Chicken importers are once again making exaggerated claims to back up their pleas for the reduction or cancellation of tariffs and anti-dumping duties on the imports from which they make their money.
FairPlay has taken issue with Paul Matthew, CEO of the Association of Meat Importers and Exporters (AMIE) over claims published by Engineering News.
FairPlay founder Francois Baird said that in his campaign for additional imports, Matthew cited the possibility of an enormous shortage of local chicken because of the impact of bird flu, when there might well be little or no shortage.
Baird referred Matthew to a presentation made to parliament last week by Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association (SAPA) detailing the measures producers had taken to reduce or eliminate any potential shortfall.
However, Matthew’s projection of a shortage of 840 000 tonnes was “five times South Africa’s total chicken imports last year, which came to 170 000 tonnes excluding mechanically deboned meat (MDM) which is not part of the rebate issue”.
Baird also asked how consumers would benefit from lower import tariffs when importers had yet to pass on to consumers any benefits from the unfairly low import prices of dumped chicken. He said importers were seizing on a predatory trade opportunity.
“There are fat profits to be made from the rebate of tariffs by importers, and the over-hyped shortage will be over before imports reach consumers. More imports, and lower-priced imports, are likely to bring huge benefits to chicken importers without bringing much joy to hard-pressed consumers.”
On the other hand, the DTIC’s investigation into proposed tariff rebates, which importers are supporting, would further harm a local poultry industry already in distress because of power cuts, infrastructure failings and the impact of bird flu.
“Poultry production is a R60 billion strategic national industry that provides South Africa with 66% of the meat consumed in this country. It has for decades provided consumers with affordable chicken. The best way to ensure that this continues is to support the industry and its thousands of jobs, and not imperil it further by encouraging a renewed surge of dumped chicken imports,” Baird said.
To help consumers, it would be better to scrap VAT on the local chicken portions most consumed by poor people, Baird said.
