify your production units on the RMIS platform and get GLNs, the total platform is not yet operational. The data transfer / traceability part should be operational by November 2025.

7.⁠ ⁠To participate in the system, a producer must therefore register for a GLN and use a record keeping system that will work on the RMIS Platform.

8.⁠ ⁠Again, the action is voluntary. Just as there are producers who may not want to use the system, there are going to be buyers who are not going to use it either. It is therefore a seller’s and buyer’s choice to use it or not. The only way it can become mandatory is when the government mandates it through legislation, which is currently not the case.

If there are any questions, please contact me.