Bid to renew anti-dumping duties on bone-in chicken welcomed
THE SOUTH African Poultry Association (Sapa) yesterday welcomed the recommendation for the renewal of anti-dumping duties on imports of bone-in chicken from the European Union.
Earlier this week, Import and Export Control (Itac) recommended the renewal of anti-dumping duties on poultry imports from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK in terms of the Customs and Excise Act, 1964.
Itac made an amendment to Part 1 of Schedule No 2, by the deletion as well as substitution of various items in order to maintain the anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in portions of the species Gallus domesticus originating or imported from these countries.
The imports regulatory body found that dumping by the three countries had continued in spite of anti-dumping duties of between 3.86 and 73.33 percent imposed in 2015.
Sapa head of the broiler division Izaak Breitenbach said they were delighted that the Itac had upheld their application for a renewal of these anti-dumping duties. Breitenbach said this would secure economic growth and job creation for South Africa.
“The poultry industry faces the prospect of renewed dumping, with damage to the local industry, slower transformation and a loss of jobs if the duties are not renewed,” Breitenbach said. “This would be disastrous, with loss of revenue, profits and market share when the industry was already under severe pressure.”
The Itac ruling follows an application by Sapa for the renewal of anti-dumping duties as they were set to expire in 2020, but Sapa applied for what is known as a ‘sunset review’.
Sapa had requested astonishingly large anti-dumping duties of 307 percent for Germany, 176 percent for the Netherlands and 92 percent for the UK to be added on top of the current bilateral safeguard duties.
Itac’s recommendation is for a continuation of existing anti-dumping duties on bone-in imports from these countries for a further five years.
Bone-in poultry imports from the UK will incur a 30.09 percent tariff, while 22.81 percent will be applied on chicken from the Netherlands and 73.33 percent on chicken from Germany.
Itac found that, should the anti-dumping duties be removed, there was a likelihood dumping would continue, causing material harm to the local poultry industry.
The sanctions will apply to all producers in the three countries, except three producers in the UK and one in the Netherlands, because Itac’s investigation did not show a likelihood that they would continue dumping.
The Association of Meat Importers
and Exporters (Amie) has declined to comment thus far, but indicated that this was not good news for importers.
Amie has for years argued that chicken prices were rising to unaffordable levels due to tariffs.