JEDDAH, 30 September 2003 — Saudi Arabia along with other Middle Eastern countries has lifted a ban on livestock imports from Kenya.
The government had imposed the ban three years ago after cases of Rift Valley Fever, a deadly livestock disease that can be transmitted to humans, were reported in Kenya.
The country’s director of veterinary services, Dr. William Chong, told the African press that his country would immediately resume export of live camels, sheep and goats to the Middle East.
“The government will now go into full-scale exportation,” he said.
The Kenyan government, he said, had in the past few months been holding negotiations with the Saudi government, and the lifting of the embargo marked a successful end to these efforts. The ban on the African livestock was put in place in September 2000.
