Since 2006, SAMIC has been assigned by the government to inspect, verify and certify the slaughter intensity and quality of hides and skins delivered for exports at South Africa’s main harbours.
SAMIC was also appointed in 2006, to independently inspect all registered and non-registered abattoirs, meat traders, imported meat and hide and skin plants for Red Meat levy purposes on behalf of the National Agricultural Marketing Association.
Besides this, SAMIC assesses meat classifier students to become qualified meat classifiers, and annually hosts a carcass competition, which allows producers to see what the market wants.
The competition has grown from three shows in 1984 to 66 Commercial and 15 Emerging Farmer Shows by 2015. It creates awareness of market expectations and demands and also allow producers to benchmark themselves against other producers and industry norms.
The carcasses are judged based on weight, fat percentage and conformation. Over six-hundred commercial farmers and more than seventy emerging farmers annually participate in the competition.
SAMIC also has a division, ClassiQuip, which is the sole agent to distribute all classification equipment in the red meat industry. These include stamps, for example, for age identification, fatness, conformation, damage and classes as specified in the regulations, as well as roller-marking equipment and edible ink with specifications for each purpose for the market of carcasses.
Beef production in South Africa has a rich heritage, with cattle being used in the past and even today for different reasons in various cul...