Goldstone joins FairPlay trading lobby
Richard Goldstone, the renowned South African Constitutional Court judge who also prosecuted war crimes for the UN in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, has become a patron of the FairPlay antidumping movement.
Founded by US-based South African businessman and philanthropist Francois Baird, FairPlay is trying to stop the dumping of frozen, bone-in chicken products in SA. Goldstone joins its panel of domestic and international experts to help implement policies benefiting chicken producers and consumers.
FairPlay says it has united SA’s three main chicken producers — RCL Foods, Astral Foods and Country Bird Holdings — along with the South African Poultry Association (Sapa) and the Food and Allied Workers Union in opposing dumping.
After 1994, the government opened up the economy under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. This resulted in a flood of imports, with manufacturers ranging from steel to clothing to windscreens coming under pressure, mainly from Chinese imports. The government also had to decide whether to impose import tariffs or implement nontariff barriers against dumping. Nontariff barriers are usually restrictions or conditions that make imports difficult or costly.
Goldstone says when international trade is conducted according to WTO rules, it enhances wealth creation for everyone and serves all the stakeholders in a value chain.
GOLDSTONE SAYS WHEN TRADE IS CONDUCTED ACCORDING TO WTO RULES IT ENHANCES WEALTH CREATION
“However, dumping breaks the rules and, in the process, it unfairly destroys value, jobs and competition,” he says.
“If we want fair competition in international trade, we need all participants to trade fairly and according to the international agreements to which their countries are party.
“I have agreed to support FairPlay because I believe an antidumping movement is needed globally to make the moral case for following the rules,” Goldstone says.
It is moot as to who has the most to gain and lose between domestic chicken producers and poultry importers. The two sides are at loggerheads at a time when producers and labour fear a catastrophic blowout is imminent that could directly and indirectly affect 110,000 employees.
The EU is mainly blamed for the dumping of so-called dark chicken meat, largely consumed by SA’s poorer majority. However, South African Revenue Service data reveals Brazil as the largest exporter of chicken to SA in 2016, accounting for 41.7%.
What is clear to the government is that chicken producers and importers are key economic players.
“Jobs and food security are enormous considerations [for the] government. But at the same time, we have to balance the interests of consumers,” says Garth Strachan, deputy director-general of industrial policy development at the Department of Trade and Industry.
The department wants the state and producers to work together to invest in modern capital equipment to raise competitiveness in the industry, while also tackling transformation issues.
Domestic producers say they are already world-class but cannot compete in an unfair global trading environment.
The trade department says it is working with the Treasury regarding new Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act regulations to raise aggregate demand for locally produced chicken products.
Sapa’s poultry meat imports report for January 2017 says temporary trade bans against European countries experiencing avian influenza are starting to slow imports.
In mid-December 2016, the government imposed a provisional duty of 13.9% on frozen, bone-in chicken from the EU, but producers say this is inadequate.
‘IF WE WANT FAIR COMPETITION IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE WE NEED ALL PARTICIPANTS TO TRADE FAIRLY’