Red meat levy put to good use

Funds generated by the statutory levy on the sale of livestock for red meat production, that was implemented on 5 November 2005, have been responsible for a number of valuable developments within SA’s red meat industry.
Speaking at a regional meeting of the KZN RPO, National RPO chief executive officer, Gerhard Schutte, told members that the over R26 million collected during the levy’s implementation so far, although falling approximately R600 000 short of budget projections, had been sufficient to successfully carry out a number of industry projects that would benefit red meat producers.
These projects included a campaign to assure red meat consumers of meat safety, classification quality, the setting of standards in the trade, and the monitoring of meat imports. “The positive aspects of red meat consumption must be communicated to all consumers, with generic promotion used to grow the market for red meat,” Schutte said. “Levy funds have also been allocated for research and development in the beef and sheep production sectors, as well as for strengthening both local and international ties relevant to the industry.”
Schutte continued that funds were also being used to combat problems such as disease, stock theft and problem animals in both the commercial and emergent red meat production sectors. The empowerment of emergent farmers along all stages of the value chain was being supported by the statutory levy funds, as were special initiatives such as financial provision for crises like the potential outbreak of foot-and-mouth and other diseases in the country.
While the Eastern Cape and KZN RPO had initially been concerned with the implementation of the statutory levy because of fears of outside interference in the funds by government, Schutte assured the KZN RPO members that this interference had not materialised and was unlikely to in the future.
“The implementation of the statutory levy was originally only planned for two years. However, the success of the levy so far has prompted us to consider re-applying for it to be implemented again after the first two years are up, with some changes to it. One of the stipulations that we’d like to see in the new statutory levy is that the first R1 levy on cattle and the first 25 cents levy on small-stock be reserved for the function of red meat production development.”
Schutte finally urged all red meat producers to also contribute to the industry’s voluntary levy. He explained that the law stipulated that income from statutory levies could not be used for the operational costs of an organisation.