Department vows to aid poultry industry

THE Department of Trade and Industry (dti) yesterday promised to address concerns raised by the poultry industry over the increase in imports of poultry products into South Africa.

This comes after the poultry industry, including the Food and Allied Workers Union (Fawu), cried foul over cheap chicken imports from the EU, Brazil and the US, which continue flooding the South African market, saying about 6 000 workers were at risk of losing their jobs.

The dti said the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) had been working with the domestic industry to address challenges in the industry.

“Over the past three years, a number of actions were taken by the government to address the challenges in the industry,” the dti said. “These varied from increase in tariffs covering a number of poultry products in line with South Africa’s international commitments, imposing trade remedies where evidence indicates dumping of poultry in the South Africa market, or where there is a surge in imports.”

In 2013, the import duty on a number of poultry products was increased significantly. South Africa imposes hefty import duties on countries like Brazil and the US. But the import duties are not applicable to imports from the EU, since South Africa has a preferential trade agreement with the EU.

But in 2015, anti-dumping measures ranging from 3.86 percent to 73.33 percent were imposed on frozen bone-in chicken pieces from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, the dti said.

“The dti and Daff are further continuously working on opening new markets for our poultry exports. Recently, new markets in the Middle East were opened and these present a further opportunity for export to the domestic poultry industry in South Africa,” the dti said. “Furthermore, the dti is in the process of considering the designation of domestic poultry products for purposes of public procurement.”

The dti said the industry was welcome to approach the International Trade and Administration Commission through the normal processes.

The South African poultry industry faces the threat of job losses as a result of a rise in imports of these products.