Poultry sector fears government concessions to US chicken imports threatens local industry

THE South African poultry industry has voiced concerns about the government's decision to facilitate the import of 72 000 metric tons of poultry from the United States as part of measures to boost trade and reduce the tariffs.

- BANELE GININDZA

The local poultry industry on Tuesday said it has been sacrificed to benefit the automotive sector and others focusing on profitable exports to the US.

The South African Poultry Association (SAPA) told Business Report that the decision was a surprise.

SAPA CEO Izaak Breitenbach said the industry had instead been hard at negotiations with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) to suspend the US imports prior to the tariff negotiations.

Breitenbach said that the US, under the African Growth and Opportunity Act agreements, along with Brazil, were amongst the major dumpers of poultry into the local market. "We had a meeting with Minister [Parks] Tau on May 16th at which we asked, as we had heard the rumours already, that we be consulted if there were concessions to be made with poultry," Breitenbach said.