Importation of Cattle. U)9 



IMPORTATION OF CATTLE. 



Measures to Prevent Introduction of Disease. 



The liistory ot South Africa's efforts to prevent the introduction into 

 her borders of animal diseases, stretclies back many j-ears, and figuring 

 prominently in it are tlie legislative measures passed for preventing 

 the importation of tuberculous cattle. No cattle from oversea were 

 permitted to enter the country without passing the tuberculin test at 

 the port of entry. Importers, as a consequence, took the precaution 

 of having tlieir cattle tested and passed by veterinary surgeons oversea, 

 whose l)ona fides and competency were unquestioned, but notwith- 

 standing this, many of these animals (G per cent, or more in some 

 years) reacted to the tuberculin test when applied on arrival in South 

 Africa. Importers and breeders in South Africa, to whom the matter 

 was one of great moment, were greatly exercised as to the means 

 of removing the cause of the loss and delay which ( nsued. Repeated 

 requests and resolutions came from various influential agricultural 

 bodies and breeders' associations for suitable arrangements to be 

 made for the testing, ^\'herever jjossible, of cattle prior to export, so as 

 to ensure the shipment f)f sound animals only, and remove the neces- 

 sity of the test on arrival in South Africa. As an outcome, tlie matter 

 was taken in hand by General Botha, who, when in England in 1911, 

 entered into negotiations with the British Government, resulting in 

 the establishment by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries of a 

 Testing Station at Pirbright, vSurrey, for the reception of cattle to be 

 tested for tuberculosis prior to export to the Union , thus centralizing 

 all testing under Government supervision, and doing away witli the 



Old and rxsAxisFACTORV Method 



of having cattle tested on private farms under varying conditions. 

 The necessary legislation, prepared in conformity with the wishes of 

 the farmers of South Africa, to meet the new conditions was provided 

 in the Diseases of Stock Act Amendment Act, 1916, which makes it 

 compulsory for cattle arriving from oversea from countries making 

 satisfactory provision for the establishment of a Government Testing 

 Station to he provided with a certificate to the effect that they have 

 been isolated at such a station for not less than twenty-eight days, 

 subsequently subjected to and successfully passed the tuberculin test, 

 and thereafter sent direct to the ship. Cattle from countries where no 

 Government testing stations are provided, will, according to the Act, 

 be quarantined at the port of arrival in South Africa and tested as 

 heretofore, owners being given the option of removing, at their own 

 expense, rea(,-ting animals to the country of origin or having them 

 destroyed without compensation. 



At present the> only testing station meeting the requirements of 

 the Act is the one at Pirbright, but soon after that was 



