Minister of Agriculture, Mr John Steenhuisen, has approved new national Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) control measures on Thursday that will be gazetted soon. T
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Minister of Agriculture, John Steenhuisen, has approved a comprehensive new national framework to manage Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD), introducing what government says is a more practical and science-based approach aimed at protecting animal health while limiting the economic damage caused by outbreaks.
The new control measures, approved on Thursday and expected to be gazetted shortly, consolidate all previous directives issued under Section 9 of the Animal Diseases Act, including the 2019 FMD Contingency Plan, subsequent amendments and related protocols.
Steenhuisen said the reforms would, for the first time, provide South Africa with a single integrated national framework governing how FMD outbreaks should be managed from detection through to recovery.
“For the first time, South Africa will have a single, integrated set of national control measures that clearly outline how outbreaks must be managed from detection through to recovery,” he said.
“These measures provide farmers, veterinarians and veterinary authorities with a clear, practical and science-based framework for managing outbreaks while minimising unnecessary economic losses.”
Foot-and-mouth disease remains one of the most damaging livestock diseases globally, with outbreaks capable of halting trade, disrupting production, restricting exports and placing severe financial strain on farmers and rural communities.
Steenhuisen said the revised framework sought to strike a balance between containing the highly contagious disease and ensuring farming businesses could continue operating safely wherever scientific evidence supported it.
“An outbreak can disrupt production, restrict market access, threaten jobs and place immense financial pressure on farming families and rural communities,” he said.
Among the most significant changes is clarification that vaccinated animals which have never contracted the disease and have not been placed under quarantine will continue to be regarded as healthy livestock and may be traded and moved under normal requirements.
The new framework also creates clearer pathways for livestock trade to resume during quarantine periods instead of relying on blanket restrictions that often prolong financial losses.
Under the revised measures, livestock may be sent to designated FMD abattoirs from 16 days after a property has been declared clinically clear, while broader slaughter options, including access to export-approved abattoirs, become available after 42 days.
“The objective is simple: protect animal health and stop the disease spreading, while ensuring that farmers can continue operating safely wherever possible. Disease control and economic sustainability cannot be treated as mutually exclusive goals,” he said.
Another major policy shift is the move away from automatically requiring entire herds to be culled before quarantine restrictions can be lifted.
Instead, producers will be offered several recovery options depending on their circumstances. These include selectively removing animals, restocking with vaccinated livestock or introducing animals sourced from FMD-free areas.
Steenhuisen said the additional flexibility would reduce the severe financial consequences associated with whole-herd depopulation.
“For many farmers, particularly those operating under difficult financial conditions, the prospect of losing an entire herd can be devastating. These measures introduce practical alternatives that are scientifically sound and economically realistic.”
Steenhuisen also acknowledged that disease management in communal and peri-urban farming systems differs significantly from commercial farming because of shared grazing land, multiple livestock owners and more complex animal movement patterns.
He said the new framework recognises these realities by introducing practical quarantine management measures and targeted vaccination programmes tailored to local disease risks.
“This is an important step forward because our disease control framework must work for all livestock owners, not only for commercial farming operations. The realities of communal and peri-urban livestock systems require practical solutions that recognise how these production systems function.”
The Red Meat Industry Services (RMIS) welcomed the approval of the measures, describing them as an important milestone in improving certainty for the livestock industry.
RMIS CEO, Dewald Olivier, said the industry was awaiting publication of the regulations in the Government Gazette.
“These measures give farmers, veterinarians and state veterinarians a clear set of rules to follow when FMD is confirmed or suspected. It also gives certainty how we can keep operating where and when we can do this.”
Olivier said the new framework was the result of extensive collaboration between government and industry stakeholders, including the Department of Agriculture, RMIS, the Ministerial Task Team and the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Industry Coordination Council.
He said the partnership had strengthened South Africa's response to the disease, which has affected several provinces and disrupted livestock trade in recent years.
“The outbreak has taken its toll on everyone but we are winning the fight against FMD one step at a time,” he said.
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