Ago chicken wars still unresolved

While most of us thought
that the nasty “chicken
war” with the US, and its
threat to SA membership
of the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (Agoa),
had been resolved, it hasn’t
been.
As the Trade Intelligence
newsletter Trade Tatler
put it: “Having agreed
like gentlemen on a quota
for imports, we’ve been
blocking them on rumours
of avian f lu in the States,
once again threatening our
participation in Agoa.”
And this,
it added,
had led the
original
instigators of
the chicken
war/Agoa
crisis, the
US senators
Chris Coons
and Johnny
Isakson,
to write to
President
Jacob Zuma asking
him to sort things out
“expeditiously”.
The deal we all thought
had solved things was
when SA said it would end
punitive (above 100%)
anti-dumping duties on US
chicken imports, and allow
an
initial
65
000
tonnes
a year
into the
country
at
reduced
duty
rates.
This was
to have reopened a market
which had been closed
for the last 15 years, and
would see the US emerge
as one of the
top poultry
exporters to
SA.
But
SA meat
(including
chicken)
importers are
still waiting
to see just
what these as
yet unknown
reduced
duties will be.
David Wolpert, CEO of
the Association of Meat
Importers and Exporters
of SA (Amiesa), told FTW:
“No quota details have
yet been announced other
than the number. We are
all eagerly awaiting this so
we can comment
on the system/
process etc.”
We also quizzed him
on the avian f lu issue,
which FTW thought had
met with agreed bans on
imports from certain areas
in the US where the f lu was
prevalent.
But this is not so,
according to Wolpert.
“The avian f lu issue is a
fact,” he said. “But, while
the US has requested
regionalisation, SA has not
yet agreed to it.”
So our hopes of enjoying
a plenitude of cheap US
boned chicken parts
(particularly legs and
thighs) – at which the
Americans, with their
preference for boneless
white (breast) meat, turn
up their noses – and of SA
continuing as members
of the highly beneficial
Agoa pact continue to be
thwarted.
INSERT & CAPTION
No quota details have
yet been announced
other than the
number.
– David Wolpert