Poultry sector pins its hopes on a new masterplan
Poultry industry players have welcomed the plan announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa to turn around the fortunes of the embattled sector.
At the investment conference this week, he announced a new poultry masterplan that includes measures to boost domestic demand and the affordability of local broiler products. The plan focuses on measures to protect the sector, including simplifying trade systems, implementing antidumping and considering introduction of import licences to support compliance.
SAs poultry sector has shed cheap’ imports from Brazil, the thousands of jobs, and blames US and Europe. This has brought it into conflict with meat importers who blame its woes on lack of competitiveness.
The SA Poultry Association (Sapa) has lodged an application with the International Trade
Administration Commission (Itac), the organisation responsible for customs tariff investigations, trade remedies and import and export control, calling for an increase in ad valorem tariff on bone-in and boneless frozen chicken portions to 82% from existing levels of 37% and 12%, respectively.
Sapa GM Izaak Breitenbach said on Thursday the plan, brainchild of the government and industry players, provides a blueprint to take the poultry sector forward. “The plan makes many provisions for addressing many unfair trade practices, including dumping and a number of food safety sins.”
FairPlay, a local organisation that aims to fight predatory trade practices and dumping, also welcomed the plan.
“While FairPlay welcomes these developments, for which we have campaigned relentlessly over the past three years, everything now depends on implementation,” said Fairplay founder Francois Baird. “The key to success will be the effectiveness of government measures to restrict imports, first through a tariff announcement, expected soon. The strength of the government’s intent will be shown by the percentage tariff it is prepared to impose to restrict Brazilian chicken imports.”
The promised crackdown on “unfair forms of trade is another vital initiative against” unacceptable trade practices, Baird said. These include practices that can compromise food safety, such as thawing and refreezing, selling previously frozen imports as fresh chicken, and inadequate labelling that can prevent effective traceability in the event of product contamination.
Baird said the government will need more resources to implement existing and new regulations. FairPlay hopes the import sector, as masterplan signatories, will play a constructive role in seeing this realised.