The US may now ship pork products to South Africa, which include raw and frozen bellies, hams, loins, ribs and shoulders, the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) said, adding their sale and that of other pork products for further processing are unrestricted.

South Africa previously restricted US pork imports to prevent the spread of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS, despite what NAMI said was "the negligible transmission risk posed by US livestock".

Early this year, South Africa agreed to partially lift the ban on US pork, after the Obama administration announced it would suspend the country's trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

Earlier in December South Africa agreed to resume imports of US poultry after signing the "Protocol for Poultry Meat and Day-Old Chicks," a trade agreement with the US, on Nov. 13.