South Africa’s pig compartmentalisation system is aimed at controlling exotic animal diseases such as PRRS, Classical Swine Fever and Ausjeskis, as well as endemic diseases such as African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease. The system aims to keep these highly infectious diseases from South African pig herds and is conducted in cooperation with the national animal health authorities.
The compartments is a disease control mechanism and will ensure that in the unlikely event of an exotic disease outbreak in the country the risk of the disease spreading among South African herds, is limited. The national veterinary authorities will then also be able to certify that the compartments are disease free. This may ensure the continuation of exports of among others, genetic material, from such compartments.
SAPPO believes that the compartmentalisation system is the only insurance producers can take to ensure a successful future. The crux of the system is that producers must adhere to certain minimum biosecurity requirements. These are not difficult to achieve and many producers already comply with these standards.
As soon as producers believe that their farms fulfill all the compartment requirements, they must apply to be audited via their local government veterinarians. The government veterinarian will supply all the necessary documents to the national veterinary authorities. The compartment will then be approved if all criteria are met.
A producers’ consulting veterinarian must visit an approved producer at least every second month. The consulting veterinarian will be responsible to ensure that a piggery keeps complying with the compartment’s requirements.
The compartment requirements are currently being updated and will soon be available to download from this page. The requirements for the compartments differ from these of SAPPO’s quality assurance scheme (QAT). The requirements to qualify for the QAT system are stricter that those for the compartments as the aims of the two systems differ. The QAT system wants to guarantee a safe and healthy product to the consumer. Farming practices must therefore take consumer preferences into account with regard to among others, animal welfare.
Click in the menu left to read more about the QAT scheme. You can also click here to download an article by Dr Peter Evans, SAPPO’s veterinary liaison officer, explaining the difference between the two systems.
Click here to download a copy of VPN 39/2011/01 Standards for the registration of a veterinary approved pig compartment.
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