Horse ban hits key South African export
November 20th, 2011 - 1:29 pm ICT by IANSPretoria, Nov 20 (IANS) Exports of horses from South Africa have been hit after the UAE, a major importer of the animals, slapped a ban on them following a deadly disease, state-run BuaNews reported.
UAE suspended direct imports of horses from South Africa following the outbreak of African horse sickness in 2004.
Since then, all exports had to be routed via the EU or Mauritius, which increased costs by about 150 percent and made South African horses less competitive.
President Jacob Zuma urged his UAE counterpart Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Hahayn to review the ban during their meeting Monday.
He asked the UAE government to send a survey team to South Africa to know the disease control mechanisms put in place, his office said in a statement.
Trade between South Africa and the UAE is estimated at 12 billion rand (about $1.5 billion).
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Tags: african horse sickness, animals, control mechanisms, counterpart, deadly disease, direct imports, horses, jacob zuma, khalifa bin zayed, mauritius, outbreak, pretoria, south africa, survey team, uae government, zuma