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BusinessLive reports that according to Fairplay the latest unemployment statistics should act as a spur to government to protect the chicken industry against unfair trade which has already cost thousands of jobs.
The organisation, which aims to fight predatory trade practices and dumping, said on Wednesday that thousands of jobs could be created in the poultry sector by replacing chicken imports with local production. Earlier in the week, Stats SA revealed that the unemployment rate had increased to 29% in the second quarter of the year. Francois Baird, founder of FairPlay, commented: “We have frequently highlighted the opportunities that could be realised were the chicken industry enabled to expand and create jobs, particularly in poor rural areas where unemployment is highest. Those opportunities remain blocked because the floods of dumped chicken imports have stolen so much market share that industry expansion can’t happen.” The SA Poultry Association has lodged an application to the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) calling for an increase to the ad valorem tariff on bone-in and boneless frozen chicken portions to 82% from existing levels of 37% and 12%, respectively. But according to the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE), although some jobs would be created in the poultry industry, tariff increases would have a net negative impact on jobs across the economy. Plus, consumers would have to pay more for chicken should import tariffs be hiked.
- Read the full original of the above report by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive
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