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Business Times reports that local chicken producers are threatening to cancel or postpone up to R570m in new investments in protest against the suspension of additional duties on imported chicken from five countries for 12 months.
Trade, industry & competition (DTIC) minister Ebrahim Patel last week deferred anti-dumping duties on chicken to alleviate supply shortages and rising food costs. This means there will not be an increase in tariffs for poultry products from Brazil, Ireland, Denmark, Spain and Poland. Presently, importers pay a 62% duty. Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association described Patel's announcement as a disappointing surprise, saying companies would reconsider planned expansions of R570m, promised to Patel, which would have created more jobs, or delay them for 12 months. According to Breitenbach, the industry has invested R1.5bn and created 1,600 jobs since 2019. He said the minister was going against the poultry master plan agreed by the industry and the government in 2019. It aimed to expand and improve production. The industry has long complained about dumping of subsidised chicken. However, Patel, who has the final say on tariff impositions, opted for a 12-month suspension. Chicken is a cheap and popular protein for South Africans. “In making its decision, the minister considered the current rapid rise in food prices in the Sacu [Southern African Customs Union] market and globally, and the significant impact this has, especially on the poor, as well as the impact that the imposition of the anti-dumping duties may have on the price of chicken as one of the more affordable protein sources,” read a government gazette announcing the decision.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thabiso Mochiko at Business Times (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Feathers set to fly as union Fawu calls for poultry meeting with Patel, at Business Report
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page