WINDHOEK – LEGAL experts are still perfecting the anticipated Namibia Meat Company Bill and the by-laws for the Livestock Producers’ Co-operative of Namibia.
All these are expected for debate in Parliament early 2015, Agriculture, Water and Forestry Minister, John Mutorwa, announced during the launching of the Meat Corporation of Namibia (Meatco)’s new brand called Meat Marketing Africa (Meatma) last Thursday. The Cabinet Committee on Legislation (CCL) adopted and approved the two draft laws for the meat industry in October 2013. “The legal drafters are still busy fine-tuning and finalising them. Hopefully, Parliament will debate them in early 2015. The proposed Bills are not going to disadvantage anyone. On the contrary, they will be of advantage to every livestock producer – big and small,” he stated.
The proposed Act and by-laws caused division among farmers when the government announced in June 2012 that the ownership of Meatco should be vested in the cooperative with a majority shareholding of 70%, and the government with a ‘golden share’ of the remaining 30%. While many farmers were against the proposed regulations, others felt that a distinction should no longer be made between commercial and communal farmers, and that thought should rather be given to a unified agricultural farmers’ union, which comprises all farmers, irrespective of the regions they represented.
Local media reported at the time that Mutorwa “made it crystal-clear that the government was determined to make space for the new entity, and ensure that it is actively involved in the economic development of the country”. “The objectives of the proposed new legislations are similar to that of Meatco currently, except that it is expanded and improved upon to specifically advance the interests of the previously disadvantaged and excluded producers of livestock, notably those who find themselves north of the Veterinary Cordon Fence (VCF), or the so-called Red Line,” added Mutorwa.
Currently, Meatco’s biggest clients are South Africa, the United Kingdom and Norway, although the corporation has penetrated various other European and non-European markets, including Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czechoslovakia, China and Dubai, among others. The Meat Corporation of Namibia was consolidated in the early 1980s from various competing abattoirs, and has grown into a strong and well-established company since. Locally, it is recognised as the cornerstone of the Namibian beef industry.