The chicken fight comes to an end

The import duty war between the local chicken producers and chicken product importers has now come to an end – with the department of trade and industry having introduced a battalion of increased import tariffs on the side of the local industry. The chicken importers (and the customers who buy about 235 000 tonnes of their chicken products each year) are now facing these increased duties, which in some cases have reached “ridiculous” levels, according to Dave Wolpert, CEO of the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (Amie). This after the March 27 submission of the SA Poultry Association (Sapa) to the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) appealing for the increased duties had been approved by minister of trade and industry, Dr Rob Davies, and the new duties gazetted on September 30. The local producers claimed that the industry was in a distressed financial situation due largely to the rapid increases in imports of low-priced poultry. Davies raised the poultry import tariffs by an average 8.75%, saying the higher duties were necessary to raise local production and save jobs in the industry. “We never expected to win it,” said Wolpert. “The jobs factor is a very emotional issue. But Amie members are pleased Sapa didn’t get the big increases it wanted.” However the increase in the import duty for bone-in chicken imports is the big bugbear for the Amie members. They constitute about 70% of domestic production in the last 12 months, according to Davies. And, according to Amie, about 160 000t of its chicken product imports. Here, the import tariff has been changed from a specific duty of 220c/kg to an ad valorem duty of 37%. That translated into an increase from around 17% to 37 %, Wolpert told FTW. “That’s again ridiculous,” he added, “and we’re obviously very concerned about this.” But happy news for local buyers, although possibly not so happy for the importers, is that the levels of brineinjected local chicken might be reduced, according to Davies. • This article has been shortened due to space constraints. For the full version go to www.ftwonline. co.za and click on the ‘FTW continued’ menu item.